Analysis of an accident of local zone control system of 'pressure loss in the compartment water supply reservoir'

This work presents the aftermath of a failure in the Zonal Control System caused by an accident of 'pressure loss in the compartment water supply reservoir' leading to an operational function fault of the liquid zonal control system. Causes for pressure drop may be several, as for instance: simultaneous mechanical fault of the three pumps, class IV total loss of power, a crack of reservoir, etc. Should this accident happens the reactor is shut down automatically by the digital control computer, on the 'ZONE CONTROL SYSTEM FAILURE' setback condition. The analyses were done hypothesizing that the covering gas system is functioning at design parameters and that the only possible accident is the one of pressure loss in supply reservoir. By making use of the software system developed at INR Pitesti, we could make the analysis of the phenomena which take place and thus we could obtain the evolution of the main parameters, namely, neutron and thermohydraulic parameters, as well as the actuating mode of the control and safety systems. Thus, by assuming a pressure drop under 8. 27 bar the 'SETBACK' system is triggered with a final value of the neutron power of 2% FP which can be reached with a power variation rate of 0.00086 decade/sec (- 0.1%/sec). In conclusion, the main parameters evolve as follows: 1. the water level in compartments is 'frozen' at a level at which the pressure in the supply reservoir is 7.3 bar; 2. the mechanical rods are gradually inserted, one bank first and a second one if necessary; 3. the shim rods are fully inserted; 4. the systems of SDS1 and SDS2 scram systems remain unactuated; 5. after 10 minutes from the 'SETBACK' triggering, the neutron power is reduced under 4%; 6. the thermohydraulic parameters of the primary circuit are maintained at normal values; 7. the thermohydraulic parameters of the secondary circuit are maintained at normal values