Although the approach for licensing of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) differs considerably between countries, the USNRC Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.70 [1] constitutes the starting point for preparing the safety analysis report in several countries, including Argentina. Licensing tends to move from a “conservative” to a risk informed approach. This implies that for safety analysis best estimate codes, together with an assessment of the uncertainties of code calculations (best estimate plus uncertainty, BEPU) are preferred over a conservative bounding case analysis using penalizing codes and boundary conditions. The project Atucha 2 NPP (CNA2) was started officially in 1979. Siemens-KWU won the assignment to construct a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) featuring 745 MWe (2160 MWth). The work on site began in 1981. The construction license was issued based on a Preliminary Safety Analyses Report (PSAR), which formerly followed RG 1.70 [1], but whose content is based in large parts on German legislation. For example, the safety systems are designed with n+2 redundancy (single failure plus repair case). In contrary to both, the German and US licensing approach, the Argentine Regulatory Authority ARN places strong emphasis on a probabilistic based acceptance criteria, implying an additional speciality to the CNA2 licensing process. This paper presents as examples licensing aspects of a Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LBLOCA) and a Loss of Feed Water (LOFW) calculation. The application of BEPU approach pretends the process, the peculiarities of CNA2 licensing are considered. The categorization procedure, selection of acceptance criteria and tools, as well as the performance of the analysis is described for the two mentioned cases.

Selected Aspects of the Licensing Process of the Argentine NPP Atucha2

D'AURIA, FRANCESCO SAVERIO;
2008-01-01

Abstract

Although the approach for licensing of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) differs considerably between countries, the USNRC Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.70 [1] constitutes the starting point for preparing the safety analysis report in several countries, including Argentina. Licensing tends to move from a “conservative” to a risk informed approach. This implies that for safety analysis best estimate codes, together with an assessment of the uncertainties of code calculations (best estimate plus uncertainty, BEPU) are preferred over a conservative bounding case analysis using penalizing codes and boundary conditions. The project Atucha 2 NPP (CNA2) was started officially in 1979. Siemens-KWU won the assignment to construct a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) featuring 745 MWe (2160 MWth). The work on site began in 1981. The construction license was issued based on a Preliminary Safety Analyses Report (PSAR), which formerly followed RG 1.70 [1], but whose content is based in large parts on German legislation. For example, the safety systems are designed with n+2 redundancy (single failure plus repair case). In contrary to both, the German and US licensing approach, the Argentine Regulatory Authority ARN places strong emphasis on a probabilistic based acceptance criteria, implying an additional speciality to the CNA2 licensing process. This paper presents as examples licensing aspects of a Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LBLOCA) and a Loss of Feed Water (LOFW) calculation. The application of BEPU approach pretends the process, the peculiarities of CNA2 licensing are considered. The categorization procedure, selection of acceptance criteria and tools, as well as the performance of the analysis is described for the two mentioned cases.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/123171
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