Analyses in support of installation of steam-dump-to-atmosphere valves at steam lines of the Dukovany NPP

Four conservative analyses were carried out with a view to examining the cooldown capacity of the super-emergency feedwater pump (SEFWP) → steam generator (SG) → steam dump to atmosphere/main steam line (SDA/MSL) chain. This emergency cooldown capacity was investigated for a postulated accident associated with a main steam header break + main feedwater header break + closing of all main steam lines, and for an artificial accident with SCRAM + isolation of all MSLs + loss of feedwater. The RELAP5/MOD3.1 code and a detailed 3-loop input model of the Dukovany plant were employed. Conservative assumptions with respect to the initial reactor power, decay heat evolution, and other input parameters were applied. The results gave evidence that the capacity of both the 2SEFWP → 2SG → 2SDA/SG and 1SEFWP → 1SG → 1SDA/SG chains is sufficient for the decay heat to be removed from the reactor; however, a considerably long time allowing for a sufficient drop of the decay heat is necessary for a deep cooldown of the primary circuit. For the event encompassing main steam header break + main feedwater header break with isolation of all MSLs and with cooling by 2SEFWPs, a time-consuming calculation gave evidence of the feasibility of passing to the water-water regime and primary system cooldown to below 93 deg C in the hot legs