• 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.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.2141-2145
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• 2004

As part of study on thermal hydraulic behavior in the reactor cavity under external vessel cooling in the APR (Advanced Power Reactor) 1400, one dimensional two phase flow of steady state in the reactor cavity have been analyzed to investigate a coolant circulation mass flow rate in the annulus region between the reactor vessel and the insulation material using the RELAP5/MOD3 computer code. The RELAP5/MOD3 results have shown that a two phase natural circulation flow of 300 - 600 kg/s is generated in the annulus region between the reactor vessel and the insulation material when the external vessel cooling has been applied in the APR 1400. An increase in the heat flux of the inner vessel leads to an increase of the coolant mass flow rate. An increase in the coolant outlet area leads to an increase in the coolant circulation mass flow rate, but the coolant inlet area does not effective on the coolant circulation mass flow rate. The change of the lower coolant outlet to a lower position affects the coolant circulation mass flow rate, but the variation trend is not consistent.

• 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.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.292-300
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• 2012

KHNP CRI has been developing APR+ nuclear power plant since 2007, which is GEN III+ model with 4,361 MWth capacity. To develop safer and more economical nuclear power plant than APR1400, we studied domestic and foreign nuclear power plants under construction. We also reviewed nuclear power plants which are appropriate for domestic construction in Korea and also for export. Economic assessments were made twice during the second phase of standard detailed design of the plant. The result of the second phase of economic analysis for APR+ standard detailed design showed that APR+ N-th plant was 24.6% more economical than coal-fired 1,000MW power plant, and was evaluated to be competitive enough in global market for construction of the nuclear power plant.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2696-2707
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency of various structural modeling schemes for evaluating seismic performances and fragility of the reactor containment building (RCB) structure in the advanced power reactor 1400 (APR1400) nuclear power plant (NPP). Four structural modeling schemes, i.e. lumped-mass stick model (LMSM), solid-based finite element model (Solid FEM), multi-layer shell model (MLSM), and beam-truss model (BTM), are developed to simulate the seismic behaviors of the containment structure. A full three-dimensional finite element model (full 3D FEM) is additionally constructed to verify the previous numerical models. A set of input ground motions with response spectra matching to the US NRC 1.60 design spectrum is generated to perform linear and nonlinear time-history analyses. Floor response spectra (FRS) and floor displacements are obtained at the different elevations of the structure since they are critical outputs for evaluating the seismic vulnerability of RCB and secondary components. The results show that the difference in seismic responses between linear and nonlinear analyses gets larger as an earthquake intensity increases. It is observed that the linear analysis underestimates floor displacements while it overestimates floor accelerations. Moreover, a systematic assessment of the capability and efficiency of each structural model is presented thoroughly. MLSM can be an alternative approach to a full 3D FEM, which is complicated in modeling and extremely time-consuming in dynamic analyses. Specifically, BTM is recommended as the optimal model for evaluating the nonlinear seismic performance of NPP structures. Thereafter, linear and nonlinear BTM are employed in a series of time-history analyses to develop fragility curves of RCB for different damage states. It is shown that the linear analysis underestimates the probability of damage of RCB at a given earthquake intensity when compared to the nonlinear analysis. The nonlinear analysis approach is highly suggested for assessing the vulnerability of NPP structures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2016

Spacer grids play an important role in maintaining the proper form of the fuel assembly structure and ensuring the safety of reactor core design. This study applies the Monte Carlo method to the analysis of the neutronics effects of spacer grids in a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR). The core problem used to analyze the neutronics effects of spacer grids is a modified version of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology benchmark problem 1B, based on an Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400) core model. The spacer grids are modeled and added to this test problem in various ways. Then, by running MCNP5 for all cases of spacer grid modeling, some important numerical results, such as the effective multiplication factor, the spatial distributions of neutron flux, and its energy spectrum are obtained. The numerical results of each case of spacer grid modeling are analyzed and compared to assess which type has more advantages in accuracy of numerical results and effectiveness in terms of geometry building. The conclusion is that the most realistic modeling for Monte Carlo calculation is the "volume-preserving" streamlined heterogeneous spacer grids, but the "banded" dissolution spacer grids modeling is a more practical yet accurate model for routine (deterministic) analysis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.464-466
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• 2019

Controllers used in nuclear power plants require high reliability. A controller including a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and a Complex Programmable Logic Device (referred to hereinafter as FPGA) has been applied to many Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) in the past, including the APR1400 (Advanced Power Reactor 1400), a Korean digital nuclear power plant. Initially, the FPGA was considered as a general IC (Integrated Circuit) and verified only by device verification and performance testing. In the 1990s, research on FPGA verification began, and until the FPGA became a chip, it was regarded as software and the software Verification and Validation (V&V) using IEEE 1012-2004 was implemented. Currently, IEC 62566, which is a European standard, has been applied for a lot of verification. This method has been evaluated as the most sensible method to date. This is because the method of verifying the characteristics of SoC (System on Chip), which has been a problem in the existing verification method, is sufficiently applied. However, IEC 62566 is a European standard that has not yet been adopted in the United States and maintains the application of IEEE 1012 for FPGA. IEEE 1012-2004 or IEC 62566 is a technical standard. In practice, various methods are applied to meet technical standards. In this paper, we describe the procedure and important points of verification method of Nuclear Safety Class FPGA applying SoC verification method.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.28-36
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• 2019

The APR1400 (Advanced Power Reactor 1400MW) nuclear power plant is a large-scale national infrastructure facility with a total project cost of 8.6 trillion won and a project period of 10 years or more. The total project area is about 2.17 million square meters and consists of more than 20 buildings and structures. And the total number of drawings required for construction is about 65,000. In order to design such a large facility, it is important to establish a design standard that reflects the design intent and can increase conformity between documents (drawings). To this end, a design bases document (DBD) reflecting the design bases that extracted in regulatory requirements (e.g. 10CFR50, Korean Law, etc.) is created. However, although the design bases are important concepts that are a big framework for the whole design of the nuclear power plant, they are managed in 2-dimensional by the experts in each field fragmentarily. Therefore, in order to improve the usability of building information, we developed BIM(Building Information Model) based 3-dimensional design bases management system. For this purpose, the concept of design bases information layer (DBIL) was introduced. Through the simulation of developed system, design bases attribute and element data extraction for each DBIL was confirmed, and walls, floors, doors, and penetrations with DBIL were successfully extracted.

• 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.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.74-83
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• 2003

In the advanced nuclear power plants including APR1400, the SDVS (Safety Depressurization and Vent System) is adopted to increase the plant safety using the concept of feed-and-bleed operation. In the case of the TLOFW (Total Loss of Feedwater), the POSRV (Power Operated Safety Relief Value) located at the top of the pressurizer is expected to open due to the pressurization of the reactor coolant system and discharges steam and/or water mixture into the water pool, where the mixture is condensed. During the condensation of the mixture, thermal-hydraulic loads such as pressure and temperature variations are induced to the pool structure. For the pool structure design, such thermal-hydraulic aspects should be considered. Understanding the phenomena of the submerged steam jet condensation in a water pool is helpful for system designers to design proper pool structure, sparger, and supports etc. This paper reviews and evaluates the steam jet condensation in a water pool on the physical phenomena of the steam condensation including condensation regime map, heat transfer coefficient, steam plume, steam jet condensation load, and steam jet induced flow.