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The ORNL study of safety-related aspects of nuclear power plant control systems consists of two interrelated tasks: (1) failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) that identified single and multiple component failures that might lead to significant plant upsets and (2) computer models that used these failures as initial conditions and traced the dynamic impact on the control system and remainder of the plant. This report describes the simulation of Oconee Unit 1, the first plant analyzed. A first-principles, best-estimate model was developed and implemented on a hybrid computer consisting of AD-4 analog and PDP-10 digital machines. Controls were placed primarily on the analog to use its interactive capability to simulate operator action. 48 refs., 138 figs., 15 tabs.

This report summarizes the results of a study to assess the predictive capabilities of three radionuclide inventory/depletion computer codes, ORIGEN2, ORIGEN-S, and CINDER-2. The task was accomplished through a series of comparisons of their output for several light-water reactor (LWR) models (i.e., verification). Of the five cases chosen, two modeled typical boiling-water reactors (BWR) at burnups of 27.5 and 40 GWd/MTU and two represented typical pressurized-water reactors (PWR) at burnups of 33 and 50 GWd/MTU. In the fifth case, identical input data were used for each of the codes to examine the results of decay only and to show differences in nuclear decay constants and decay heat rates. Comparisons were made for several different characteristics (mass, radioactivity, and decay heat rate) for 52 radionuclides and for nine decay periods ranging from 30 d to 10,000 years. Only fission products and actinides were considered. The results are presented in comparative-ratio tables for each of the characteristics, decay periods, and cases. A brief summary description of each of the codes has been included. Of the more than 21,000 individual comparisons made for the three codes (taken two at a time), nearly half (45%) agreed to within 1%, and an additional 17% fellmore » within the range of 1 to 5%. Approximately 8% of the comparison results disagreed by more than 30%. However, relatively good agreement was obtained for most of the radionuclides that are expected to contribute the greatest impact to waste disposal. Even though some defects have been noted, each of the codes in the comparison appears to produce respectable results. 12 figs., 12 tabs.« less