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George E. Apostolakis. Patalano, Giovanbattista Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering 2009-03-16T19:42:02Z 2009-03-16T19:42:02Z 2007 2007 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44780 300291526 Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-49). The failure probability of a passive decay heat removal system after a LOCA is evaluated as part of a risk-informed design process for a helium-cooled fast reactor. The system was modeled using RELAP5-3D. The epistemic uncertainties in input parameters as well as the epistemic model uncertainties in the code were assessed and propagated through the model using Latin hypercube sampling. The changes in the design that we investigated reduced the overall failure probability of the system by reducing the impact of the major contributor to the failure probability. Sensitivity analyses led to two unexpected results. First, the key factors affecting the system failure probability are the location of the thermal insulation (inside or outside the hot leg) and the uncertainty in the insulation thermal conductivity. Second, the heat transfer coefficient in the core is not as important as one might expect. Our results show that the heat transfer coefficient in the containment structures is more important. Different methods for sensitivity analysis were applied and gave consistent results. Giovanbattista Patalano. S.M. 121 p. eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 Nuclear Science and Engineering. Risk-informed design changes for a passive cooling system Thesis application/pdf false Publication unknown unknown <Publication xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/1.1/" id="e2c6949b-3a94-4c17-8e94-2ec8c013f3c0"> <Type xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/vocab/COAR_Publication_Types">http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843</Type> <Language>eng</Language> <Title>Risk-informed design changes for a passive cooling system</Title> <PublishedIn> <Publication> </Publication> </PublishedIn> <PublicationDate>2007</PublicationDate> <Authors> <Author> <DisplayName>Patalano, Giovanbattista</DisplayName> <Affiliation> <OrgUnit> </OrgUnit> </Affiliation> </Author> </Authors> <Editors> </Editors> <Publishers> <Publisher> <DisplayName>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</DisplayName> <OrgUnit /> </Publisher> </Publishers> <License>http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582</License> <Keyword>Nuclear Science and Engineering.</Keyword> <Abstract>The failure probability of a passive decay heat removal system after a LOCA is evaluated as part of a risk-informed design process for a helium-cooled fast reactor. The system was modeled using RELAP5-3D. The epistemic uncertainties in input parameters as well as the epistemic model uncertainties in the code were assessed and propagated through the model using Latin hypercube sampling. The changes in the design that we investigated reduced the overall failure probability of the system by reducing the impact of the major contributor to the failure probability. Sensitivity analyses led to two unexpected results. First, the key factors affecting the system failure probability are the location of the thermal insulation (inside or outside the hot leg) and the uncertainty in the insulation thermal conductivity. Second, the heat transfer coefficient in the core is not as important as one might expect. Our results show that the heat transfer coefficient in the containment structures is more important. Different methods for sensitivity analysis were applied and gave consistent results.</Abstract> <Access xmlns="http://purl.org/coar/access_right" > </Access> </Publication>