PSAM 16 - Paper Overview

PSAM 16 Conference Paper Overview

Welcome to the PSAM 16 Conference paper and speaker overview page.

Lead Author: Tatsuya Sakurahara Co-author(s): Zahra Mohaghegh, zahra13@illinois.edu

Risk-informed Analysis for Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors: Pipe Reliability Case Study and Lessons Learned
To facilitate the design and licensing of advanced nuclear power reactors, it is imperative to conduct risk-informed analysis prior to, or in parallel with, technology developments. Significant efforts have been dedicated to the developments of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) and the establishment of the risk-informed decision-making framework for advanced reactors, such as the Licensing Modernization Project (LMP), development of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 53 and other regulatory guidance by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), as well as the issuance of the ASME/ANS Non-LWR Probabilistic Risk Assessment Standard (RA-S-1.4-2021). In this realm, the authors’ team has participated in an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Coordinated Research Project, “Methodology for Assessing Pipe Failure Rates in Advanced Water-Cooled Reactors,” 2018-2021. This presentation summarizes the research findings and lessons learned from the authors’ activities under this IAEA CRP, aimed at advancing the pipe failure rate analysis methodologies for advanced reactors. Based on the outcomes and insights from the IAEA project and other research activities by the authors’ team, the current research needs for methodological developments for the risk-informed analyses of advanced reactors are discussed. One of the key methodological challenges is that a design-specific experiential database is often limited or not available for advanced reactors, while the applicability and relevancy of the experiential data from the existing fleet to advanced reactors may be questionable due to differences in design principles, physical conditions, and operation and maintenance procedures. Additionally, the lack of consensus, validated, and peer-reviewed phenomenological models unique to the advanced reactor designs can be another challenge. This paper discusses possible research paths and examples of methodological advancements from the authors’ research activities in the IAEA project to alleviate these methodological challenges. Acknowledgment: Part of this work was conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the frame of the Coordinated Research Project I31030 on "Methodology for Assessing Pipe Failure Rates in Advanced Water-Cooled Reactors," 2018-2021.

Risk-informed Analysis for Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors: Pipe Reliability Case Study and Lessons Learned

To facilitate the design and licensing of advanced nuclear power reactors, it is imperative to conduct risk-informed analysis prior to, or in parallel with, technology developments. Significant efforts have been dedicated to the developments of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) and the establishment of the risk-informed decision-making framework for advanced reactors, such as the Licensing Modernization Project (LMP), development of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 53 and other regulatory guidance by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), as well as the issuance of the ASME/ANS Non-LWR Probabilistic Risk Assessment Standard (RA-S-1.4-2021). In this realm, the authors’ team has participated in an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Coordinated Research Project, “Methodology for Assessing Pipe Failure Rates in Advanced Water-Cooled Reactors,” 2018-2021. This presentation summarizes the research findings and lessons learned from the authors’ activities under this IAEA CRP, aimed at advancing the pipe failure rate analysis methodologies for advanced reactors. Based on the outcomes and insights from the IAEA project and other research activities by the authors’ team, the current research needs for methodological developments for the risk-informed analyses of advanced reactors are discussed. One of the key methodological challenges is that a design-specific experiential database is often limited or not available for advanced reactors, while the applicability and relevancy of the experiential data from the existing fleet to advanced reactors may be questionable due to differences in design principles, physical conditions, and operation and maintenance procedures. Additionally, the lack of consensus, validated, and peer-reviewed phenomenological models unique to the advanced reactor designs can be another challenge. This paper discusses possible research paths and examples of methodological advancements from the authors’ research activities in the IAEA project to alleviate these methodological challenges. Acknowledgment: Part of this work was conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the frame of the Coordinated Research Project I31030 on "Methodology for Assessing Pipe Failure Rates in Advanced Water-Cooled Reactors," 2018-2021.

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Author and Presentation Info

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Lead Author Name: Tatsuya Sakurahara (sakurah2@illinois.edu)

Bio: Tatsuya Sakurahara is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and is the Chief Scientist in the Socio-Technical Risk Analysis (SoTeRiA) Laboratory, directed by Dr. Zahra Mohaghegh. He is involved in large-scale PRA projects, developing methodologies and computational platforms to advance PRA for commercial nuclear power plants and advanced reactors. Sakurahara holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering (2018) from UIUC. His Ph.D. research focused on developing the Integrated PRA methodology to increase the realism of risk estimation for nuclear power plants. His Ph.D. research contributed to advanced techniques for uncertainty analysis, importance measures, and simulation-informed common cause failure modeling. Sakurahara received a BS in Environment and Energy Systems (2011) and an MSc in Nuclear Engineering and Management (2013) from the University of Tokyo, Japan.

Country: United States of America
Company: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Job Title: Research Assistant Professor