• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.221-225
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident of Japan in 2011 on kindergarten teachers' perception on young children's safety due to radioactive contamination. This study analysed the 134 questionnaire forms out of 197 kindergarten teachers in the region of Chungbuk. The findings of the study indicated that the Japanese unclear power plant accident exerted an influence on anxious of kindergarten teachers on young children's safety due to radioactive contamination. In conclusion, kindergarten teacher education are required to improve the safety knowledge of kindergarten teachers and alternative resolution method for young children's safety due to radioactive contamination.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.423-434
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• 2016

The importance of severe nuclear accidents and probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) were brought to international attention with the occurrence of severe nuclear accidents caused by the extreme natural disaster at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. In Korea, studies on level 3 PSA had made little progress until recently. The code systems of level 3 PSA, MACCS2 (MELCORE Accident Consequence Code System 2, US), COSYMA (COde SYstem from MAria, EU) and OSCAAR (Off-Site Consequence Analysis code for Atmospheric Releases in reactor accidents, JAPAN), were reviewed in this study, and the disadvantages and limitations of MACCS2 were also analyzed. Experts from Korea and abroad pointed out that the limitations of MACCS2 include the following: MACCS2 cannot simulate multi-unit accidents/release from spent fuel pools, and its atmospheric dispersion is based on a simple Gaussian plume model. Some of these limitations have been improved in the updated versions of MACCS2. The absence of a marine and aquatic dispersion model and the limited simulating range of food-chain and economic models are also important aspects that need to be improved. This paper is expected to be utilized as basic research material for developing a Korean code system for assessing off-site consequences of severe nuclear accidents.

• Composites Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.40-44
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• 2016

Nuclear fuel cladding used in a nuclear power plant must possess superior oxidation resistance in the coolant atmosphere of high temperature/high pressure. However, as was the case for the critical LOCA (loss-of-coolant accident) accident that took place in the Fukushima disaster, there is a risk of hydrogen explosion when the nuclear fuel cladding and steam reacts dramatically to cause a rapid high-temperature oxidation accompanied by generation of a huge amount of hydrogen. Hence, an active search is ongoing for an alternative material to be used for manufacturing of nuclear fuel cladding. Studies are currently aimed at improving the safety of this cladding. In particular, ceramic-based nuclear fuel cladding, such as SiC, is receiving much attention due to the excellent radiation resistance, high strength, chemical durability against oxidation and corrosion, and excellent thermal conduction of ceramics. In the present study, cladding with $SiC_f/SiC$ protective films was fabricated using a process that forms a matrix phase by polymer impregnation of polycarbosilane (PCS) after filament-winding the SiC fiber onto an existing Zry-4 cladding tube. It is analyzed the oxidation and microstructure of the metal cladding with $SiC_f/SiC$ composite protective films using a drop tube furnace for thermal shock test.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.61-73
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• 2017

The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster in 2011 and California Power Failure in 2001 are examples of the importance of the power plant safety management that caused huge national loss with a power-related mass casualty incident. In a situation where humans cannot live without electricity, efforts to strengthen the systematic firefighting safety management in power plants that produce electricity with large amounts of hazardous materials as fuel, such as nuclear energy, coal and gas, are essential to protect life and prevent property loss and stable economic growth from fire explosion accident or radiation leak due to the negligence of safety management and natural disasters such as earthquakes, which has recently become an issue. This study examined the operating situation of firefighting safety management in power plants with firefighting officials employed by five power generation companies including Korea Southern Power Co., Ltd. and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Ltd., which are in charge of the domestic power supply. As a result, for the systematic firefighting safety management of power plants, improvement plans were drawn, including the development of an effective business manual and a comprehensive management system, the substantiality of firefighting safety education, and the strengthening of seismic designs to prepare for earthquakes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2014.05a
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• pp.707-709
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• 2014

The radiation sources leaked from large-scale radiation leak accident like the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident or nuclear explosions can cause to the very large damage for us. So that the damage can be minimized, we have being developed a detector that can providing information about the location of the source to remove dangerous substances quickly than the conventional single detector. In this paper, we designed and implemented the radiation shield and the collimator for the development of the stereo radiation detector to detect contamination things using MCNP Simulation. And we analysed the test results of the radiation shield and collimator using the radiation source. The results of this paper will be used as the basis for improving the efficiency of the stereo radiation detector being studied currently.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.714-715
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• 2017

Much of the interest in ocean radiation detection has been heightened as a lot of radioactivity has leaked to the ocean due to the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. In the study, MCNP simulation for radiation detection in the ocean was performed. Unlike in the air, the marine environment must ensure the stability of the sensor from water depth, temperature, pressure, and salinity. In the marine environment, too much radiation is shielded. Therefore, it is an object to select a housing with a low radiation shielding ratio.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.104-108
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• 2014

