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DOE OSTI2010

A Comparison of Modifications to MELCOR versions 1.8.2 and 1.8.6 for ITER Safety Analysis

During the Engineering Design Activity of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the MELCOR 1.8.2 code was selected as one of several codes to be used to perform ITER safety analyses [1]. MELCOR was chosen because it has the capability of predicting coolant pressure, temperature, mass flow rate, and radionuclide and aerosol transport in nuclear facilities and reactor cooling systems. MELCOR can also predict structural temperatures (e.g. first wall, blanket, divertor, and vacuum vessel) resulting from energy produced by radioactive decay heat and/or chemical reactions (oxidation). The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Fusion Safety Program (FSP) made fusion specific modifications to the MELCOR 1.8.2 code [2-6], including models for water freezing, air condensation, beryllium, carbon, and tungsten oxidation in steam and air environments, flow boiling in coolant loops, and radiation in enclosures, that allowed MELCOR to assess the thermal hydraulic response of ITER cooling systems and the transport of radionuclides as aerosols during accident conditions. Recently, the ITER International Organization (IO) used a “pedigreed” version of MELCOR 1.8.2 [7] to perform accident analyses for ITER’s “Rapport Préliminaire de Sûreté” (Report Preliminary on Safety - RPrS). The MELCOR thermal-hydraulics code [8] is currently under development at the Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). MELCOR is used to model the progression of severe accidents in light water fission reactors. Because MELCOR has undergone many improvements between version 1.8.2 and 1.8.6, the INL FSP decided to introduce fusion modifications into MELCOR 1.8.6, and thereby produce a version of MELCOR 1.8.6 with similar capabilities to the pedigreed version of MELCOR 1.8.2 used for the ITER RPrS. We have applied this version of MELCOR 1.8.6 to the same set of problems used in the MELCOR 1.8.2 pedigree analysis [7]. Section 2 describes a non-regression analysis that involves comparing the results from the modified version of MELCOR 1.8.6 against those predicted by the original, unmodified version of MELCOR 1.8.6. The purpose of this non-regression analysis is to demonstrate that the modifications made to the MELCOR 1.8.6 code do not drastically alter the intended functions of the MELCOR base code, and if they do to explain why the departure occurs and if the change is needed. The analysis was performed using the demonstration problem that came with the MELCOR 1.8.6 source distribution. Section 3 makes a comparison between the pedigreed version of MELCOR 1.8.2 and the new modified version of MELCOR 1.8.6 on a set of accident problems used by the ITER Joint Central Team (JCT) in the Generic Site Safety Report (GSSR) [9]. Finally, in section 4, the two versions of the code are compared on a series of developmental test problems described in the change documents [2-4, 6].

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Economic Model for Estimation of GDP Losses in the MACCS Offsite Consequence Analysis Code

The MACCS (MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System) code is the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) tool used to perform probabilistic health and economic consequence assessments for atmospheric releases of radionuclides. It is also used by international organizations, both reactor owners and regulators. It is intended and most commonly used for hypothetical accidents that could potentially occur in the future rather than to evaluate past accidents or to provide emergency response during an ongoing accident. It is designed to support probabilistic risk and consequence analyses and is used by the NRC, U.S. nuclear licensees, the Department of Energy, and international vendors, licensees, and regulators. This report describes the modeling framework, implementation, verification, and benchmarking of a GDP-based model for economic losses that has recently been developed as an alternative to the original cost-based economic loss model in MACCS. The GDP-based model has its roots in a code developed by Sandia National Laboratories for the Department of Homeland Security to estimate short-term losses from natural and manmade accidents, called the Regional Economic Accounting analysis tool (REAcct). This model was adapted and modified for MACCS and is now called the Regional Disruption Economic Impact Model (RDEIM). It is based on input-output theory, which is widely used in economic modeling. It accounts for direct losses to a disrupted region affected by an accident, indirect losses to the national economy due to disruption of the supply chain, and induced losses from reduced spending by displaced workers. RDEIM differs from REAcct in its treatment and estimation of indirect loss multipliers, elimination of double counting associated with inter-industry trade in the affected area, and that it is designed to be used to estimate impacts for extended periods that can occur from a major nuclear reactor accident, such as the one that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi site in Japan. Most input-output models do not account for economic adaptation and recovery, and in this regard RDEIM differs from its parent, REAcct, because it allows for a user-definable national recovery period. Implementation of a recovery period was one of several recommendations made by an independent peer review panel to ensure that RDEIM is state-of-practice. For this and several other reasons, RDEIM differs from REAcct. Both the original and the RDEIM economic loss models account for costs from evacuation and relocation, decontamination, depreciation, and condemnation. Where the original model accounts for an expected rate of return, based on the value of property, that is lost during interdiction, the RDEIM model instead accounts for losses of GDP based on the industrial sectors located within a county. The original model includes costs for disposal of crops and milk that the RDEIM model currently does not, but these costs tend to contribute insignificantly to the overall losses. This document discusses three verification exercises to demonstrate that the RDEIM model is implemented correctly in MACCS. It also describes a benchmark study at five nuclear power plants chosen to represent the spectrum of U.S. commercial sites. The benchmarks provide perspective on the expected differences between the RDEIM and the original cost-based economic loss models. The RDEIM model is shown to consistently predict larger losses than the original model, probably in part because it accounts for national losses by including indirect and induced losses; whereas, the original model only accounts for regional losses. Nonetheless, the RDEIM model predicts losses that are remarkably consistent with the original cost-based model, differing by 16% at most for the five sites combined with three source terms considered in this benchmark.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Development of the SharkFin Distribution for Fuel Lifetime Estimates in Severe Accident Codes

