Nuclear containment structure subjected to commercial aircraft crash and subsequent vibrations and fire

Abstract

An aircraft crashing into a nuclear containment vessel may induce a series of disasters related to containment capacity, including local penetration and perforation of the containment, intensive vibrations, and fire ignited after jet fuel leakage. A procedure was presented for investigation of structural capacity of the containment of the newly developed Generation III+ nuclear power plants (NPPs) in accidental scenarios. A containment vessel-soil model was developed and verified to investigate the transient response of the containment and subsequently induced vibrations on the ground surface. Ground vibrations can be used as input data to obtain the vibration of equipment inside the containment or inside buildings adjacent to the containment. Impact action was represented using a force-time history function imposed on the crash area of the containment surface. Then, a thermal analysis was conducted to predict the temperature fields following a mechanical-thermal stress analysis for fire resistance assessment. Results found the containment vessel-soil model was capable of predicting the transient and vibration responses of the structure. For the effect of impact positions on ground vibration outside the containment, impact positions in the mid-height and bottom portions of the containment induced slightly intensive ground vibration compared to impact in the upper portion of the containment. Thus, appropriate impact position should be considered when ground vibration response is a concern. Structural safety associated with fire effect was generally ensured mainly due to the low thermal inertia of concrete.