• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제37권4호
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• pp.363-374
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• 2005

A heterogeneous thorium-based Kyung Hee Thorium Fuel (KTF) assembly design was assessed for application in the APR-1400 to study the feasibility of using thorium fuel in a conventional pressurized water reactor (PWR). Thermal hydraulic safety was examined for the thorium-based APR-1400 core, focusing on the Departure from Nucleate Boiling Ratio (DNBR) and Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LBLOCA) analysis. To satisfy the minimum DNBR (MDNBR) safety limit condition, MDNBR>1.3, a new grid design was adopted, that enabled grids in the seed and blanket assemblies to have different loss coefficients to the coolant flow. The fuel radius of the blanket was enlarged to increase the mass flow rate in the seed channel. Under transient conditions, the MDNBR values for the Beginning of Cycle (BOC), Middle of Cycle (MOC), and End of Cycle (EOC) were 1.367, 1.465, and 1.554, respectively, despite the high power tilt across the seed and blanket. Anticipated transient for the DNBR analysis were simulated at conditions of $112\%$ over-power, $95\%$ flow rate, and $2^{\circ}C$ higher inlet temperature. The maximum peak cladding temperature (PCT) was 1,173K for the severe accident condition of the LBLOCA, while the limit condition was 1,477K. The proliferation resistance potential of the thorium-based core was found to be much higher than that of the conventional $UO_2$ fuel core, $25\%$ larger in Bare Critical Mass (BCM), $60\%$ larger in Spontaneous Neutron Source (SNS), and $155\%$ larger in Thermal Generation (TG) rate; however, the radio-toxicity of the spent fuel was higher than that of $UO_2$ fuel, making it more environmentally unfriendly due to its high burnup rate.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권4호
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• pp.755-763
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• 2020

The critical flow phenomenon has been studied because of its significant effect for design basis accidents in nuclear power plants. Transition points from thermal non-equilibrium to equilibrium are different according to the geometric effect on the critical flow. This study evaluates the uncertainty parameters of the critical flow model for analysis of DBA (Design Basis Accident) with the MARS-KS (Multi-dimensional Analysis for Reactor Safety-KINS Standard) code used as an independent regulatory assessment. The uncertainty of the critical flow model is represented by three parameters including the thermal non-equilibrium factor, discharge coefficient, and length to diameter (L/D) ratio, and their ranges are determined using large-scale Marviken test data. The uncertainty range of the thermal non-equilibrium factor is updated by the MCDA (Model Calibration through Data Assimilation) method. The updated uncertainty range is confirmed using an LBLOCA (Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident) experiment in the LOFT (Loss of Fluid Test) facility. The uncertainty ranges are also used to calculate an LBLOCA of the APR (Advanced Power Reactor) 1400 NPP (Nuclear Power Plants), focusing on the effect of the PCT (Peak Cladding Temperature). The results reveal that break flow is strongly dependent on the degree of the thermal non-equilibrium state in a ruptured pipe with a small L/D ratio. Moreover, this study provides the method to handle the thermal non-equilibrium factor, discharge coefficient, and length to diameter (L/D) ratio in the system code.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제28권1호
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• pp.37-51
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• 2009

The nuclear power industry in the world has recognized the importance of integrating non-technical and team skills training with the technical training given to its control room operators to reduce human errors since the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents. The Nuclear power plant (NPP) industry in Korea has been also making efforts to reduce the human errors which largely have contributed to 120 nuclear reactor trips from the year 2001 to 2006. The Crew Resource Management (CRM) training was one of the efforts to reduce the human errors in the nuclear power industry. The CRM was developed as a response to new insights into the causes of aircraft accidents which followed from the introduction of flight recorders and cockpit voice recorders into modern jet aircraft. The CRM first became widely used in the commercial airline industry, but military aviation, shipboard crews, medical and surgical teams, offshore oil crews, and other high-consequence, high-risk, time-critical industry teams soon followed. This study aims to develop a CRM training program that helps to improve plant performance by reducing the number of reactor trips caused by the operators' errors in Korean NPP. The program is; firstly, based on the work we conducted to develop a human factors training from the applications to the Nuclear Power Plant; secondly, based on a number of guidelines from the current practicable literature; thirdly, focused on team skills, such as leadership, situational awareness, teamwork, and communication, which have been widely known to be critical for improving the operational performance and reducing human errors in Korean NPPs; lastly, similar to the event-based training approach that many researchers have applied in other domains: aircraft, medical operations, railroads, and offshore oilrigs. We conducted an experiment to test effectiveness of the CRM training program in a condition of simulated control room also. We found that the program made the operators' attitudes and behaviors be improved positively from the experimental results. The more implications of the finding were discussed further in detail.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.192-205
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• 2020

