• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.9
• /
• pp.2859-2865
• /
• 2021

One of the important issues raised from the Fukushima-Daiichi accident is the safety of multi-unit sites when simultaneous accidents occur at the site and recently a multi-unit PSA methodology is being developed worldwide. Since all operation modes of the plant should be considered in the multi-unit PSA, the accident analysis needs to be performed for shutdown operation modes, too. In this study, a station blackout during the mid-loop operation is selected as a reference scenario. The overall accident progression for the mid-loop operation is slower than that for the full-power operation because the residual heat per mass of coolant is about 6 times lower than that in the mid-loop scenario. Though the fractions of Cs released from the core to the RCS in both operation modes are almost the same, the amount of Cs delivered to the containment atmosphere is quite different due to the chemisorption in the RCS. While 45.5% of the initial inventory is chemisorbed on the RCS surfaces during the full-power operation, only 2.2% during the mid-loop operation. The containment remains intact during the mid-loop operation, though 83.9% of Cs is delivered to the containment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.531-540
• /
• 1998

The DYLAM-3 code which overcomes the limitation of event tree/fault tree was applied to LOOP (Loss of Off-site Power) in the mid-loop operation employing HEPs (Human Error Probabilities) supplied by the ASEP (Accident Sequence Evaluation Program) and the SEPLOT (Systematic Evaluation Procedure for Low power/shutdown Operation Task) procedure in this study. Thus the time history of core uncovery frequency during the mid-loop operation was obtained. The sensitivity calculations in the operator's actions to prevent core uncovery under LOOP in the mid-loop operation were carried out. The analysis using the time dependent HEP was performed on the primary feed & bleed which has the most significant effect on core uncovery frequency. As the result, the increment of frequency is shown after 200 minutes duration of simulation conditions. This signifies the possibility of increment in risk after 200 minutes. The primary feed & bleed showed the greatest impact on core uncovery frequency and the recovery of the SCS (Shutdown Cooling System) showed the least impact. Therefore the efforts should be taken on the primary feed & bleed to reduce the core uncovery frequency in the mid-loop operation. And the capability of DYLAM-3 in applying to the time dependent concerns could be demonstrated.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.52-59
• /
• 1996

This paper presents a new approach for assessing the dynamic reliability in a complex system such as a nuclear power plant. The method is applied to a dynamic analysis of the potential accident sequences which may occur during mid-loop operation. Mid-loop operation is defined as an operation to make RCS water level below the top of the flow area of the hot legs at the junction with the reactor vessel for repairs and maintenance of steam generators and reactor coolant pumps for a specific time. The Idea behind this approach consists of both the use of the concept of the performance achievement/requirement correlation and of a dynamic event tree generation method. The assessment of the system reliability depends on the determination of both the required performance distribution and the achieved performance distribution. The quantified correlation between requirement and achievement represents a comparison between two competing variables. It is demonstrated that this method is easily applicable and flexible in that it can be applied to any kind of dynamic reliability problem.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 1996.05a
• /
• pp.571-576
• /
• 1996

Currently most nuclear power plants(NPPs) are adopted the mid-loop operation to minimize the overhaul period and save the operating cost. For mid-loop operation it is essential to install nozzle dam between RCS pipe and steam generator(SG). Because SG remains more highly contaminated with radioactive material than any other parts of the NPPs, the repairmen are very reluctant to carry out installing nozzle dam inside the SG. Until now, unfortunately, it appears that no practically applicable device was developed to provide the longstanding demand. Also the accidents have been reported by licenser event report during this operation mode due to loss of residual heat removal(RHR). The purpose of this paper is to conduct remotely blocking and disintegration of nozzle of a SG which has the highest radiation exposure during the maintenance in NPPs. The remote nozzle blocking device of a SG includes three bladders, hubs, air controller provisions to supply and contact air pressure into the bladders. This remote nozzle block device will give the larger operation margin to prevent the loss of RHR and minimize the radiation exposure dose to the repairman and shorten the overhaul periods.

• International Journal of Reliability and Applications
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.25-35
• /
• 2002

This paper presents a dynamic reliability assessment methodology for use in the safety assessment of a complex system such as a nuclear power plant. The method is applied to a dynamic analysis of the potential accident sequences that may occur during mid-loop operation in a nuclear power plant. The idea behind this approach consists of both the use of the concept of the performance achievement/requirement correlation and of a dynamic event tree generation method. The assessment of the system reliability depends on the determination of both the required performance distribution and the achieved performance distribution. The quantified correlation between requirement and achievement represents a comparison between two competing variables. It is demonstrated that this method is easily applicable and flexible in that it can be applied to any kind of dynamic reliability problem.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.8
• /
• pp.3166-3175
• /
• 2022

The most numerical investigations of the thermal-hydraulic phenomena following the loss of the residual heat removal capability during the mid-loop operation of the pressurized water reactor were performed according to simplifications and are not sufficiently accurate. To perform more accurate and more reliable predictions of thermal-hydraulic accidents in a nuclear power plant using computational fluid dynamics codes, a more detailed methodology is needed. Modelling results identified that thermal stratification and natural convection are observed. Temperatures of lower monitoring points remain low, while temperatures of upper monitoring points increase over time. The water in the heated region, in the upper unheated region and the pipe region was well mixed due to natural convection, meanwhile, there is no natural convection in the lower unheated region. Water temperature in the pipe region increased after a certain time delay due to circulation of flow induced by natural convection in the heated and upper unheated regions. The modelling results correspond to the experimental data. The developed computational fluid dynamics methodology could be applied for modelling of two-component single/two-phase natural convection and thermal stratification phenomena during the mid-loop operation of the pressurized water reactor or other nuclear and non-nuclear installations at similar conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 1996.05b
• /
• pp.23-28
• /
• 1996

The potential for the RELAP5/MOD3.2 was assessed for the loss-of-RHR event during the mid-loop operation and the predictability of major thermal-hydraulic phenomena was also evaluated for the long term transient. The analysis results of the typical two cases(cold leg opening case and pressurizer opening case) were compared with experimental data which was conducted at ROSA-IV/LSTF in Japan. As a result, it was shown that tile code was capable of simulating the thermal-hydraulic transport process with appropriate time step during the reduced inventory operation with the loss-of- RHR system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 2001.05a
• /
• pp.249.1-249
• /
• 2001

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 1996.05b
• /
• pp.683-690
• /
• 1996

The MIDLOOP code has been developed for the evaluation of RES pressurization transients initiated from a loss-of-Residual Heat Removal System (RHRS) during mid-loop operation after reactor shutdown. It provides a fast running and realistic tool for studying parametrically the response of important plant parameters such as pressure, temperature, and level to various plant combinations of the primary side vent, makeup, and leakage procedures and the steam generator (SG) conditions. The code consists of ten nodes representing the primary and secondary sides of a nuclear power plant and can analyze the effect of air on the primary system pressurization and primary to secondary heat transfer. The analysis results of the MIDLOOP code are in good agreement with the ROSA-IV/LSTF experiment without opening in the RCS.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 2001.05a
• /
• pp.249.2-249
• /
• 2001