Design of Severe Accident Management Systems for Beyond Design Basis External Hazards at Paks Nuclear Power Plant

Paks Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) identified the post-Fukushima actions for mitigation and management of severe accidents caused by external events that include updating of some hazard assessments, evaluation of margins of existing severe accident management (SAM) facilities, and construction of some new systems and facilities. While developing the SAM strategy, the basic question was what is the sufficient margin above the design basis level of existing structures, systems, and components for avoiding the cliff-edge effects, and what level of or hazard should be taken for the design of new structures and systems dedicated for SAM. Paks NPP developed an applicable in the practice concept for the qualification of already implemented SAM measures and design the new post-Fukushima measures that are outlined in the paper. The concept is based on the generalization of the procedure and assumptions used in the definition of acceptable margins for seismic loads, analysis of the steepness of the hazard curves and features of the hazards. Justification of the definition of exceedance probability of the design basis effects for the design of SAM systems is given based on the first order reliability theory. The application of the concept is presented on several practical examples.