EEE 487 Nuclear Power Engineering

(Auxiliaries, instrumentation and control)

Lectures prepared
by
Prof. S. Shahnawaz Ahmed
For subsequent materials assistance mainly taken from the following references.

1.Raymond L. Murray and Keith E. Holbert, Nuclear Energy : An Introduction

to the Concepts, Systems, and Applications of Nuclear Processes; Elsevier, NY,
2020 (Eighth Edition).

2.IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS SERIES No. SSG-62: DESIGN OF AUXILIARY

SYSTEMS AND SUPPORTING SYSTEMS FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS;
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, VIENNA, 2020

3. USNRC Technical Training Center: Reactor Concepts Manual “Pressurized

Water Reactor Systems”.

4. Andrija Volkanovski and Miguel Peinador Veira: “Analysis of Loss of

Essential Power System Reported in Nuclear Power Plants”, Hindawi Science
and Technology of Nuclear Installations Volume 2018, Article ID 3671640.

5. Various URLs
 DEFINITIONS AND FUNCTIONS OF AUXILIARY SYSTEMS AND SUPPORTING SYSTEMS

•A nuclear power plant has the following main (or primary) systems:
the reactor core, the reactor coolant systems, and the containment structure and containment system,
as well as their associated safety systems and safety features .
•The remaining systems are considered auxiliary to the main systems and their associated features.
•A stepwise approach to defining auxiliary systems is shown in Fig. “A”.

The requirement Nos. are those mentioned in IAEA safety guide.

FIG “A”. The auxiliary systems and supporting systems , covered by IAEA Safety Guide
•An auxiliary system is a system that, on its own, has no primary function in ensuring the
operation of the nuclear power plant, but that has to be available for other systems,
including the main systems, to carry out their functions.

•Alternatively, an auxiliary system could be a system (e.g. communication systems,

compressed air system) that provides services for the operation of the nuclear power
plant. Auxiliary systems can provide ‘essential services’, namely the resources necessary to
maintain the operability of a safety system.

They can also provide supplies to systems important to safety. Such supplies could include
electricity, water, compressed air, air-conditioning, or fuel and lubricants.
The auxiliary systems and supporting systems are mainly as follows:

(1) Communication systems

(2) Heat transport systems
(3) The process and post-accident sampling system
(4) Fire protection systems.
(5) The steam supply system and feed water system
(6) Radiation protection systems
(7) The process radiation monitoring system
(8) The compressed air system
(9) Air-conditioning systems and ventilation systems
(10)Lighting and emergency lighting systems
(11) Overhead lifting equipment
(12) Systems for treatment and control of radioactive waste and radioactive effluents
(13)Supporting systems for the emergency power supply and the alternate power
source
(14) New and spent fuel storage and handling systems
(15) floor drainage system
(16) the demineralized water reserve and associated system.
Electrical Power System of an NPP
 Lines going to grid
Arrow legend:

•Supply to auxiliaries
from grid when the NPP
or standby supply is not
in operation

•In case of grid disturbances

or outage of both NPP
generator and grid, the
safety power supply system
feeds the auxiliaries

•Evacuation of power
from NPP to grid in
normal mode. A part of
NPP output also goes to
auxiliaries in normal
mode when standby i.e.
safety power supply
system is not in operation

Batteries are the last alternate

source but not shown in this
Figure

FIG. Relationship of electrical power supplies important to safety, safety

power supplies and the preferred power supply for a nuclear power plant.
The NPP electrical energy distribution system, can also be generally divided into
offsite and on-site power system as shown in Figure 1.

The off-site power system is the external grid to which the NPP electrical power
output goes.

The on-site power system consists of electrical systems that are required for safe and
reliable operation of the NPP.
The safety related on-site power subsystem comprises emergency power sources
and is designed as class 1E as marked in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Example of NPP electrical energy distribution system
•According to IEEE 308 standard, Class 1E subsystem refers to power supply to
safety related electrical equipment that are essential to emergency reactor
shutdown, containment isolation, reactor core cooling, and containment and
reactor heat removal or that are otherwise essential in preventing significant
release of radioactive material to the environment.

•Non Class 1E subsystem refers to power supply to those equipment which

are not crucial like class 1E equipment.
 •The emergency power sources consist of alternate power sources—emergency
diesel generators (EDG) and direct current sources—batteries.

•The EDGs are expected to start and provide electrical power when electrical
power from the power grid or main generator is unavailable.

The event of loss of electrical power from external power grid is named loss of off
site power (LOOP) event.

The failure of the plant EDG’s concurrently with the LOOP results in loss of all
alternate power sources and is known as station blackout (SBO) event.

During the SBO event the most important instrumentation and control systems
are powered by the batteries for the time period referred to as station blackout
coping time .

The importance of the electrical power system and implications of the system
failure on the plant safety can best be understood by the example of the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear power plant where the power and cooling of three nuclear reactors
were shut down by a Tsunami consequent to an earthquake.
 Class 1E supply for I&C:
The IAEA defines safety important I&C systems as those systems that are essential for
prevention of the radiation exposure of site personnel or members of the public .
Examples of I&C systems important to safety include the following:

(i) Reactor protection systems

(ii) Reactor reactivity control systems and their monitoring systems
(iii) Reactor cooling, emergency power supplies and containment isolation control and
monitoring
(iv) Control and monitoring
(v) Accident monitoring instrumentation

The essential I&C systems should be available during all operational states and design
basis accident conditions. The essential I&C is powered, as shown in Figure 1, from the
following sources through uninterruptible power supplies:

(i) The plant generator during normal operation

(ii) Offsite power grid in case of plant shutdown
(iii) On-site emergency diesel generators when plant generator and offsite grid are lost
(iv) Station batteries in case of loss of all other alternate current power sources.

