Insights into the behavior of nuclear power plant containments during severe accidents

Abstract

The containment building surrounding a nuclear reactor offers the last barrier to the release of radioactive materials from a severe accident into the environment. The loading environment of the containment under severe accident conditions may include much greater than design pressures and temperatures. Investigations into the performance of containments subject to ultimate or failure pressure and temperature conditions have been performed over the last several years through a program administered by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). These NRC sponsored investigations are subsequently discussed. Reviewed are the results of large scale experiments on reinforced concrete, prestressed concrete, and steel containment models pressurized to failure. In conjunction with these major tests, the results of separate effect testing on many of the critical containment components; that is, aged and unaged seals, a personnel air lock and electrical penetration assemblies subjected to elevated temperature and pressure have been performed. An objective of the NRC program is to gain an understanding of the behavior of typical existing and planned containment designs subject to postulated severe accident conditions. This understanding has led to the development of experimentally verified analytical tools that can be applied to accurately predict their ultimate capacities useful in developing severe accident mitigation schemes. Finally, speculation on the response of containments subjected to severe accident conditions is presented.