Preliminary evaluation of aircraft impact on a near term nuclear power plant

For the assessment of the safety and durability of a nuclear power plant (NPP), the containment building behaviour shall be evaluated, under various service and extreme conditions, both natural or produced by natural accident or vicious man activities, like September 2001 jet aircraft crashes.The aim of this paper is to preliminary evaluate the effects and consequences of the energy transmitted to the outer containment walls (according to the international safety and design code guidelines, as NRC or IAEA ones) due to a military or civil aircraft impact into a nuclear plant, considered as a ‘beyond design basis’ event.To perform reliable analysis of such a large-scale structure and determine the structural effects of the propagation of this types of impulsive loads (response of containment structure), a realistic but still feasible numerical model with suitable materials characteristics were used by means of which relevant physical phenomena are reflected. Moreover a sensitivity analysis has also been carried out considering the effects of different containment wall thickness and reinforced/prestressed concrete features. The obtained results were analysed to check the NPP containment strength margins.

► The effects of military/civilian airplanes crash in a NPP were evaluated.
► We adequately simulated the global response and safety margin of an SMR reactor.
► The analyses allowed to represent the progressive failure/damaging processes.
► The outer containment seemed to suffer some localized penetration and spalling.
► The results highlighted the plant integrity is ensured despite the impact damages.