Analysing Supercritical Water Reactor's (SCWR's) Special Safety Systems Using Probabilistic Tools

Abstract

The next generation of reactors, termed Generation IV, has very attractive features – its superior safety characteristics, high thermal efficiency, and fuel cycle sustainability. A key element of the Generation IV designs is the improvement in safety, which in turn requires improvements in safety system performance and reliability, as well as a reduction in initiating event frequencies. This study compares the response of the systems important to safety in the CANDU-Supercritical Water Reactor to those of the generic CANDU under a main steamline break accident and loss of forced circulation events – to quantify the improvements in safety for the pre-conceptual CANDU SCWR design. Probabilistic safety analysis is the tool used in this study to test the behavior of the pre- conceptual design during these events.