Background
As part of the Indo-U.S. Civilian Nuclear Agreement, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) of India are working together through the USNRC-AERB Nuclear Safety Co-Operation Program. As a result of this program, the two agencies have met and discussed areas of study which would be mutually beneficial. The two agencies have agreed to cooperate in the following areas:
- New Reactor Designs
- PRA Methods & Applications/Severe Accident Analysis & Management
- Proactive Material Degradation Program
- Digital Systems Reliability and Qualification
- Operating Experience Feedback in India and U.S.
Also through this program, the USNRC and AERB shall organize and participate the Standard Problem Exercise #3 (SPE#3) round robin analysis. The SPE#3 will build on the previous round robin analysis of the NRC/NUPEC 1:4-Scale Prestressed Concrete Containment Vessel model tests performed at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL).
Research into the integrity of containment structures for nuclear power plants has been conducted in both internal and international Round Robin analyses. While the contributions of each of these efforts to the understanding of the role of containment in ensuring the safe operation on nuclear power plants is important, the most comprehensive experimental effort has been conducted at SNL, primarily under the sponsorship of the USNRC. NUREG CR 6906, "Containment Integrity Research at Sandia National Laboratories: An Overview,” summarizes the major results of the experimental efforts, the observations and insights gained from the analytical efforts for more than 25 years of Containment Integrity Research at SNL. Prior to pressure testing the scale models, a number of regulatory and research organizations were invited to participate in a pre-test Round Robin analysis to perform predictive modeling of the response of scale models to over pressurization. Seventeen organizations responded and agreed to participate in the pre-test Round Robin analysis activities. The purpose of the Containment Integrity Research at SNL was to provide a forum for researchers in the area to apply current state-of-the art analysis methodologies to predicting capacity of steel, reinforced and pre-stressed concrete containment vessels. The SPE#3 shall progress from these efforts.