• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.11 no.10
• /
• pp.3885-3892
• /
• 2010

Safety-Critical systems, such as Plant Protection Systems in nuclear power plant, plays a key role that the facilities can be operated without undue risk to the health and safety of public and environment, and those systems shall be designed, fabricated, installed, and tested to quality standards commensurate with the importance of the functions to be performed. Computer-based Instrumentation and Control Systems to perform the safety-critical function have Real Time Operating Systems to control and monitoring the sub-system and executing the application software. The safety-critical Real Time Operating Systems shall be designed, analyzed, tested and evaluated to have capability to maintain a high integrity and quality. However, local nuclear power plants have applied the real time operating systems on safety critical systems through Commercial Grade Item Dedication method, and this is the reason of lack of detailed methodology on assessing the safety of real time operating systems, expecially to the new developed one. This paper presents the methodology and experiences of safety evaluation on safety-critical Real Time Operating Systems based upon design requirements. This paper may useful to develop and evaluate the safety-critical Real Time Operating Systems in other industry to ensure the safety of public and environment.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.25-31
• /
• 2017

The objective of this study is to find the failure factors of venture companies. We analyze 210 troubled venture companies, all of which have been under guarantee from the Korea Technology Finance Corporation over the last three years. Methods of analysis for failure factors are as follows. First, we categorize the failure factors into the four different types based on growth and profitability indicators in the financial statements of targeted venture companies. Then we analyzed the failure factors of the subject companies based on the troubled guarantee reports made by the Korea Technology Finance Corporation. If a venture company under its guarantee program falls into insolvency, the Korea Technology Finance Corporation make the troubled guarantee report to find out the failure factors and evaluate the recovery potentials. We identify 374 failure factors of venture companies through the analysis. The most prominent among them are deteriorating of business environments (79 factors) and decreasing or withdrawing orders from major suppliers (54 factors) due to bankruptcies or change in business plans. They are followed by slowing collection of accounts receivable (31 factors), dropping or frozen product price (24 factors) due to intensifying competition and escalating pressures from major suppliers, rising raw material costs both at home and abroad (21 factors). In addition, the nuclear power plant disaster in Japan, shut-down of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and subsequent lawsuits, delay in technology development projects, high cost-low efficiency management structure, etc., are also revealed as new factors causing trouble for venture companies.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.91-101
• /
• 2007

In this study, domestic regulatory requirement was investigated for self-disposal of concrete waste from nuclear fuel processing facility. And after self-disposal as landfill or recycling/reuse, the exposure dose was evaluated by RESRAD Ver. 6.3 and RESRAD BUILD Ver.3.3 computing code for radiological assessments of the general public. Derived clearance level by the result of assessments for the exposure dose of the general public is 0.1071Bq/g (3.5% enriched uranium) for landfill and $0.05515Bq/cm^2$ (5% enriched uranium) for recycling/reuse respectively. Also, residual radioactivity of concrete waste after decontamination was investigated in this study. The result of surface activity is $0.01Bq/cm^2\;for\;{\alpha}-emitter$ and the result of radionuclide analysis for taken concrete samples from surface of concrete waste is 0.0297Bq/g for concentration of $^{238}U$, below 2w/o for enrichment of $^{235}U$ and 0.0089Bq/g for artificial contamination of $^{238}U$ respectively. Therefore, radiological hazard of concrete waste by self-disposal as landfill and recycling/reuse is below clearance level to comply with clearance criterion provided for Notice No.2001-30 of the MOST and Korea Atomic Energy Act.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.389-396
• /
• 2018

The Kori-1 Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), WH 2-Loop Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) operated for approximately 40 years in Korea, was permanently ceased on June 18, 2017. To reduce worker exposure to radiation by reducing the dose rate in the system before starting main decommissioning activities, the permanently ceased Kori-1 NPP will be subjected to full system decontamination. Generally, the range of system decontamination includes Reactor Pressure Vessels (RPV), Pressurizer (PZR), Steam Generators (SG), Chemical & Volume Control System (CVCS), Residual Heat Removal System (RHRS), and Reactor Coolant System (RCS) piping. In order to decontaminate these systems and equipment in an effective manner, it is necessary to evaluate the influence of the flow characteristics in the RCS during the decontamination period. There are various methods of providing circulating flow rate to the system decontamination. In this paper, the flow characteristics in Kori-1 NPP reactor coolant according to RHR pump operation were evaluated. The evaluation results showed that system decontamination using an RHR pump was not effective at decontamination due first to impurities deposited in piping and equipment, and second to the extreme flow unbalance in the RCS caused deposition of impurities.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.165-171
• /
• 2006

In Korea, a real-time effective dose measurement system is in development. The system uses 32 high-sensitivity MOSFET dosimeters to measure radiation doses at various organ locations in an anthropomorphic physical phantom. The MOSFET dosimeters are, however, mainly made of silicon and shows some degree of energy and angular dependence especially for low energy photons. This study determines the correction factors to correct for these dependences of the MOSFET dosimeters for accurate measurement of radiation doses at organ locations in the phantom. For this, first, the dose correction factors of MOSFET dosimeters were determined for the energy spectrum in the steam generator channel of the Kori Nuclear Power Plant Unit #1 by Monte Carlo simulations. Then, the results were compared with the dose correction factors from 0.652 MeV and 1.25 MeV mono-energetic photons. The difference of the dose correction factors were found very negligible $(\leq1.5%)$, which in general shows that the dose corrections factors determined from 0.662 MeV and 1.25 MeV can be in a steam general channel head of a nuclear power plant. The measured effective dose was generally found to decrease bit $\sim7%$ when we apply the dose correction factors.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.168-173
• /
• 2015

