• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.9
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• pp.1955-1962
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• 2020

In a sudden shutdown of primary pump or coolant loss accident in a marine nuclear power plant, the primary flow decreases rapidly in a transition process from forced circulation (FC) to natural circulation (NC), and the lower flow enters the steam generator (SG) causing reverse flow in the U-tube. This can significantly compromise the safety of nuclear power plants. Based on the marine natural circulation steam generator (NCSG), an experimental loop is constructed to study the characteristics of reverse flow under middle-temperature and middle-pressure conditions. The transition from FC to NC is simulated experimentally, and the characteristics of SG reverse flow are studied. On this basis, the experimental loop is numerically modeled using RELAP5/MOD3.3 code for system analysis, and the accuracy of the model is verified according to the experimental data. The influence of the flow variation rate on the reverse flow phenomenon and flow distribution is investigated. The experimental and numerical results show that in comparison with the case of adjusting the mass flow discontinuously, the number of reverse flow tubes increases significantly during the transition from FC to NC, and the reverse flow has a more severe impact on the operating characteristics of the SG. With the increase of flow variation rate, the reverse flow is less likely to occur. The mass flow in the reverse flow U-tubes increases at first and then decreases. When the system is approximately stable, the reverse flow is slightly lower than obverse flow in the same U-tube, while the flow in the obverse flow U-tube increases.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.156-164
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• 1986

In the case of boiling on high temperature wall, vapor film covers fully or parcially the surface. This phenomenon, film boiling or transition boiling, is very important in the surface heat treatment of metal, design of cryogenic heat exchanger and emergency cooling of nuclear reactor. Mainly supposed hydraulic-thermal accidents in nuclear reactor are LCCA (Loss of Coolant Accident) and PCM (Power-Cooling Mismatch). Recently, world-wide studies on reflooding of high temperature rod bundles after the occurrence of the above accidents focus attention on wall temperature history and required time in transient cooling process, wall superheat at rewet point, heat flux-wall superheat relationship beyond the transition boiling region, and two-phase flow state near the surface. It is considered that the further systematical study in this field will be in need in spite of the previous results in ref. (2), (3), (4). The paper is the study about the fast transient cooling process following the wall temperature excursion under the CHF (Critical Heat Flux) condition in a forced convective subcooled boiling system. The test section is a vertically arranged concentric annulus of 800 mm long and 10 mm hydraulic diameter. The inner tube, SUS 304 of 400 mm long, 8 mm I.D, and 7 mm O.D., is heated uniformly by the low voltage AC power. The wall temperature measurements were performed at the axial distance from the inlet of the heating tube, z=390 mm. 6 chromel- alumel thermocouples of 76 .mu.m were press fitted to the inner surface of the heating tube periphery. To investigate the heat transfer characteristics during the fast transient cooling process, the outer surface (fluid side) temperature and the surface heat flux are computed from the measured inner surface temperature history by means of a numerical method for inverse problems of transient heat conduction. Present cooling (boiling) curve is sufficiently compared with the previous results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.1514-1524
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• 2019

Hydrogen-steam gas mixture may be injected into containment with flow regime varying both spatially and transiently due to wall effect and pressure difference between primary loop and containment in severe accidents induced by loss of coolant accident. Preliminary CFD analysis is conducted to gain information about the helium flow regime transition process from jet to buoyancy plume for forthcoming experimental study. Physical models of impinging jet and wall condensation are validated using separated effect experimental data, firstly. Then helium transportation is analyzed with the effect of jet momentum, buoyancy and wall cooling discussed. Result shows that helium distribution is totally dominated by impinging jet in the beginning, high concentration appears near gas source and wall where jet momentum is strong. With the jet weakening, stable light gas layer without recirculating eddy is established by buoyancy. Transient reversed helium distribution appears due to natural convection resulted from wall cooling, which delays the stratification. It is necessary to concern about hydrogen accumulation in lower space under the containment external cooling strategy. From the perspective of experiment design, measurement point should be set at the height of connecting pipe and near the wall for stratification stability criterion and impinging jet modelling validation.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.54-65
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• 2000

The objective of this study is to evaluate the operator performance relating to hand switches with two or three buttons in the main control rooms of nuclear power plants. Based on the comparative analysis of the nuclear power plants, two different subjective workload-rating scales were used to evaluate the performance of 48 operators: the Overall Workload(OW) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA TLX). The survey questions consisting of the eight-items were asked to evaluate the operating experiences for the two different switch types. The OW scales ratings were applied to measure the workload of the switch-related tasks. The ratings revealed that signal detection tasks caused less workload in the three-buttoned-switch operators than the other switch group. However, in the switch operation tasks, the switch types did not show statistically significant effects on workload level. The NASA TLX scale ratings were performed based on detailed task scenarios that assumed the accident of small break loss of coolant, what we call, the small LOCH. The NASA TLX was administered to three different task groups: the reactor, the turbine, and the electric operator groups. Based on the NASA TLX, the two-buttoned switch groups showed higher workload than those with the three-buttoned switches. However, a statistically significant difference was found only in the reactor operator groups. When the current switch type was assumed to be changed for the other type, all of the three-buttoned switch groups were predicted to have higher workload than the other switch groups, respectively. The implications of these findings were discussed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.727-734
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• 2012

