• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.315-326
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• 2001

Direct ECC bypass phenomena that occur in a reactor vessel downcomer with a Direct Vessel Injection (DVI) system during the reflood phase of a Large Break Loss-of-Coolant Accident (LBLOCA) are experimentally investigated using a transparent l/7.5 scaled down test facility of the Upper Plenum Test Facility (UPTF). A series of separate effect tests are peformed in order to investigate the mechanisms of direct ECC bypass and to find out its scaling parameters. Various flow regimes and phasic distribution in downcomer are identified and mapped, and the fraction of direct ECC bypass is measured under a wide range of air and water injection conditions. From the counterpart test of the UPTF Test 21-D, the dimensionless gas velocity ( $j^{*}$$_{g,eff}$) is derived experimentally, which is believed to be a major scaling parameter for the fraction of direct ECC bypass. And it is found out that the direct ECC bypass is greatly affected by the spreading width of ECC water film and the geometric configuration of the downcomer.r.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.772-777
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• 2012

Accidents caused by water absorption in water-cooled generator stator windings often occur all over the world. The absorption into the insulator of the coolant, which is used to cool down the heat generated by stator windings during operation, leads to the deterioration of dielectric strength, and insulation breakdown. An insulation breakdown may cause not only an enormous economic loss but also a very serious grid accident that would compromise stable supply of electric power. More than 50 % of domestic generators have been in operation for more than 15 years, and water absorption tests performed on 50 water-cooled generator stator windings during a five-year planned preventive maintenance period beginning in 2006 identified water absorption problems in 10 of them, all of which required repair. Because the existing water absorption test detects this problem by utilizing stochastic methods after measuring the capacitances at the final positions of insulation breakdown, its accuracy is limited. This study demonstrates that water absorption can be more accurately diagnosed by utilizing method along with a more precise one.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.421-432
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• 2002

As one of the advanced design features of the APR1400, direct vessel injection (DVI) system is being considered instead of conventional cold leg injection (CLI) system. It is known that the DVI system greatly enhances the reliability of the emergency core cooling (ECC) system. However, there is still a dispute on its performance in terms of water delivery to the reactor core during the reflood phase of a large-break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). Thus, experimental validation is under progress. In this paper, test results of direct ECC bypass performed in the steam-water test facility tailed MIDAS (Multi-dimensional Investigation in Downcomer Annulus Simulation) are presented. The test condition is determined, based on the preliminary analysis of TRAC code, by applying the ‘modified linear scaling method’with the l/4.93 length scale . From the tests, ECC direct bypass fraction, steam condensation rate and information on the flow distribution in the upper annulus downcomer region are obtained.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.1525-1531
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• 2019

The indigenous nuclear power program of India is based mainly on a series of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs). A burst correlation for Indian PHWR fuel claddings has been developed and empirical burst parameters are determined. The burst correlation is developed from data available in literature for single-rod transient burst tests performed on Indian PHWR claddings in inert environment. The heating rate and internal overpressure were in the range of 7 K/s-73 K/s and 3 bar-80 bar, respectively, during the burst tests. A burst criterion for inert environment, which assumes that deformation is controlled by steady state creep, has been developed using the empirical burst parameters. The burst criterion has been validated with experimental data reported in literature and the prediction of burst parameters is in a fairly good agreement with the experimental data. The burst criterion model reveals that increasing the heating rate increases the burst temperature. However, at higher heating rates, burst strain is decreased considerably and an early rupture of the claddings without undergoing considerable ballooning is observed. It is also found that the degree of anisotropy has significant influence on the burst temperature and burst strain. With increasing degree of anisotropy, the burst temperature for claddings increases but there is a decrease in the burst strain. The effect of anisotropy in the ${\alpha}$-phase is carried over to ${\alpha}+{\beta}$-phase and its effect on the burst strain in the ${\alpha}+{\beta}$-phase too can be observed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.389-400
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• 1994

The predictability of KAERI version of RELAP5/MOD3 on reflood peak cladding temperature during large break loss-of-coolant accident is assessed against 18 test runs in FLECHT SEASET test data. The associated uncertainty is statistically quantified. The selected test runs include a gravity feed test and several forced feed tests with wide range of the parameters such as flooding rate, system pressure, initial clad temperature, rod bundle power. The results show that the code under-predicts the peak cladding temperature by 7.56 K on average. The upper limit of the associated uncertainty at 95% confidence level is evaluated to be about 99 K, It including the bias due to the under-prediction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.193-202
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• 2010

