Confirmation of Seismic Integrity of HTTR Against 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

Abstract

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has carried out research and development to establish the technical basis of High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) by using High Temperature engineering Test Reactor (HTTR). On March 11th, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake of magnitude 9.0 occurred. When the great earthquake occurred, the HTTR had been stopped under the periodic inspection and maintenance of equipment and instrument. In the great earthquake, the maximum seismic acceleration observed at the HTTR exceeded the maximum value in seismic design. The visual inspection of HTTR facility was carried out for the seismic integrity conformation of HTTR. The seismic analysis was also carried out using the observed earthquake motion at HTTR site to confirm the integrity of HTTR. The concept of comprehensive integrity evaluation for the HTTR facility is divided into two parts. One is the “inspection of equipment and instrument”. The other is the “seismic response analysis” for the building structure, equipment and instrument using the observed earthquake. For the basic inspections of equipment and instrument were performed for all them related to the operation of reactor. The integrity of the facilities is confirmed by comparing the inspection results or the numerical results with their evaluation criteria. As the result of inspection of equipment and instrument and seismic response analysis, it was judged that there was no problem to operate the reactor, because there was no damage and performance deterioration, which affects the reactor operation. The integrity of HTTR was also supported by the several operations without reactor power in cold conditions of HTTR in 2011, 2013 and 2015.