NRC Rst Assessment 26march11

OfficialUseOnlyRSTAssessmentofFukushimaDaiichiUnits,BasedonmostrecentavailabledataandinputfromINPO,GEH,EPRI,NavalReactors(withBettisandKAPL),andDOEINE2100hrs

3/26/2011

ThepurposeofthisdocumentistoprovidetheNRCReactorSafetyTeam'sassessmentandrecommendationsfortheFukushima-DaiichireactorstotheUSNRCteaminJapan.Ourassessmentsandrecommendationsarebasedonthebestavailabletechnicalinformation.Weacknowledgethattheinformationissubjecttochangeandrefinement.

UNITONEASSUMPTIONS:

(basedoninputfrommultipledatasource:JAIF,NISA,TEPCO,

&

GEH)CoreStatus:Coreiscontainedinthereactorpressurevessel,reactorwaterlevelisunknown.Thevolumeofseawaterinjectedtocoolthecorehasleftenoughsalttofillthelowerplenumtothecoreplate.(GEH,INPO,Bettis,KAPL).Vesseltemperaturesandpressures:149°Catbottomdrainand197°CatFWnozzle(NISA1800JDT

3/25)

RPVat65.7psia(increasingtrend),DWandtoruspressureat40psia(decreasingtrend)(NISA1800JDT3/25).CoreCooling:Currentlyfreshwaterinjectionwithnoboron,injectingthroughfeedwater120llminor31.7g/m(NISA);Injectionflowratewillbemaintainedabovetheminimumdebrisretentioninjectionrate(MDRIR).Recirculationpumpsealshavelikelyfailed.(GEH);InjectionflowrateaboveMDRIRcouldnotbemaintainedthroughcorespray.AssumeRHRisnotavailable.PrimaryContainment:Notdamaged,40psiaDrywellandTorushydrogenandoxygenconcentrationsareunknown.Thestatusofthenitrogenpurgecapabilityisunknown.Anexplosivemixtureispossible.SecondaryContainment:Severelydamaged(hydrogenexplosion).SpentFuelPool:Fuelcovered,noseawaterinjected-(JAIF,NISA,TEPCO).Thefuelinthispoolisallover12yearsoldandverylittleheatinput«0.1MW)(DOE)Radlevels:DW4780

R/hr,

Torus3490

Rlhr

(sourceinstrumentsunknown),Outsideplant:

26mRlhr

atgate(variable)(INPO0900hrs

3/25/11)

Other:Electricpoweravailable,equipmenttestinginprogress(JAIF,NISA,TEPCO)ExternalACpowertotheMainControlRoomofU-Ibecameavailableat11:30JDT

3/24/2011.

LightinginMainControlRoomoperatinginU-I.ReactorwaterisintheTurbineBuildingbasement(NISA).

NOTE:

Recommendationsarebasedonvalidityofaboveassumptions.

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OfficialUseOnlyRSTAssessmentofFukushimaDaiichiUnits,BasedonmostrecentavailabledataandinputfromINPO,GEH,EPRI,NavalReactors(withBettisandKAPL),andDOEINE2100hrs

3/26/2011

ThepurposeofthisdocumentistoprovidetheNRCReactorSafetyTeam'sassessmentandrecommendationsfortheFukushima-DaiichireactorstotheUSNRCteaminJapan.

OUf

assessmentsandrecommendationsarebasedonthebestavailabletechnicalinformation.Weacknowledgethattheinformationissubjecttochangeandrefinement.

ASSESSMENT:Damagedfuelthatmayhaveslumpedtothebottomofthecoreandfuelinthelowerregionofthecoreislikelyencasedinsaltandcoreflowisseverelyrestrictedandlikelyblocked.Thecorespraynozzlesarelikelysalteduprestrictingcoresprayflow.Injectingfreshwaterthroughthefeedwatersystemiscoolingthevesselbutlimitedifanyflowpastthefuel.GEbelievesthatwaterflow,ifnotblocked,shouldbefillingtheannulusregionofthevesselto2/3coreheight.Thereislikelynowaterlevelinsidethecorebarrel.Naturalcirculationbelievedimpededbycoredamage.Itisdifficulttodeterminehowmuchcoolingisgettingtothefuel.Vesseltemperaturereadingsarelikelymetaltemperaturewhichlagsactualconditions.Thefuelpoolisslowlyheatingandhasnotreachedsaturation.Overheadphotos(on-3119)showentirefuelfloorcoveredbygrey-browndebrisofbuildingroof.Theprimarycontainmentisnotdamaged.RECOMMENDATIONS:(forconsiderationtostabilizeUnit

