• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.09a
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• pp.67-74
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• 2001

This paper presents the Safe Shutdown Earthquake(SSE) input motion for the seismic design of the Advanced Power Reactor 1400(APR1400). The Design Ground Response Spectra(DGRS) far the SSE is based on the design spectrum specified in regulatory Guide(RG) 1.60 of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission(US NRC), anchored to a Peak Ground Acceleration(PGA) of 0.3g and enriched in the high frequency range. This SSE seismic input motion is to be applied to the seismic analysis as the free-field seismic motion at the ground surface of both the rock and generic soil sites fur APRI1400. The enrichment for APR1400 seismic input motion is performed considering the current US NRC regulations, the seismic hazard studies performed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LINL) and Electric Power Research Institute(EPRI) for the Central and Eastern United States nuclear power plant sites, and the seismic input motions used in the design certifications of the three existing U.S. advanced standard plants. It is represented by a set of DGRS and the accompanying Target Power Spectral Density(PSD) Function in both the horizontal and vertical directions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2019

An 1,500MW advanced power reactor required the standard design approval by a Korean regulatory body in 2014. The reactor has been designed to have a 4-train independent safety concept and a passive auxiliary feedwater system (PAFS). The full power risk or core damage frequency (CDF) of 1,500MW advanced power reactor has been reduced more than that of APR1400. However, the risk during the low power and shutdown (LPSD) operation should be reduced because CDF of LPSD is about 4.7 times higher than that of internal full power. The purpose of paper is to analysis design alternatives to reduce risk during the LPSD. This paper suggests design alternatives to reduce risk and presents sensitivity analysis results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.1658-1668
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• 2019

Nuclear power generates a large portion of the energy used today and plays an important role in energy development. To ensure safe nuclear power generation, it is essential to conduct an accurate analysis of reactor structural integrity. Accordingly, in this study, a methodology for obtaining accurate structural responses to the combined seismic and reactor coolant loads existing prior to the shutdown of a nuclear reactor is proposed. By applying the proposed analysis method to the reactor vessel internals, it is possible to derive the seismic responses considering the influence of the hydraulic loads present during operation for the first time. The validity of the proposed methodology is confirmed in this research by using the finite element method to conduct seismic and hydraulic load analyses of the advanced APR1400 1400 MWe power reactor, one of the commercial reactors. The structural responses to the combined applied loads are obtained using displacement-based and stress-based superposition methods. The safety of the subject nuclear reactor is then confirmed by analyzing the design margin according to the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) evaluation criteria, demonstrating the promise of the proposed analysis method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.821-826
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• 2011

A basic concept for selection criteria of measuring places of RVI CVAP is to determine measuring places and sensors based on the results of the hydraulic and structural analysis for RVI CVAP in APR1400. In addition, there is the important selection criteria to determine measuring places for measurement of RVI CVAP ; the first is to choose measuring places according to U.S. NRC R.G. 1.20, the second is to select measuring places by RVI design review, the third is to option on the basis of measurement results of SYSTEM 80, the forth is to decide using review results on a design change of a reactor and the last is to determine using the review on the possibility of installation/removal of sensors and structures for the measurement. We developed selection criteria of measuring places for RVI CVAP in APR1400 and this will be directly applied to the measurement program for RVI CVAP.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.58-66
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• 2018

This paper represents a systematic approach aimed at improving the performance of the proportional integral (PI) controller for the Advanced Power Reactor (APR) 1400 Feedwater Control System (FWCS). When the performance of the PI controller offers superior control and enhanced robustness, the steam generator (SG) level is properly controlled. This leads to the safe operation and increased the availability of the nuclear power plant. In this paper, a systems engineering approach is used in order to design a novel PI controller for the FWCS. In the reverse engineering stage, the existing FWCS configuration, especially the characteristics of the feedwater controller as well as the feedwater flow path to each SG from the FWCS, were reviewed and analysed. The overall block diagram of the FWCS and the SG was also developed in the reverse engineering process. In the re-engineering stage, the actual design of the feedwater PI controller was carried out using a genetic algorithm (GA). Lastly, in the validation and verification phase, the existing PI controller and the PI controller designed using GA method were simulated in Simulink/Matlab. From the simulation results, the GA-PI controller was found to exhibit greater stability than the current controller of the FWCS.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1651-1664
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• 2023

It is very difficult to capture the multi-dimensional phenomena such as asymmetric flow and temperature distributions with the one-dimensional (1D) model, obviously, due to its inherent limitation. In order to overcome such a limitation of the 1D representation, many state-of-the-art system codes have equipped a three-dimensional (3D) component for multi-dimensional analysis capability. In this study, a standard multi-dimensional analysis model of APR1400 (Advanced Power Reactor 1400) has been developed using TRACE (TRAC/RELAP Advanced Computational Engine). The entire reactor pressure vessel (RPV) of APR1400 has been modeled using a single 3D component. The fuels in the reactor core have been described with detailed and coarse representations, respectively, to figure out the impact of the fuel description. Using both 3D RPV models, a comparative analysis has been performed postulating a double-ended guillotine break at a cold leg. Based on the results of comparative analysis, it is revealed that both models show no significant difference in general plant behavior and the model with coarse fuel model could be used for faster transient analysis without reactor kinetics coupling. The analysis indicates that the asymmetric temperature and flow distributions are captured during the transient, and such nonuniform distributions contribute to asymmetric quenching behaviors during blowdown and reflood phases. Such asymmetries are directly connected to the figure of merits in the LBLOCA analysis. Therefore, it is recommended to employ a multi-dimensional RPV model with a detailed fuel description for a realistic safety analysis with the consideration of the spatial configuration of the reactor core.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.4179-4188
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• 2021

