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Quality is key: Investing in advanced nuclear research for tomorrow’s grid
As the energy sector faces mounting pressure to grow at an unprecedented pace while maintaining reliability and affordability, nuclear technology remains an essential component of the long-term solution. Southern Company stands out among U.S. utilities for its proactive role in shaping these next-generation systems—not just as a future customer, but as a hands-on innovator.
Jacob A. Farber, Daniel G. Cole, Ahmad Y. Al Rashdan, Vaibhav Yadav
Nuclear Technology | Volume 205 | Number 8 | August 2019 | Pages 1043-1052
Technical Paper – Special section on Big Data for Nuclear Power Plants | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1534484
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper presents data-driven methods to detect loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCAs) in the primary side of a pressurized water reactor. Process data for a variety of accident scenarios have been generated and collected using a generic pressurized water reactor simulator. The data have been used to train kernel density functions, which estimate nonparametric probability density functions based on training data. These density functions have then been used with Bayesian hypothesis testing and maximum likelihood estimation to detect the onset of the LOCAs and to identify where in the primary side the leaks have occurred. The methods have been able to detect the LOCAs for all scenarios tested with an average detection delay of one-seventh the time for the reactor to trip. Furthermore, the methods have been able to correctly identify the leak locations for 92.3% of the scenarios tested, with higher success rates for larger leaks.