Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Station Blackouts in Nuclear Power Plants

George-Williams, Hindolo ORCID: 0000-0002-9316-3911, Lee, Min and Patelli, Edoardo ORCID: 0000-0002-5007-7247 (2018) Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Station Blackouts in Nuclear Power Plants. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON RELIABILITY, 67 (2). pp. 494-512.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/tr.2018.2824620

Abstract

Adequate ac power is required for decay heat removal in nuclear power plants. Station blackout (SBO) accidents, therefore, are a very critical phenomenon to their safety. Though designed to cope with these incidents, nuclear power plants can only do so for a limited time, without risking core damage and possible catastrophe. Their impact on a plant's safety are determined by their frequency and duration, which quantities, currently, are computed via a static fault tree analysis that deteriorates in applicability with increasing system size and complexity. This paper proposes a novel alternative framework based on a hybrid of Monte Carlo methods, multistate modeling, and network theory. The intuitive framework, which is applicable to a variety of SBOs problems, can provide a complete insight into their risks. Most importantly, its underlying modeling principles are generic, and, therefore, applicable to non-nuclear system reliability problems, as well. When applied to the Maanshan nuclear power plant in Taiwan, the results validate the framework as a rational decision-support tool in the mitigation and prevention of SBOs.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Accident recovery, Monte Carlo simulation (MCS), nuclear power plant, risk assessment, station blackout (SBO)
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	22 May 2018 09:34
Last Modified:	16 Mar 2024 22:23
DOI:	10.1109/TR.2018.2824620
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3021458