The present investigation was planned to estimate potential possibility of striped field mice, Apodemus agrarius coreae (A. a. coreae), as a biological dosimeter in radio-environmental ecology. We bred captured wild A. a. coreae at laboratory and classified taxonomically based on external, cranial and tooth characters. Organ weights and splenocytic apoptosis were observed in order to establish a basic data on radiation biology of A. a. coreae (male, 40 weeks old). The biological effects was observed at 24hrs following irradiation (doses : 0, 0.5, 1, 2 Gy, dose rate : $0.8Gymin^{-1}$, $^{137}Cs$). Only thymus weights was significantly decreased. Splenocytic apoptosis was increased after irradiation. But splenocytic apoptosis was decreased in 0.5 Gy ${\gamma}$-irradiated mice compared to those of 0, 1, 2 Gy (P < 0.05). These data suggested that events in thymus and spleen of Korean dark-striped field mice, A. a. coreae THOMAS, could be a potential radio-biological indicator in human environments.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.247-254
• /
• 2012

Vitrification technology has been widely applied as one of effective processing methods for wastes generated in nuclear power plants. The advantage of vitrifying for low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes has a large volume reduction and good durability for the final products. Recently, a filter using on HVAC(Heating Ventilating & Air Conditioning System) is composed with media (glass fiber) and separator (aluminum film) has been studied the proper treatment technology for meeting the waste disposal requirement. Present paper is a feasibility study for the filter vitrification that developing of the glass compositions for filter melting and melting test for physicochemical characteristic evaluation. The aluminum metal of film type is preparing with 0.5 cm size for proper mixing with glass frit, glass fiber is also preparing with 1 cm size within crucible. The glass compositions should be developed considering molten glass are related with wastes reduction. Glass compositions obtained from developing on glass formulation are mainly composed of $SiO_2$ and $B_2O_3$ for aluminum metal. A variety of factors obtained from the glass formulation and melting test are reviewed, which is feeding rate and glass characteristics of final products such as durability for implementing the wastes disposal requirement.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.386-395
• /
• 2010

The steam generator management program(SGMP) has recently defined the procedures for the qualification of eddy current hardware and technique. These procedures provide two basic methods for qualification. The first way is to qualify the equipment or the probe by using the flaw mechanism and method of the pulled tubes from the heat exchangers or the artificial flawed tubes. The second way is to verify the equivalency with the characteristics of the qualified equipment or probe. In this case, the qualified equipment or probe may be modified to substitute or replace instruments or probes without re-qualification provided that the range of essential variables defined in the examination technique specification sheet are met. This study is to describe the result of the comparative performance evaluation of bobbin coil eddy current probes manufactured by KEPCO Research Institute and probes manufactured by a foreign manufacturer. As a result of this study, although there were minor differences between the two kinds of probes, it was evaluated that the two kinds of probes were almost identical in the significant performance characteristics described in the KEPCO Research Institute guideline.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2013

Education and training is an important means of promoting safety culture and enhancing the level of competence of radiation worker in radiation protection. The existing international nuclear education and training of short duration has been carried out on the high-level officials and focussed on the classroom based training. The developing countries has been asking for support to cultivate their own technical experts to Korea which is a donor country exporting nuclear power plants. This paper summarizes the results of developing and operating the international education and training course to froster technical experts in radiation protection that emphasized practical training sessions and technical visits using the excellent domestic radiation facilities and infrastructure of education and training. It mentions the procedures of assessment and feedback as well. In an effort to maximize teaching-learning effects and to maintain consistency of the learning objectives, methods and assessment, SAT methodology has been applied on the processes of developing and operating the course. In the comparative and final assessment which were conducted at the beginning or at the end of training course, participants' average score increased around 2 points. The questionnaire of participants showed a high level of satisfaction of 4.0 points or above for the most of the questions. These imply teaching-learning methods applied to it might be effective. The teaching-learning methodologies may provide the opportunity to develop the customized training course for bringing up international technical experts and to shift educational paradigm from theory-oriented to on-site practice-based education.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.185-196
• /
• 2005

Although medical exposure from diagnostic radiology procedures such as conventional x-rays, CT and PET scans is necessary for healthcare purposes, understanding its characteristics and size of the resulting radiation dose to patients is much of worth because medical radiation constitutes the largest artificial source of exposure and the medical exposure is in a trend of fast increasing particularly in the developed society. Annual collective doses and per-caput effective doses from different radiology procedures in Korea were estimated by combining the effective dose estimates per single medical procedure and the health insurance statistics in 2002. Values of the effective dose per single procedure were compiled from different sources including NRPB reports, ICRP 80, MIRDOSE3.1 code and independent computations of the authors. The annual collective dose reaches 27440 man-Sv (diagnostic radiology: 22880 man-Sv, nuclear medicine: 4560 man-Sv) which is reduced to the annual per-caput effective dose of 0.58 mSv by dividing by the national population of 47.7 millions. The collective dose is far larger than that of occupational exposures, in the country operated 16 nuclear power plants in 2002, which is no more than 70 man-Sv in the same year. It is particularly noted that the collective dose due to CT scans amounts 9960 man-Sv. These results implies that the national policy for radiation protection should pay much more attention to optimization of patient doses in medicine.