Safety Analysis of a Nuclear Power Plant against Unexpected Tsunamis

Abstract

The East Sea (Sea of Japan), surrounded by Korea, Japan, and Russia, is highly vulnerable to catastrophic tsunamis. Several nuclear power plants (NPPs) operate along the eastern coast of Korea and several more are under construction. Unexpected tsunamis can affect these power plants. The safety of NPPs has attracted worldwide attention since the Fukushima NPP accident. In this study, a coupled numerical model comprising propagation and run-up models was employed to investigate the safety of an NPP against unexpected tsunami attacks. The maximum and minimum tsunami heights and arrival times of the leading tsunami were numerically predicted to ensure the safety of the Uljin NPP, where six plants are already operational and two more are under construction. The predicted numerical results were compared with the safety guidelines proposed by relevant authorities. These results indicate that NPPs are reasonably safe from unexpected tsunamis. Additionally, we confirmed that the tsunami heights and arrival times of a leading tsunami becomes smaller and delayed as the latitude of the epicenter increased.