Conceptual design of passive containment cooling system with air holdup tanks in the concrete containment of improved APR+

The accident of the Fukushima nuclear power plant emphasized passive systems against prolonged station blackout. This paper aims at conceptual design of passive containment cooling system (PCCS) based on APR+, an advanced PWR developed in Korea with passive auxiliary feedwater system (PAFS). In the design, decay heat removal rate is to be maximized by introducing air holdup tanks (AHT). The AHT is an isolated space disposed above IRWST and is connected to the containment free space by vent lines through IRWST water and PAFS heat exchangers (HXs), where steam generated by decay heat is condensed. Since a lot of steam is condensed through in-tube HXs and IRWST water, air is mainly transported into the AHT decreasing air mass fraction near HXs inside containment and increasing heat transfer rates. Several design options (AHT volume, flow distribution in vent lines, HX types) are evaluated via scoping analysis. The scoping analysis had proved that AHT (>10% containment volume) decreased the required number of PCCS HXs to be installed less than a half, failure of valves caused marginal increase in HXs to be installed, and external HXs had merits over in-tube HXs for long term cooling.