Response Spectrum and Time History Seismic Analysis of the SMART Reactor Assembly

Recently, efforts have been devoted worldwide to expand the peaceful utilization of the nuclear energy other than electricity generation. Therefore, small/ medium size multi-purpose advanced reactor draws keen attention in consideration of its adaptive nature, simplicity of reactor design, and passive safety approach. It is expected that the demand for small/medium size reactor will arise for various applications such as small capacity power production, heat generation, and energy source for seawater desalination in the near future. SMART of 330MWt is on the process of design. The SMART RPV (reactor pressure vessel) contains internal components such as steam generators, reactor coolant pumps, pressurizer, UGS (upper guide structure), etc. in the reactor and space among the internal components is filled with reactor coolant. An accurate understanding of the dynamic behavior of a complex structure submerged in or filled with fluid has received extensive attention since the middle of last century. Although plenty of work has been carried out on this topic, most of available investigations, both simulations and experiments, are limited to simple geometrical structures. In this study, the structural integrity of a SMART reactor assembly with 330MWt against the earthquake was evaluated via the response spectrum and time history seismic analyses using the added fluid mass and substructure techniques. They were performed by ANSYS package