This study identifies efficient earthquake intensity measures (IMs) for seismic performances and fragility evaluations of the reactor containment building (RCB) in the advanced power reactor 1400 (APR1400) nuclear power plant (NPP). The computational model of RCB is constructed using the beam-truss model (BTM) for nonlinear analyses. A total of 90 ground motion records and 20 different IMs are employed for numerical analyses. A series of nonlinear time-history analyses are performed to monitor maximum floor displacements and accelerations of RCB. Then, probabilistic seismic demand models of RCB are developed for each IM. Statistical parameters including coefficient of determination (R²), dispersion (i.e. standard deviation), practicality, and proficiency are calculated to recognize strongly correlated IMs with the seismic performance of the NPP structure. The numerical results show that the optimal IMs are spectral acceleration, spectral velocity, spectral displacement at the fundamental period, acceleration spectrum intensity, effective peak acceleration, peak ground acceleration, A95, and sustained maximum acceleration. Moreover, weakly related IMs to the seismic performance of RCB are peak ground displacement, root-mean-square of displacement, specific energy density, root-mean-square of velocity, peak ground velocity, Housner intensity, velocity spectrum intensity, and sustained maximum velocity. Finally, a set of fragility curves of RCB are developed for optimal IMs.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.8-13
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• 2017

Nuclear power plant (NPP) constructions are large scale projects that are executed for several years, and schedule control utilizing various schedules is a critically important factor. Recently Korea independently developed the Advanced Power Reactor (APR) 1400 and is building nuclear facilities applying this new reactor type. The construction of Shin-Kori NPP (SKN) Unit 3, which adopted the APR1400, was completed and commercial operation has begun, while, SKN 4, Shin-Hanul NPP (SHN) Units 1&2, and SKN 5&6 are currently under construction. Prior to the development of the APR1400, Korea built 24 reactors and accumulated the schedule data of various reactor types which provided the foundation for schedule reduction to be possible. However, as there is no schedule development and review system established based on the standard schedule data (standard activities, durations, etc.) by reactor type, the process for developing the schedule for new builds is low in efficiency consuming much time and manpower. Also all construction data has been accumulated based on schedule activities. But because the connectivity of activities between projects is low, it is difficult to utilize such accumulated data (causes for schedule delay, causes for design changes, etc.) in new build projects. Due to such reasons, issues continue to arise in the process of developing standard schedule activities and a standard schedule for nuclear power plant construction. In order to develop a standard schedule for NPP construction, i) the development of an NPP standard schedule activity list, ii) development of the connection logic of NPP standard schedule activities, iii) development of NPP standard schedule activity resources and duration, and iv) integration of schedule data need to be performed. In this paper, an analysis was made on the coherence of schedule activity descriptions of existing NPPs by applying the probabilistic methodology on activities with low connectivity due to the utilization of the numbering system of four APR1400 reactors (SHN 1&2 and SKN 3&4).This study also describes the method for developing a standard schedule activity list and connectivity measures by extracting same and/or similar schedule activities.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.869-877
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• 2020

A 24-month Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400) core with a very-low-boron (VLB) concentration has been investigated for an inherently safe and high-performance PWR in this work. To develop a high-performance APR1400 which is able to do the passive frequency control operation, VLB feature is essential. In this paper, the centrally-shielded burnable absorber (CSBA) is utilized for an efficient VLB operation in the 24-month cycle APR1400 core. This innovative design of the VLB APR1400 core includes the optimization of burnable absorber and loading pattern as well as axial cutback for a 24-month cycle operation. In addition to CSBA, an Er-doped guide thimble is also introduced for partial management of the excess reactivity and local peaking factor. To improve the neutron economy of the core, two alternative radial reflectors are adopted in this study, which are SS-304 and ZrO₂. The core reactivity and power distributions for a 2-batch equilibrium cycle are analyzed and compared for each reflector design. Numerical results show that a VLB core can be successfully designed with 24-month cycle and the cycle length is improved significantly with the alternative reflectors. The neutronic analyses are performed using the Monte Carlo Serpent code and 3-D diffusion code COREDAX-2 with the ENDF/B-VII.1.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.54-67
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• 2018

There have been recent efforts to establish methods for high-fidelity and multi-physics simulation with coupled thermal-hydraulic (T/H) and neutronics codes for the entire core of a light water reactor under accident conditions. Considering the computing power necessary for a pin-by-pin analysis of the entire core, subchannel-scale T/H analysis is considered appropriate to achieve acceptable accuracy in an optimal computational time. In the present study, the applicability of in-house code CUPID of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute was extended to the subchannel-scale T/H analysis. CUPID is a component-scale T/H analysis code, which uses three-dimensional two-fluid models with various closure models and incorporates a highly parallelized numerical solver. In this study, key models required for a subchannel-scale T/H analysis were implemented in CUPID. Afterward, the code was validated against four subchannel experiments under unheated and heated single-phase incompressible flow conditions. Thereafter, a subchannel-scale T/H analysis of the entire core for an Advanced Power Reactor 1400 reactor core was carried out. For the high-fidelity simulation, detailed geometrical features and individual rod power distributions were considered in this demonstration. In this study, CUPID shows its capability of reproducing key phenomena in a subchannel and dealing with the subchannel-scale whole core T/H analysis.