Development of a PSA-based safety assessment and management framework for nuclear-based hydrogen generation system.

Abstract

The nuclear-based Cooper-Chloride (Cu-Cl) thermochemical cycle a promising method for future large-scale hydrogen generation. The nuclear-based hydrogen generation leads to new challenge for system safety due to the complexity of the co-generation system. In this research, a PSA-based framework for safety assessment and safety management of the nuclear-based hydrogen generation system is developed to perform a risk-informed design for Cu-Cl cycle. Two major safety challenges, LOCA and the hydrogen accidents, are analyzed in details with the PSA-based safety management framework. The PSA study shows that nuclear risks are effectively reduced by the reactor safety system, while the major risk is the hydrogen accidents. Based on the safety assessment result, safety instrumented system (SIS) is designed to control the hydrogen accidents. Different SIS configurations are compared numerically, which demonstrate the advantages of PSA-based methodology in controlling the uncertainty of the safety study.