Strengthening the First Line of Defence: Delayed Turbine Trip at SCRAM in Westinghouse type NPP's

The availability of Information, Control and Power (ICP) is not treated as a Critical Safety Function (CSF). After the Forsmark (2006) and Fukushima (2011) incidents there is reason to add ICP as a separate CSF. Adding ICP as a separate CSF would possibly lead to procedural adaptations, or even design changes, for Nuclear Power Plants. As an example, this paper focusses on the transitions immediately after a SCRAM. At a SCRAM in many nuclear power plants the turbine is tripped immediately to prevent the extraction of too much heat from the reactor. However this requires a large and fast transition for the entire secondary system. The rescheduled priorities could lead to the wish NOT to trip the turbine before load has been reduced and alternative power has been secured. This paper discusses a 'soft landing' for the turbine by keeping it running after the SCRAM. Turbine control can follow reactor power by controlling the pressure of the available residual steam from the steam generator. With a proper control design this enables a flexible and precise control of primary temperatures without any fast switching in the secondary system during the first 1/2 to 3 minutes. In this period reactor load and turbine power are smoothly lowered to minimum levels during of which automatic preparatory measures can be triggered. The normal transitions can be initiated in a staged form to provide a soft landing for the entire secondary and electrical system. (author)