Historically, MELCOR has employed models at various degrees of fidelity for evaluating fuel mechanical response to the effects of cladding oxidation, material interactions (i.e., intermetallic formation), Zircaloy melting, fuel swelling, and other processes that occur at very high temperatures. In lieu of detailed models, a simple temperature-based criterion is used to define the threshold beyond which normal ('intact') fuel rod geometry can no longer be maintained, and the core materials at a particular location collapse into particulate debris. The temperature-based criterion reflects physico-chemical processes that affect fuel rod integrity. Using a composite of information, such as from the PHEBUS studies, four data points were log-linearly interpolated to create the rod collapse criteria used in the SOARCA study. This time-at-temperature (TaT) criterion was introduced in an attempt to avoid non-physical cliff-edge effects that are observed during a calculation when fuel temperatures are predicted to hover just below a failure temperature for extended periods. However, the code still models local rod collapse due to high temperature as a discrete and near-instantaneous (over one time step) event at each core cell. This paper introduces the SharkFin statistical model for TaT fuel failure relationships whose median curve has recently been adopted as the default fuel failure criteria in MELCOR. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Ex-Vessel Core Melt Modeling Comparison between MELTSPREAD-CORQUENCH and MELCOR 2.1

System-level code analyses by both United States and international researchers predict major core melting, bottom head failure, and corium-concrete interaction for Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 (1F1). Although system codes such as MELCOR and MAAP are capable of capturing a wide range of accident phenomena, they currently do not contain detailed models for evaluating some ex-vessel core melt behavior. However, specialized codes containing more detailed modeling are available for melt spreading such as MELTSPREAD as well as long-term molten corium-concrete interaction (MCCI) and debris coolability such as CORQUENCH. In a preceding study, Enhanced Ex-Vessel Analysis for Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1: Melt Spreading and Core-Concrete Interaction Analyses with MELTSPREAD and CORQUENCH, the MELTSPREAD-CORQUENCH codes predicted the 1F1 core melt readily cooled in contrast to predictions by MELCOR. The user community has taken notice and is in the process of updating their systems codes; specifically MAAP and MELCOR, to improve and reduce conservatism in their ex-vessel core melt models. This report investigates why the MELCOR v2.1 code, compared to the MELTSPREAD and CORQUENCH 3.03 codes, yield differing predictions of ex-vessel melt progression. To accomplish this, the differences in the treatment of the ex-vessel melt with respect to melt spreading and long-term coolability are examined. The differences in modeling approaches are summarized, and a comparison of example code predictions is provided.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2020

AniMACCS User Guide

AniMACCS is a utility code in the MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System (MACCS) software suite that allows for certain MACCS output information to be visually displayed and overlaid onto a geospatial map background. AniMACCS was developed by Sandia National Laboratories for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. MACCS is designed to calculate health and economic consequences following a release of radioactive material in the atmosphere. MACCS accomplishes this by modeling the atmospheric dispersion, deposition, and consequences of the release, which depend on several factors including the source term, weather, population, economic, and land-use characteristics of the impacted geographical area. From these inputs, MACCS determines the characteristics of the plume, as well as ground and air concentrations as a function of time and radionuclide.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