Application of the COCOSYS code in the safety evaluation of Czech nuclear power plants

Abstract

Abstract Safety analyses of nuclear power plant accidents are a key tool in demonstration of nuclear safety and reliability. The chain of the safety analyses comprises several follow-up activities like neutronic core calculation, primary system simulation and containment response to a loss-of-coolant accident. The analyses can be done with numerous computational tools like the GRS codes ATHLET and COCOSYS. The COCOSYS and its predecessor RALOC have been used in a variety of safety analyses at UJV conducted in the framework of technical support of the Czech nuclear power plants. Application of the code in the field of nuclear power plant safety analyses is ruled by the Czech legislative, which defines a process called standardization. The standardization procedure equivalent to validation and verification process provides further independent validation on the level of user organization. In past decades, COCOSYS has been successfully used in numerous DBA and DEC-A analyses of VVER-1000/V-320 containment, evaluating both thermal hydraulic conditions as well as fission product source term. This paper summarizes independent COCOSYS validation at UJV, including setup of the iodine dry paint deposition model to Ameron Amerlock paint. Furthermore, a VVER-1000/V-320 containment model is presented and analysis of DBA and DEC-A LB LOCA at VVER-1000/V-320 is conducted. The evaluation of the results aims at confirmation of acceptance criteria related to containment and impact of containment spray system. An emphasis is given to evaluation of containment source term, where comparison of both events is conducted for release of iodine, cesium, and xenon.