A new advanced safety feature of DVI+ (Direct Vessel Injection Plus) for the APR+ (Advanced Power Reactor Plus), to mitigate the ECC (Emergency Core Cooling) bypass fraction and to prevent switching an ECC outlet to a break flow inlet during a DVI line break, is presented for an advanced DVI system. In the current DVI system, the ECC water injected into the downcomer is easily shifted to the broken cold leg by a high steam cross flow which comes from the intact cold legs during the late reflood phase of a LBLOCA (Large Break Loss Of Coolant Accident)For the new DVI+ system, an ECBD (Emergency Core Barrel Duct) is installed on the outside of a core barrel cylinder. The ECBD has a gap (From the core barrel wall to the ECBD inner wall to the radial direction) of 3/25~7/25 of the downcomer annulus gap. The DVI nozzle and the ECBD are only connected by the ECC water jet, which is called a hydrodynamic water bridge, during the ECC injection period. Otherwise these two components are disconnected from each other without any pipes inside the downcomer. The ECBD is an ECC downward isolation flow sub-channel which protects the ECC water from the high speed steam crossflow in the downcomer annulus during a LOCA event. The injected ECC water flows downward into the lower downcomer through the ECBD without a strong entrainment to a steam cross flow. The outer downcomer annulus of the ECBD is the major steam flow zone coming from the intact cold leg during a LBLOCA. During a DVI line break, the separated DVI nozzle and ECBD have the effect of preventing the level of the cooling water from being lowered in the downcomer due to an inlet-outlet reverse phenomenon at the lowest position of the outlet of the ECBD.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.86-97
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• 1992

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the direct vessel injection design from a pressurized thermal shock(PTS) viewpoint for the Combustion Engineering System 80+ A break of the main steam line from zero power and a 0.05 ft$^2$small break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) from full power were selected as the potential PTS events. In order to investigate the stratification effects in the reactor downcomer region, the fluid mixing analysis was performed using the COMMIX-IB code for steam line break and using the REMIX code for 0.05 ft$^2$small break LOCA. The stress distributions within the reactor vessel walls experiencing the pressure and the temperature transients were calculated using the OCA-P code for both events. The results of the analysis showed that a small break LOCA without decay heat presented the greatest challenge to the vessel, however, there is no crack initiation through end-of-life of the vessel with consideration of decay heat.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2005

The APR1400 is an Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor with 3983 MWt power, 2×4 loops, and direct vessel injection system. The Fluidic Device (FD) is adopted to regulate the safety injection flow rate in a Safety Injection Tank (SIT) of APR1400. The performance of a newly designed fluidic Device is evaluated by analyzing a Large Break Loss-of-Coolant Accident (LBLOCA) using TRAC-M/F90, version 3.782. The analysis results show that the TRAC-M code reasonably predicts the important phenomena of blowdown, refill and reflood phases of LBLOCA. The sensitivity studies about gas/water volume changes in a SIT and K factor changes in a SI system were also done to understand the important phenomena with a Fluidic Device in APR1400.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.196-203
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• 1982

To transport the spent fuel assemblies of Korea Nuclear Unit 1, which is a Westinghouse type two loop pressurized water reactor, it has been found that steel is the most appropriate material for the design of a shipping cask in comparison with lead and depleted uranium. The proposed shipping cask will transport nine fuel assemblies at the same time and is well within the weight limit of transportation by unrestricted rail car. The cask requires 33cm thick steel shield and 27cm thick water region to satisfy the 3 feet apart dose rate limit set forth in 10 CFR 71, and 1.27cm thick steel boron fuel basket to hold the fuel elements inside the cask and control the effective multiplication factor. As a safety analysis, the fuel cladding and centerline temperatures were calculated under the accident condition of complete loss of water coolant, and it was found that the temperature was much lower than the limit of the melting point. k$_{eff}$ was calculated with fresh fuel assemblies, which was found to be well lower than 0.95. For shielding computation, the multipurpose Monte Carlo code MORSE-CG and one dimensional discrete ordinates transport code ANISN were used, and the Monte Carlo codes KENO and MORSE-CG were used for criticality calculation. The radiation source terms were calculated using ORIGEN-79.9.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.121-129
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• 1981

Three most outstanding maximum flow rate formulas are identified from many existing models. Outlines of the three limiting mass flow rate models are given along with computational procedures to estimate approximate amount of fission products released from a containment to environment for a given characteristic hole size for containment-isolation failure and containment pressure and temperature under a loss of coolant accident. Sample calculations are performed using the critical ideal gas flow rate model and the Moody's graphs for the maximum two-phase flow rates, and the results are compared with the values obtained from the mass leakage rate formula of CONTEMPT-LT code for converging nozzle and sonic flow. It is shown that the critical ideal gas flow rate formula gives almost comparable results as one can obtain from the Moody's model. It is also found that a more conservative approach to estimate leakage rate from a containment under a LOCA is to use the maximum ideal gas flow rate equation rather than tile mass leakage rate formula of CONTEMPT-LT.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.701-709
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• 1995

The realistic discharge coefficient for the critical How model of RELAP5/AOD3/KAERI are determined for the subcooled and too-phase critical flow by assessments of nine MARVIKEN Critical flew Test(CFT). The selected test runs include a high initial subcooling and large nozzle aspect rat-io(L/D). The code assessment results show that RELAP5/MOD3/KAERI over-predicts the subcooled critical flow and under-predicts the two-phase critical flow. Using these result, the realistic discharge coefficients of critical flow models are quantified by an iterative method. The realistic discharge coefficients are determined to be 0.89 for the subcooled critical How and 1.07 for the two-phase critical flow, and the associated standard deviations are 0.0349 and 0.1189, respectively. The results obtained from this study can be applied to calculate the realistic system response of Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident and to evaluate the realistic Emergency Core Cooling System performance.