Dj. Hanson et al., ASSESSING INFORMATION NEEDS AND INSTRUMENT AVAILABILITY FOR A PRESSURIZED-WATER REACTOR DURING SEVERE ACCIDENTS, Nuclear Engineering and Design, 148(2-3), 1994, pp. 233-252
A five-step methodology was developed to evaluate information needs fo
r nuclear power plants under accident conditions and the availability
of plant instrumentation during severe accidents. Step 1 examines the
credible accidents and their relationships to plant safety functions.
Step 2 determines the information that personnel involved in accident
management will need to understand plant behavior. Step 3 determines t
he capability of the instrumentation to function properly under severe
accident conditions. Step 4 determines the conditions expected during
the identified severe accidents. Step 5 compares the instrument capab
ilities and severe accident conditions, to evaluate the availability o
f the instrumentation to supply needed plant information. This methodo
logy was applied to a pressurized water reactor with a large dry conta
inment and the results are presented. A companion article describes ap
plication of the methodology to a boiling water reactor with a Mark I
containment.