• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2003.07d
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• pp.2215-2217
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• 2003

In this paper we describe a Control Rod Control System(CRCS) with the various functions for the test and operation of Control Rod Drive Mechanism(CRDM). The CRCS controls the motion of the full length rod drive mechanisms in response to signals from the Reactor Operator and the Reactor Regulating System. The mechanisms are grouped and identified as being for either Shutdown Banks or Control Banks. The CRCS also provides information regarding rod motion, rod position, and status of the Rod Control System. Also we have implemented the diverse functions in the developed CRCS. Due to the developed CRCS, we are assured that the commercial operation by this system be made before long.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2002.07d
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• pp.2295-2297
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• 2002

In this paper, we describe a set of test facilities for the development of CRCS (Control Rod Control System). The test facilities consist of a code simulator CRDM (Control Rod Drive Mechanism) mockup, an input/output simulator for validation work and R-L load to simulate CRDM mockup.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.586-592
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• 2016

The magnetic-jack type CRDM withdraws or inserts a control rod assembly from/to the reactor core to control the core reactivity. The CRDM housings form not only the path of the electromagnetic field but also the pressure boundary of a nuclear reactor, and a periodic in-service inspection should be carried out if there are welded or flange jointed parts on the pressure boundary. The in-service inspection is a time-consuming process during the reactor refueling, and moreover it is difficult to perform the inspection over the reactor head. A magnetic motor housing is applied for the current SMART CRDM and has several welding joints, however a nonmagnetic motor housing with fewer or no welding joints may improve the operational efficiency of the nuclear reactor by avoiding or simplifying the in-service inspection process. Prior to the development, the magnetic field transfer efficiency of the nonmagnetic housing was required to be assessed. It was verified and optimized by the electromagnetic analysis of the lifting force estimation. Magnetic flux rings were adopted to improve the efficiency. In this paper, the design and optimization process of a nonmagnetic motor housing with the magnetic flux rings for the SMART CRDM are introduced and the analyses results are discussed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.637-647
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• 2014

In pressurized water reactors, the upper head of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) contains numerous control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) nozzles. These nozzles are fabricated by welding after being inserted into the RPV head with a room temperature shrink fit. The tensile residual stresses caused by this welding are a major factor in primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC). Over the last 15 years, the incidences of cracking in alloy 600 CRDM nozzles have increased significantly. These cracks are caused by PWSCC and have been shown to be driven by the welding residual stresses and operational stresses in the weld region. Various measures are being sought to overcome these problems. The defects resulting from the welding process are often the cause of PWSCC acceleration. Therefore, any weld defects found in the RPV manufacturing process are immediately repaired by repair welding. Detailed finite-element simulations for the Korea Nuclear Reactor Pressure Vessel were conducted in order to predict the magnitudes of the repair weld residual stresses in the tube materials.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.1235-1239
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• 2012

Primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) has been observed around the weld region of control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) nozzles in nuclear power plants overseas. The weld has a J-shaped groove and it connects the CRDM nozzle with the reactor vessel upper head (RVUH). It is a dissimilar metal weld (DMW), because the CRDM is made of alloy 600 and the RVUH is made of carbon steel. In this study, finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to estimate the stress condition around the weld region. Generally, it is known that a high tensile region is more susceptible to PWSCC. FEA was performed as for the condition of welding, hydrostatic test and normal operation successively to observe how the residual stress changes due to plant condition. The FEA results show that a high tensile stress region is formed around the weld starting point on the inner surface and around the weld stop point on the outer surface.

• 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.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.807-814
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• 2015

A control rod drive mechanism(CRDM) is a reactor regulating system, which inserts, withdraws or maintains a control rod containing a neutron absorbing material within a reactor core to control the reactivity of the core. The top-mounted CRDM for Jordan Research and Training Reactor(JRTR) with 5 MW power has been designed and fabricated based on the HANARO's experience through KAERI and DAEWOO consortium project. This paper describes the performance qualification test results to demonstrate the operability of a prototype and four production CRDMs during the reactor lifetime. The driving performance, the drop performance and the endurance tests for CRDM are carried out at a test rig simulating the actual reactor conditions. A vibration of internal components due to the coolant flow is also measured using a laser vibrometer. As a result, the CRDMs are driven having a good driving performance without a malfunction between command and output signals for the stepping motor. Also, the pure drop time and the impact acceleration are within 0.72 s and 4.2 g to meet the design requirements, and the vibrational displacement of control rod is measured as maximum $5.2{\mu}m$.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2003.11c
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• pp.552-554
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• 2003

This paper is about the method by which Power Control Unit(PCU) of Control Rod Control System(CRCS) logs events in the system and the real-time monitoring display. This method enables the functions like the event logging of Control Rod Drive Mechanism(CRDM)/power Cabinet, the off-line show of the event data logged and the on-line show by communication between the PCU and the monitoring display. Operators in a nuclear power plant must be able to grasp any possible abnormal states correctly. Because our newly designed system has a good ability to log and display the kinds, tine, and the prior and posterior states of urgent or non-urgent events, the operators can judge, maintain and repair the abnormal event more easily.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.1337-1345
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• 2011

In pressurized water reactors (PWRs), the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) upper head contains numerous control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) nozzles. In the last 10 years, the incidences of cracking in alloy 600 CRDM nozzles and their associated welds has increased significantly. Several axial and circumferential cracks have been found in CRDM nozzles in European PWRs and U.S. nuclear power plants. These cracks are caused by primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) and have been shown to be driven by welding residual stresses and operational stresses in the weld region. Therefore, detailed finite-element (FE) simulations for the Korea Nuclear Reactor Pressure Vessel have been conducted in order to predict the magnitudes of the weld residual stresses in the tube materials. In particular, the weld residual stress results are compared in terms for nozzle location, geometry factor$r_o$/t, geometry of fillet, and adjacent nozzle.