Investigation of Loss of Feedwater (LOFW) Accident in the APR-1400 Using Fault Tree Analysis

Abstract

Nuclear power plants play a significant role in the contribution of electricity generation on a global scale. Various reactor designs have advantages over others in different aspects. APR-1400 is a pressurized water reactor that is deemed safe due to the redundancy and independence of the multiple safety systems. Probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) is well known for its effectiveness in the representation of risk and safety analysis of the systems in a nuclear power plant. It provides different scenarios of system failure and accident progression via fault tree analysis. A loss of feedwater (LOFW) accident may occur due to numerous reasons such as spurious closure of valves, component failure of heaters, pumps, tanks, or a loss of offsite power (LOOP) event. In the present research, a methodology has been developed that aims to investigate different factors contributing to the loss of feedwater. This research also aims to analyze LOFW accidents by developing fault tree models for the main feedwater system of the APR-1400 to identify the basic events, which may lead to a loss of feedwater accidents. The results of the top event probabilities, risk decrease factor (RDF), risk increase factor (RIF), minimal cut sets (MCS), basic event probabilities, and sensitivity analysis were compared with the WASH-1400 database. It has been found that the control valve (V04) and main feedwater isolation valve (V05) have more contribution to the LOFW accident. The common cause failure (CCF) analysis has been carried out, and it was found that the flow toward the check valve and steam generator are most critical for CCF.