Seismic design practices and seismic response analyses of civil structures and nuclear power plants (NPPs) have conventionally used the peak ground acceleration (PGA) or spectral acceleration (S_a) as an intensity measure (IM) of an earthquake. However, there are many other earthquake IMs that were proposed by various researchers. The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between seismic responses of NPP components and 23 earthquake IMs and identify the best IMs for correlating with damage of NPP structures. Particularly, low- and high-frequency ground motion records are separately accounted in correlation analyses. An advanced power reactor NPP in Korea, APR1400, is selected for numerical analyses where containment and auxiliary buildings are modeled using SAP2000. Floor displacements and accelerations are monitored for the non- and base-isolated NPP structures while shear deformations of the base isolator are additionally monitored for the base-isolated NPP. A series of Pearson's correlation coefficients are calculated to recognize the correlation between each of the 23 earthquake IMs and responses of NPP structures. The numerical results demonstrate that there is a significant difference in the correlation between earthquake IMs and seismic responses of non-isolated NPP structures considering low- and high-frequency ground motion groups. Meanwhile, a trivial discrepancy of the correlation is observed in the case of the base-isolated NPP subjected to the two groups of ground motions. Moreover, a selection of PGA or S_a for seismic response analyses of NPP structures in the high-frequency seismic regions may not be the best option. Additionally, a set of fragility curves are thereafter developed for the base-isolated NPP based on the shear deformation of lead rubber bearing (LRB) with respect to the strongly correlated IMs. The results reveal that the probability of damage to the structure is higher for low-frequency earthquakes compared with that of high-frequency ground motions.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.78-87
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• 1988

원전 사고시 (또는 원자력 발전소 사고시) 환경영향 평가에 중요하게 고려해야 될 핵종을 도출 제시하기 위해 WASH-1400에서 중요하게 고려하고 있는 25원소 54핵종의 노심재고량을 ORIGEN2 코드로써 계산한 후 환경으로 동일비율로 방출된다고 가정하여 급성피폭시 초기효과에 중요한 장기인 소화관, 골수, 갑상선, 허파에 대해 각 핵종에 의한 피폭선량을 평가함으로써 각각의 핵종이 초기효과에 미치는 상대적 중요도를 산출하였다. 그 결과 각 장기에 대한 초기효과에 상대적으로 중요하게 나타난 원소들은 소화관에 대해서는 Np, Ce, Ru, Y, Zr의 순으로, 골수에 대해서는 Np, I, La, Sr, Ba의 순으로, 갑상선에 대해서는 I, Te으로 요오드외원소들의 상대적중요도는 극히 미미하였고, 허파에 대해서는 Cm, Ce, Ru, Pu, Zr순으로 나타났다. 따라서 기존의 환경영향 평가시 갑상선과 전신 피폭선량에 고려되고 있는 요오드 원소와 불활성기체 외에도 원전사고 후 충분한 양이 방출될 때 인근 주민의 장기에 대한 초기효과에 크게 영향을 미치는 핵종이 많으며 이들 핵종들은 선원항 평가시 또는 사고시의 환경영향 평가시에 비중을 두고 고려해야 할 것이다.

• 한국전산구조공학회논문집
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.63-72
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• 2020

본 연구의 목적은 원자로 1400(APR 1400) 원자력 발전소(NPP)의 원자로 격납건물(RCB) 내진성능에 대해 상이한 수치모델과 지진 주파수 성분의 영향을 평가하는 것이다. 집중 질량 막대 모델(lumped-mass stick model, LMSM)과 3차원 유한요소모델(three-dimensional finite element model, 3D FEM)의 두 가지 수치 모델이 시간이력해석을 수행하기 위해 개발되었다. LMSM은 기존의 집중 질량 보-요소를 사용하여 SAP2000으로 구성하였으며, 3D FEM은 각기둥 입체-요소를 사용하여 ANSYS로 작성되었다. 저주파수 및 고주파수 성분을 고려한 두 그룹의 지진파를 시간이력해석에 적용하였다. 저주파수 지진파의 응답스펙트럼을 NRC 1.60의 설계 스펙트럼과 일치되도록 조정하여 작성하였으며, 고주파수 지진파는 10Hz ~ 100Hz의 고주파수 범위를 갖도록 생성하였다. RCB의 지진응답은 다양한 높이에서 층응답스펙트럼으로 검토하였다. 수치해석 결과, 저주파수 지진에 의한 구조물의 FRS 결과는 두 수치 모델에서 매우 유사한 결과를 보였다. 하지만, 고주파수 지진에 의한 LMSM의 FRS 결과는 고차 고유 주파수 영역에서 3D FEM과 큰 차이를 보였으며, RCB의 낮은 높이에서 명확한 차이를 보였다. 3D FEM이 정확한 구조물의 응답을 나타내는 것으로 가정한다면, RCB의 LMSM은 고주파수 지진에 의한 FRS 결과의 고차 고유 주파수 영역에서 일정 수준의 불일치성을 내포하고 있다.