CFD Study of Spent Fuel Pool Sloshing at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant Induced by The 2024 NotoPeninsula Earthquake

Nuclear power facilities store spent nuclear fuel in spent fuel pools (SFP), necessitating continuous cooling to ensure safety. The occurrence of overflow events, driven by sloshing phenomena, directly impacts the ability to maintains cooling functions and attenuates the radiation shielding capabilities, thereby presenting substential risks. In this study, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was conducted using STAR-CCM+ Ver. 2302, to estimate the overflow volume resulting from sloshing at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant unit 6 (KK6) and 7 (KK7) following the Noto Peninsula earthquake in fiscal year 2024. The analysis was validated using infrared camera footage and on-site measurements of overflow volume at KK6, confirming that the analytical method possesses sufficient computational accuracy. Furthermore, the study revealed that the differences in overflow volume between KK6 and KK7 were primarily due to the interconnectivity of the pools. This research highlights critical insights into the dynamics of sloshing during seismic events and underscores the utility of advanced simulation tools in engineering risk assessments.