• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.593-602
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• 2004

We have developed a digital control rod control system not only to improve its performance but also to improve its reliability and speed of response so that it can replace the old fashioned analog system. However, a new developed digital control system should be tested to prove the validity by using any prototype or mock-up before application. The reliability prediction and the reliability block diagram analysis methods were adopted to verify the reliability of the developed hardware. For the case of software, especially fur a new developed control algorithm it has been tested to prove performances and validation by using a dynamic simulator and mock-up of control rod drive mechanism altogether. Here we want to present some key factors regarding to the new developed digital system with some verification procedures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.73-80
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• 2013

The primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) of Alloy 600 in a PWR has been reported in the control rod drive mechanism (CRDM), pressurizer instrumentation, and the pressurizer heater sleeves. Recently, two cases of boric acid precipitation that indicated leaking of the primary cooling water were reported on the bottom head surface of steam generators (SG) in Korea. The PWSCC resistance of Ni base alloys which have intergranular carbides is higher than those which have intragranular carbides. Conversely, in oxidized acidic solutions like sodium sulfate or sodium tetrathionate solutions, the Ni base alloys with a lot of carbides at the grain boundaries and shows less stress corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance. The role of grain boundary carbides in SCC behavior of Ni base alloys was evaluated and effect of intergranular carbides on the SCC susceptibility were reviewed from the literature.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.228-235
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• 2016

Flaws at dissimilar metal welds (DMWs), such as reactor coolant systems components, Control Rod Drive Mechanism (CRDM), Bottom Mounted Instrumentation (BMI) etc., in nuclear power plants have been found. Notably, primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) in the DMWs could cause significant reliability problems at nuclear power plants. Therefore, phased array ultrasound is widely used for inspecting surface break cracks and stress corrosion cracks in DMWs. However, inspection of DMWs using phased array ultrasound has a relatively low probability of detection of cracks, because the crystalline structure of welds causes distortion and splitting of the ultrasonic beams which propagates anisotropic medium. Therefore, advanced evaluation techniques of phased array ultrasound are needed for improvement in the probability of detection of flaws in DMWs. Thus, in this study, an investigation of focusing and steering phased array ultrasound in DMWs was carried out using a time reversal technique, and an adaptive focusing technique based on finite element method (FEM) simulation. Also, evaluation of focusing performance of three different focusing techniques was performed by comparing amplitude of phased array ultrasonic signals scattered from the targeted flaw with three different time delays.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2003.07d
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• pp.2271-2273
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• 2003

Control Rod Control System(CRCS) is to control nuclear reaction of reactor by moving Control Rod Drive Mechanism(CRDM) with speed and direction signal from Reactor Regulating System(RRS). CRCS is made up of two parts : control cabinet and power cabinet. And this paper presents mainly power cabinet design for system reliability. To increase reliability of power cabinet, controller, power supply and communication line arc doubly designed and supervision and diagnosis function are applied.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2003.11c
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• pp.555-558
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• 2003

When a fault relating to the urgent alarm occurs, we must prevent control rods from dropping and make one of two grippers in Control Rod Drive Mechanism (CRDM) grip the drive rod laking a control rod assembly. If a gripper with any problem is ordered to grip the drive rod, the gripper which cannot latch the rod stably will fail to take the rod. On the purpose of escaping this bad case, we order two grippers to hold the drive rod and enhance the reliability of holding control rods. This action is called the double hold. In the middle of the movement of the drive rod, the latching of the drive rod can cause friction between a gripper and the drive rod. This state may give damage to both the gripper and the drive rod. In this paper, we have devised the method which can have two grippers hold the drive rod more stably, without damaging the equipment.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2003.11c
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• pp.563-566
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• 2003

We have designed the power control unit which belongs to the power cabinet and controls the power supplied to Control Rod Drive Mechanism(CRDM) as a digital system based on Digital Signal Processor(DSP). The power control unit dualized as the form of Master/Slave has had its increased reality. The Central Process Unit(CPU) board of a power control unit possesses two Digital Signal Processors(DSPs) of the control DSP for performing the tasks of power control and system monitoring and the communication of the Control DSP and the Communication DSP. To accomplish the functions requested in the power control unit effectively, we have installed Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGAS) on the CPU board and have FPGAs perform the memory mapping, the generation of each chip selection signal, the giving and receiving of the signals between the power controllers dualized, the fault detection and the generation of the firing signals.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.366-370
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• 2007

Silicon nitride ($Si_3N_4$) ceramics have been considered for various components of nuclear power plants such as the mechanical seal of a reactor coolant pump (RCP), the guide roller for a control rod drive mechanism (CRDM), and a seal support, etc. Corrosion behavior of $Si_3N_4$ ceramics in a high-temperature and high-pressure water must be elucidated before they can be considered as components for nuclear power plants. In this study, the corrosion behaviors of $Si_3N_4$ ceramics containing MgO and $Al_2O_3$ as sintering aids were investigated at a hydrothermal condition ($300^{\circ}C$, 9.0 MPa) in pure water and 35 ppm LiOH solution. The corrosion reactions were controlled by a diffusion of the reactive species and/or products through the corroded layer. The grain-boundary phase was preferentially corroded in pure water whereas the $Si_3N_4$ grain seemed to be corroded at a similar rate to the grain-boundary phase in LiOH solution. Flexural strengths of the $Si_3N_4$ ceramics were significantly degraded due to the corrosion reaction. Results of this study imply that a variation of the sintering aids and/or a control (e.g., crystallization) of the grain-boundary phase are necessary to increase the corrosion resistance of $Si_3N_4$ ceramics in a high-temperature water.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.11
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• pp.4111-4124
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• 2022

The control rod drive system is critical to the reactor's reliable operation. The performance of its control system and mechanical system will gradually deteriorate because of operational and environmental stresses, thus increasing the reactor's operational risk. Currently there are few researches on the aging-related degradation of the entire control rod drive system. Because it is difficult to quantify the effect of various environmental stresses and establish an accurate physical model when multiple mechanisms superimposed in the degradation process. Therefore, this paper investigates the aging-related degradation of a control rod drive system by integrating Dynamic Object-Oriented Bayesian Network and Hidden Markov Model. Uncertainties in the degradation of the control system and mechanical system are addressed by using fuzzy theory and the Hidden Markov Model respectively. A system which consists of eight control rod drive mechanisms divided into two groups is used to demonstrate the method. The aging-related degradation of the control rod drive system is analyzed by the Bayesian inference algorithm based on the accelerated life test data, and the impact of different operating schemes on the system performance is also investigated. Meanwhile, the components or units that have major impact on the system's performance are identified at different operational phases. Finally, several essential safety measures are suggested to mitigate the risk caused by the system degradation.