Year
2003
Abstract
Reinforced concrete structures at nuclear power plants in the United States, in particular containment structures, are designed to be extremely robust and rugged. The ruggedness and robustness of containment structures can be attributed to their design basis, which includes pressure and thermal loads from severe reactor and primary coolant circuit accident events. In addition, the inherent structural integrity of these structures is demonstrated by the degree of protection provided against severe natural phenomena, such as earthquake loads, tornado missiles, floods, and fires. To some extent, the design basis also requires an evaluation of the potential for an aircraft impact accident, depending upon proximity of the plant to airports and the potential frequency of take-off and landing accident occurrence. In order to evaluate potential damage to nuclear power plant concrete structures and other hardened concrete structures from accidental or intentional aircraft impact, some analytical and experimental simulations have been carried out over the past two or three decades. The most recent effort was carried out during 2002 for the U. S. nuclear power industry by EPRI, at the request of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). The EPRI contractors were ABS Consulting of Irvine, California; Anatech Corporation of San Diego, California; and ERIN Engineering and Research, Inc. of Walnut Creek, California. The principal contributors at ABS Consulting were Greg S. Hardy, Dr. Jorma K. Arros, and Kelly L. Merz. The principal contributors at Anatech were Dr. Y. R. Rashid and Randy James. The principal contributor at ERIN was Douglas E. True. The EPRI Project Manager was Robert P. Kassawara. The two peer reviewers were Dr. Robert P. Kennedy and Dr. Robert E. Nickell. The early phases of the effort were concerned only with nuclear power plant structures that house nuclear fuel, such as PWR and BWR containment structures, PWR and BWR spent fuel storage pools, dry spent fuel storage systems, and spent fuel transportation casks. A classified final report on these early phases was completed in February 2003 and the results have been reported to the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This presentation is based upon the portion of the results that have been released publicly by NEI.