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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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World Bank, IAEA partner to fund nuclear energy
The World Bank and the International Atomic Energy Agency signed an agreement last week to cooperate on the construction and financing of advanced nuclear projects in developing countries, marking the first partnership since the bank ended its ban on funding for nuclear energy projects.
Marco Pellegrini, Hiroaki Suzuki, Hideo Mizouchi, Masanori Naitoh
Nuclear Technology | Volume 186 | Number 2 | May 2014 | Pages 241-254
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-107
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Because of the high-magnitude earthquake and consequent tsunami that struck the east coast of Japan on March 11, 2011, at 14:46, Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant experienced station blackout (SBO) resulting in a nuclear accident unprecedented in time and extent. Simulation of such an accident by means of computer codes is largely dependent on the applied boundary conditions and physical models. However, still-unknown boundary conditions and unclear phenomena result in uncertain computed quantities. In this study, first, the boundary conditions of emergency systems are theoretically derived, starting from a discussion of the reactor available measured quantities and related uncertainties. Then, newly implemented physical models (e.g., wetwell condensation mechanism), which were not accounted for in historical studies of long-term SBOs, are explained. As an early method for accident clarification and explanation regarding effective boundary conditions, results from the SAMPSON severe accident code were compared with theoretical values. The results of SAMPSON compared with the measured quantities available have shown that despite successful safety operations performed by the plant operators in Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3, the eventual lack of batteries (for systems operation and measurement reading) led to plant conditions of low core water level at high pressure, nullifying the attempt of the subsequent alternative water injection to prevent core degradation.