The batteries are the ultimate source of electrical power for the auxiliaries and I&C in
the nuclear power plant.
Battery string:
For the nuclear power plants, the lead-acid flooded tubular plate batteries shown in
Figure 2 are utilized.

The battery is designed to be robust and environmentally and seismically qualified .

 The desired DC voltage is obtained with the connection of the batteries in series
with insulated flexible or solid non-insulated connectors.
For example, the 125-volt DC battery consists of 60 lead-acid cells connected in series.

 The voltage of the batteries depends on the design of the plant, with voltages of
125V DC or 250V DC identified for the Generation III+ NPP designs.

Batteries are connected to the converters that invert the direct current into
alternating current. The converters also act as rectifiers for the charging of the
batteries from grid supply. The converters and batteries are referred to as the
uninterruptible essential power supply system.
Figure 2: Lead-acid flooded tubular plate batteries and battery string
 Auxiliary building

A building at a nuclear power plant , which is frequently located adjacent to the

reactor containment structure, and houses most of the auxiliary and safety
systems associated with the reactor, such as radioactive waste systems,
chemical and volume control systems, and emergency cooling water systems
(ECWS) or emergency core cooling system (ECCS).

MSR: Moisture
Separator Reheater

RHR: Residual
Heat Removal

The motor for RCP (Reactor Coolant Pump) is a large, air cooled, electric motor. The horsepower rating of the motor is from 6,000 to
10,000 horsepower. This large amount of power is needed in order to provide the necessary flow (approximately 100,000 gallons per
minute per pump) of coolant for heat removal
Emergency Core Cooling Systems
There are two purposes of the emergency core cooling systems (ECCS).

•The first is to provide core cooling to minimize fuel damage following a loss of coolant
accident (LOCA). This is accomplished by the injection of large amounts of cool,
borated water into the reactor coolant system.

•The second is to provide extra neutron poisons to ensure the reactor remains
shutdown following the cool down associated with a main steam line rupture, which is
accomplished by the use of the same borated water source.

This borated water source is called the refueling water storage tank (RWST).

To perform this function of injection of large quantities of borated water, the emergency
core cooling systems consist of four separate systems. In order of highest pressure to
lowest pressure, these systems are: the high pressure injection (or charging) system, the
intermediate pressure injection system, the cold leg accumulators, and the low pressure
injection system (residual heat removal). Even though the diagram shows only one pump
in each system, there are actually two, each of which is capable of providing sufficient
flow.
Also, these systems must be able to operate when the normal supply of power is lost to
the plant. In that case, these systems are powered from the plant emergency (diesel
generators) power system.
 Residual or Decay Heat Removal:

When the reactor is shutdown, the core will still continue to generate decay or
residual heat. The heat is removed by bypassing the turbine and dumping the steam
directly to the condenser. The shutdown cooling mode of the residual heat removal
(RHR) system is used to complete the cool down process when reactor coolant
pressure decreases to approximately 50 psig i.e. only 50+14.7=64.7 psia compared to
2200 psia in normal mode.

The low pressure injection system (residual heat removal) is designed to inject water
from the refueling water storage tank into the reactor coolant system during large
breaks, which would cause a very low reactor coolant system pressure.

In addition, the residual heat removal system has a feature that allows it to take water
from the containment sump, pump it through the residual heat removal system heat
exchanger for cooling, and then send the cooled water back to the reactor for core
cooling. This is the method of cooling that will be used when the refueling water
storage tank goes empty after a large primary system break. This is called the long
term core cooling or recirculation mode.
There are also two systems designed with the purpose of reducing containment
temperature and pressure after an accident in the containment building.

• The fan cooler system circulates the air through heat exchangers to accomplish
the cooling.

•The second system is the containment spray system.

The containment spray pump will take a suction from the refueling water storage
tank and pump the water into spray rings located in the upper part of the
containment. The water droplets, being cooler than the steam, will remove heat
from the steam, which will cause the steam to condense. This will cause a
reduction in the pressure of the building and will also reduce the temperature of
the containment atmosphere (similar to the operation of the pressurizer).

Like the residual heat removal system, the containment spray system has the
capability to take water from the containment sump if the refueling water storage
tank goes empty.
 I&C:
A nuclear power plant (NPP) contains thousands of components and equipment,
such as motors, pumps or valves that have to be operated in a well-coordinated
way.

This coordination is performed by instrumentation and control (I&C) systems.

These systems allow plant personnel to monitor the status of the NPP more
effectively, identify opportunities for improved performance of equipment and
systems, and anticipate, understand and respond to potential problems.

Essentially, the purpose of I&C systems in NPPs is to enable and support safe and
reliable power generation through controlling the plant processes.

The I&C system architecture, together with plant operations personnel,

serves as the "central nervous system" of an NPP.
The instrumentation and control (I&C) system , through its constituent
elements, such as equipment, modules, sensors, transmitters, motors, valves
and others,

(1) provides continuous information on status, including neutron flux,

power level, power distribution, pressure, temperatures, water level,
and control rod position;

(2) provides commands to trip the reactor if preset limits are exceeded;

and

(3) reports deviations from normal or failures of components.

Traditionally, the I&C systems were of the analog type, involving a sensor, a
feedback circuit, and a display device. Obsolescence is motivating the industry to
convert to digital I&C, which consists of computer software and
microprocessor-based hardware.

Modern digital measurement and monitoring systems can ensure physical and
cyber security, if designed with security as a core requirement.