In order to study the cladding properties of zirconium after a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA)-simulation oxidation and water quenching test, commercial Zircaloy-4 and two kinds of HANA claddings were oxidized at temperatures ranging from $900^{\circ}C$ to $1250^{\circ}C$ and exposed for 300 s, and then cooled to $700^{\circ}C$ before quenching. Microstructural observations were made to evaluate the matrix characteristics with the chemical compositions after the LOCA-simulation test. Ring compression testing was then performed to compare the ductile behaviour of the HANA and Zircaloy-4 claddings. An X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was carried out for temperatures ranging from room temperature to $1250^{\circ}C$ for the oxide layer to verify the oxide crystal structure at each oxidation temperature.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.185-194
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• 2006

Transient operations for an integral type reactor, SMART-P, have been experimentally investigated using a thermal-hydraulic integral test facility, VISTA (Experimental Verification by Integral Simulation of Transients and Accidents), in order to verify the system design and performance of the SMART-P, a pilot plant of SMART. The VISTA facility was subjected to various accident conditions such as feedwater increase and decrease, loss of coolant flow, and control rod withdrawal accidents in order to elucidate the thermal-hydraulic responses following such accidents and finally to verify the system design of the SMARTP. Full functional control logics have been implemented in the VISTA facility in order to control the required control action for an accident simulation. As one of the sensitivity tests to verify the PRHRS performance, the effects of the initial water level in the compensation tank are experimentally investigated. When the initial water level is 16%, the water is quickly drained and nitrogen gas is then introduced into the PRHR system, resulting in deterioration of the PRHRS performance. It is thus found that nitrogen ingression should be prevented to ensure stable PRHRS operation.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.12
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• pp.3748-3754
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• 2009

An integral head loss test in a test apparatus was conducted to simulate chemical effects on a head loss across a strainer in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) containment water pool after a loss of coolant accident (LOCA). The test was conducted during 30 days in the condition of a short spray, a long spray, and no materials with chemical effects. The result exhibited that the head loss was affected on amounts of the exposed materials according to spray conditions. XRD analysis of the collected precipitates showed that the precipitates were phosphate compounds. Comparison of the head loss with dissolved species concentration showed that high increase rate of the head loss resulted from the corrosion of aluminum and zinc but slow increase rate of the head loss resulted from the precipitates induced by Si, Mg, and Ca from leaching reaction at NUKON and concrete after passivation of metal specimens.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.1066-1080
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• 2024

SMART100 has a containment pressure and radioactivity suppression system (CPRSS) for passive containment cooling system (PCCS). This prevents overheating and over-pressurization of a containment through direct contact condensation in an in-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST) and wall condensation in a CPRSS heat exchanger (CHX) in an emergency cool-down tank (ECT). The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) constructed scaled-down test facilities, SISTA1 and SISTA2, for the thermal-hydraulic validation of the SMART100 CPRSS. Three separate effect tests were performed using SISTA1 to confirm the heat removal characteristics of SMART100 CPRSS. When the low mass flux steam with or without non-condensable gas is released into an IRWST, the conditions for mitigation of the chugging phenomenon were identified, and the physical variables were quantified by the 3D reconstruction method. The local behavior of the non-condensable gas was measured after condensation inside heat exchanger using a traverse system. Stratification of non-condensable gas occurred in large tank of the natural circulation loop. SISTA2 was used to simulate a small break loss-of-coolant accident (SBLCOA) transient. Since the test apparatus was a metal tank, compensations of initial heat transfer to the material and effect of heat loss during long-term operation were important for simulating cooling performance of SMART100 CPRSS. The pressure of SMART100 CPRSS was maintained below the design limit for 3 days even under sufficiently conservative conditions of an SBLOCA transient.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.11
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• pp.3260-3268
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• 2009

A test apparatus has been fabricated to simulate chemical effect on head loss through a strainer in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) containment water pool after a loss of coolant accident (LOCA). Tests were conducted under condition of same ratio of strainer surface area to water volume between the test appratus and the containment sump. A series of tests have been performed to investigate the effects of spray, existence of calcium-silicate with tri-sodium phosphate (TSP), and composition of materials. The results showed that head loss across the chemical bed with even a small amount of calcium-silicate insulation instantaneously increased as soon as TSP was added to the test solution. Also, the head loss across the test screen is strongly affected by spray duration and is increased rapidly at the early stage, because of high dissolution and precipitation of aluminum and zinc. After passivation of aluminum and zinc by corrosion, the head loss increase is much slowed down and is mainly induced by materials such as calcium, silicon, and magnesium leached from NUKONTM and concrete. Furthermore, it is newly found that the spay buffer agent, tri-sodium phosphate, to form protective coating on the aluminum surface and reduce aluminum leaching is not effective for a large amount of aluminum and a long spray.