RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT OF EMERGENCY EXHAUST SYSTEM IN A POOL-TYPE RESEARCH REACTOR

The reliability of an extract system in a swimming-pool-type research reactor has been assessed. A global fault-tree analysis technique has been utilized. The basic event reliability data is based on both generic and reactor specific informations. The unavailability of the extract system is quantified in terms of the unavailability of the various functional requirements of the system. The unavailability is expressed as the probability of failure on demand. The computer system unavailability is determined from the minimal cutsets of the system. It is found that only three events have a major contribution to the top event, i.e., failures of compressed air supply, electric power supply and solenoid valve. A sensitivity analysis is performed to show the effects of variations in the data values of the dominant cutsets. An uncertainty analysis was also performed on the fault tree. The evaluations show that the reactor extract system lacks diversity and redundancy in most of its components. It is tolerant of most minor degradations, as these are taken care of by the operating policies and procedures. However, it can not tolerate common cause failures, e.g., simultaneous compressed air and electric power supply failure. Based upon the results obtained, some recommendations are made.