Separate Effects Tests to Quantify Debris Transport to the Sump Screen

In 1997 the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an investigation into the possibility of failure of the recirculation system in nuclear power plants (Generic Safety Issue GSI-191). If a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) were to occur within the containment of a pressurised water reactor, piping thermal insulation and other materials in the vicinity of the break would be dislodged by break jet impingement.1,2 Some of this debris could eventually be transported by the recirculating water and accumulate on the suction sump screens, clogging them and causing the cooling system to fail. The NRC initiated a test programme to investigate the amount of insulation ...