1)

FollowguidelinesofSAMG-l,

PrimaryContainmentFlooding,

LegRC/F-4,

CanyourestoreandholdRPVinjectionrateabovetheMinimumDebrisRetentionInjectionRate(MDRIR)?

1.InjectintotheRPVwithallavailableresourceswhilemaintainingtotalRPVinjectionflowatthecurrentflowrate(mustmaintaingreaterthanMDRIR).Systemstouseare:a.corespray,evenatreducedflowrateb.feedwatersystemc.othersystemsastheybecomeavailable2.Restorenitrogenpurgecapability.Whenrestored,establishpurgeandventcycletominimizeexplosivepotential.3.RPVinjectioncanbemaximizedwhenthecontainmenthasbeenpurgedwithnitrogenandvented.4.Noovertactionisnecessarytoinjectintotheprimarycontainment.TheprimarycontainmentinjectionflowpathisthroughtheRPV.5.Ventcontainment:(seeAdditionalConsiderationsA.I.throughA.S.below)a.Tomaintaincontainmentpressurebelowtheprimarycontainmentpressurelimit.b.AsnecessarytomaintainRPVinjectionaboveMDRIR.

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OfficialUseOnlyRSTAssessmentofFukushimaDaiichiUnits,BasedonmostrecentavailabledataandinputfromINPO,GEH,EPRI,NavalReactors(withBettisandKAPL),andDOEINE2100hrs

3/26/2011

ThepurposeofthisdocumentistoprovidetheNRCReactorSafetyTeam'sassessmentandrecommendationsfortheFukushima-DaiichireactorstotheUSNRCteaminJapan.Ourassessmentsandrecommendationsarebasedonthebestavailabletechnicalinformation.Weacknowledgethattheinformationissubjecttochangeandrefinement.

6.Stopinjectingfromsourcesoutsideofprimarycontainmentpriortoprimarycontainmentwaterlevelreachingthedrywellvent.Thegoalistoraiseprimarycontainmentwaterleveltoatleastthetopofactivefuel(TAF).(seeAdditionalConsiderations

Ci

l.throughC.3.below).

AdditionalConsiderations

A.

Thefollowingconsiderationsapplytocontainmentventing:1.

If

theprimarycontainmentisventedthenpurgethedrywellwithnitrogenatmaximumflow.2.

If

thetorusisventedthenpurgethetoruswithnitrogenatmaximumflow.3.Attempttoinertwithnitrogenpriortoventingandespeciallybeforeutilizingcontainmentspray,butdonotdelayventingorsprayingthecontainmentifthatisneeded,justtoinert.4.Steam/condensingcouldjeopardizeinertenvironment,asthespraywillremovesteamwhichispreventinghydrogendetonation5.Hydrogengasproductionismoreprevalentinsaltwaterthaninfreshwater.Oxygenfromtheinjectedseawatermaycomeoutofsolutionandcreateahazardousatmosphereinsideprimarycontainment.Theradiolysisofwaterwillgenerateadditionaloxygen.Maintainventingcapability.6.Containmentsprayshouldbesecuredbefore2psigtopreventopeningvacuumbreakers.7.Spraywateronsteamplumesandplannedcontainmentventsforscrubbingeffect.8.Avoidatmosphericthermalinversion(intheafternoon)whenventingtominimizedose.B.AdditionalMiscellaneousconsiderations

1.

Whenfloodingcontainment,considertheimplicationsofwaterweightonseismiccapabilityofcontainment.2.Boratewaterifpossible.(Withsaltinvessel,considereffectofacidicconditionsinvesselwhendecidinghowmuchborontoadd.)

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