The recent Fukushima nuclear power plant accidents shows that the core make up at high RCS pressure condition is very important to prevent core melting. The core make up flow at high pressure condition should be driven by gravity force or passive forces because the AC-powered safety features are not available during a Station Black Out (SBO) accident. The reactor Coolant System (RCS) mass inventory is continuously decreased by releasing steam through the pressurizer safety valves after reactor trip during a SBO accident. The core will be melted down within 2~3 hours without core make up action by active or passive mode. In the new design concept of a Hybrid Safety Injection Tank (Hybrid SIT) both for low and high RCS pressure conditions, the low pressure nitrogen gas serves as a charging pressure for a LBLOCA injection mode, while the PZR high pressure steam provides an equalizing pressure for a high pressure injection mode such as a SBO accident. After the pressure equalizing process by battery driven initiation valve at a high pressure SBO condition, the Hybrid SIT injection water will be passively injected into the reactor downcomer by gravity head. The SBO simulation by MARS code show that the core makeup injection flow through the Hybrid SIT continued up to the SIT empty condition, and the core heatup is delayed as much.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.857-862
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• 2020

In March 2011, a tsunami off Japan caused radioactive material that had seeped into the sea from the Fukushima nuclear accident to flow to the Pacific Ocean, causing pollution to sea life. For a comparative evaluation with the area surrounding the site of a nuclear power plant by the release of radioactive materials, an area 20 to 30 km away from the emergency protection plan area was selected as a comparative point considering weather conditions, population distribution, etc. In addition, the government intends to analyze the minimum detection radiation received by residents around the nuclear power plant and evaluate the effective dose. Analysis of tritium radiation from water samples showed that most of the samples were not detected and that 0.0014 % to 0.777 % of the annual legal standard of 1 mSv for the general public had little effect on the human body. Therefore, the measurement and analysis of water samples around the nuclear power plant site is expected to help relieve anxiety, such as exposure to the general public and neighboring residents due to radiation release.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.97-109
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• 2020

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake followed by a tsunami caused an extended station blackout (SBO) at the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP Units. The accident was initiated by a total loss of both onsite and offsite electrical power resulting in the loss of the ultimate heat sink for several days, and a consequent core melt in some units where proper mitigation strategies could not be implemented in a timely fashion. To enhance the plant's coping capability, the Diverse and Flexible Strategies (FLEX) were proposed to append the Emergency Operation Procedures (EOPs) by relying on portable equipment as an additional line of defense. To assess the success window of FLEX strategies, all sources of uncertainties need to be considered, using a physics-based model or system code. This necessitates conducting a large number of simulations to reflect all potential variations in initial, boundary, and design conditions as well as thermophysical properties, empirical models, and scenario uncertainties. Alternatively, data-driven models may provide a fast tool to predict the success window of FLEX strategies given the underlying uncertainties. This paper explores the applicability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify the success window of FLEX strategy for extended SBO. The developed model can be trained and validated using data produced by the lumped parameter thermal-hydraulic code, MARS-KS, as best estimate system code loosely coupled with Dakota for uncertainty quantification. A Systems Engineering (SE) approach is used to plan and manage the process of using AI to predict the success window of FLEX strategies under extended SBO conditions.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.42-47
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• 2017

Background: One of the most urgent issues following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP) was the remediation of the land, in particular, for residential area contaminated by the radioactive materials discharged. In this study, the effect of decontamination on reduction of ambient dose equivalent outdoors and indoors was evaluated. The latter is essential for residents as most individuals spend a large portion of their time indoors. Materials and Methods: From December 2012 to November 2014, thirty-seven Japanese single-family detached wooden houses were investigated before and after decontamination in evacuation zones. Outdoor and indoor dose measurements (n = 84 and 114, respectively) were collected based on in situ measurements using the NaI (Tl) scintillation surveymeter. Results and Discussion: The outdoor ambient dose equivalents [$H^*(10)_{out}$] ranged from 0.61 to $3.71{\mu}Sv\;h^{-1}$ and from 0.23 to $1.32{\mu}Sv\;h^{-1}$ before and after decontamination, respectively. The indoor ambient dose equivalents [$H^*(10)_{in}$] ranged from 0.29 to $2.53{\mu}Sv\;h^{-1}$ and from 0.16 to $1.22{\mu}Sv\;h^{-1}$ before and after decontamination, respectively. The values of reduction efficiency (RE), defined as the ratio by which the radiation dose has been reduced via decontamination, were evaluated as $0.47{\pm}0.13$, $0.51{\pm}0.13$, and $0.58{\pm}0.08$ ($average{\pm}{\sigma}$) when $H^*(10)_{out}$ < $1.0{\mu}Sv\;h^{-1}$, $1.0{\mu}Sv\;h^{-1}$ < $H^*(10)_{out}$ < $2.0{\mu}Sv\;h^{-1}$, and $2.0{\mu}Sv\;h^{-1}$ < $H^*(10)_{out}$, respectively, indicating the values of RE increased as $H^*(10)_{out}$ increased. It was found that the values of RE were $0.53{\pm}0.12$ outdoors and $0.41{\pm}0.09$ indoors, respectively, indicating RE was larger outdoors than indoors. Conclusion: Indoor dose is essential as most individuals spend a large portion of their time indoors. The difference between outdoors and indoors should be considered carefully in order to estimate residents' exposure dose before their returning home.