Evaluation of plant operational states with the consideration of loop structures under accident conditions

Nuclear power plants have logical loop structures in their system configuration.This paper explains the method to solve a loop structure in reliability analysis. As examples of loop structured systems, the reactor core isolation cooling system and high-pressure core injection system of a boiling water reactor are considered and analyzed under a station blackout accident condition.The analysis results show the important role of loop structures under severe accidents.For the evaluation of the safety of nuclear power plants, it is necessary to accurately evaluate a loop structure's reliability.