TY - JOUR
T1 - Risk modelling of ageing nuclear reactor systems
AU - Wootton, Mark James
AU - Andrews, John D.
AU - LLoyd, Adam
AU - Smith, Roger
AU - Arul, A. John
AU - Vinod, Gopika
AU - Prasad, M. Hari
AU - Garg, Vipul
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - A nuclear reactor is expected to function for extensive periods, during which, coolant circulation and core reactivity must always be maintained safely. Understanding the risks associated with the operation of such systems requires proper consideration of ageing components and the effects of preventative maintenance. The traditional methodologies, such as Fault Trees and Event Trees, have limitations in their abilities to model ageing processes and complex maintenance strategies. Petri Nets have been used in this research as a more suitable alternative. A case study reactor is presented to demonstrate this capability. Petri Nets were developed for five key subsystems: primary coolant circulation, shutdown condensation, emergency core coolant injection, emergency shutdown, and control and monitoring, building a representation which considers their failure modes, reaction of the system to faults, and ongoing component maintenance actions. These models reveal statistics for the timing of failure of these subsystems and relative frequencies of outcome categories.
AB - A nuclear reactor is expected to function for extensive periods, during which, coolant circulation and core reactivity must always be maintained safely. Understanding the risks associated with the operation of such systems requires proper consideration of ageing components and the effects of preventative maintenance. The traditional methodologies, such as Fault Trees and Event Trees, have limitations in their abilities to model ageing processes and complex maintenance strategies. Petri Nets have been used in this research as a more suitable alternative. A case study reactor is presented to demonstrate this capability. Petri Nets were developed for five key subsystems: primary coolant circulation, shutdown condensation, emergency core coolant injection, emergency shutdown, and control and monitoring, building a representation which considers their failure modes, reaction of the system to faults, and ongoing component maintenance actions. These models reveal statistics for the timing of failure of these subsystems and relative frequencies of outcome categories.
KW - Ageing components
KW - Failure modelling
KW - Nuclear reactors
KW - Petri nets
KW - Reliability engineering
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115327250&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.anucene.2021.108701
DO - 10.1016/j.anucene.2021.108701
M3 - Article
SN - 0306-4549
VL - 166
JO - Annals of Nuclear Energy
JF - Annals of Nuclear Energy
M1 - 108701
ER -