Hydrodynamic Containment for Underground Nuclear Power Plants

The containment capability of mined subterranean caverns for siting nuclear power plants depends on the flow of groundwater through porous media surrounding the cavern. For a simple cylindrical containment cavern, design correlations were developed relating depth of burial to cavern overpressure. Considering 50 psig as the maximum containment overpressure following a postulated loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), the minimum depth of burial below the groundwater table for a cavern of 50-ft radius is ∼200 ft. These conditions assure no cavern water flow through the rock to the atmosphere and no cavern contaminant seepage into the groundwater following a postulated LOCA.