• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.239-245
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• 2003

In the nuclear power plant, emergency core coolant system (ECCS) is furnished at reactor coolant system (RCS) in order to cool down high temperature water in case of emergency. However, in this coolant system, thermal stratification phenomenon can occur due to coolant leaking in the check valve. The thermal stratification produces excessive thermal stresses at the pipe wall so as to yield thermal fatigue crack (TFC) accident. In the present study, effects of turbulence penetration on the thermal stratification into T-branches with square cross-section in the modeled ECCS are analysed numerically. $textsc{k}$-$\varepsilon$ model is employed to calculate the Reynolds stresses in momentum equations. Results show that the length and strength of thermal stratification are primarily affected by the leak flow rate of coolant and the Reynolds number of the main flow in the duct. Turbulence penetration into the T-branch of ECCS shows two counteracting effects on the thermal stratification. Heat transport by turbulence penetration from the main duct to leaking flow region may enhance thermal stratification while the turbulent diffusion may weaken it.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.147-154
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• 2001

The prestressed concrete containment is one of the most important structures in nuclear power plants, which is required to prevent release of radioactive or hazardous effluents to the environment even in the case of a severe accident. Numerical analyses are carried out by using the ABAQUS finite element program to assess the ultimate pressure capacity of the Y prestressed concrete containment with light water reactor at design criteria condition and aging condition considering varied properties of time-dependant materials respectively. From the results, it is verified that the structural capacity of the Y prestressed concrete containment building under the present, aging condition is still robust. In addition, the parameter studies for the reduction of the ultimate pressure capacity of containment building according to the degradation levels of the main structural materials are carried out. The results show that when the degradations of each materials are considered as individual and combined forms, the influence is large in the order of tendon, rebar and concrete degradation, and tendon-rebar, tendon-concrete and rebar-concrete degradation respectively.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1067-1072
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• 2014

The ability to overcome obstacles is necessary for field robots for various applications including the ability to climb stairs. While much research has been performed focusing on overcoming obstacles, the resulting robots do not have sufficient ability to overcome obstacles such as stairs. In this research, the purpose is to overcome relatively large obstacles by flipping locomotion through the modification of the stair climbing robotic platform of the previous research. We propose two scenarios to overcome large obstacles: a rear wheel driving system and an elevation system using a ball screw. The research is performed based on static analyses on obstacle-climbing. As the simulation results indicate, we determined the optimal posture of the robot for climbing obstacles for rear wheel driving. Also, an elevation system is analyzed for obstacle climbing. Between the two scenarios an elevation system is determined to reduce the operating torque of the actuator, and the prototype was recently assembled. The climbing ability of the robotic platform is verified. We expect the application area for this robotic platform will be in accident areas of nuclear power plants.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.43-52
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• 2008

Human errors are now considered as the most significant source of accidents or incidents in large-scale systems such as aircraft, vessels, railway, and nuclear power plants. As 61% of the train accidents in Korea railway involving collisions, derailments and fires were caused by human errors, there is a strong need for a systematic research that can help to prevent human errors. Although domestic railway operating companies use a variety of methods for analyzing human errors, there is much room for improvement. Especially, because most of them are based on written papers, there is a definite need for a well-developed computerized system supporting human error analyzing tasks. The purpose of this study is to propose a framework for a computerized human error analysis system focused on the railway industry on the basis of human error analysis mechanism. The proposed framework consists of human error analysis (HEA) module, similar accident tracking (SAT) module, cause factor recommendation (CFR) module, cause factor management (CFM) module, and statistics (ST) module.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.86-92
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• 2014

This paper provides an integrated view on human and system interaction in advanced and automated systems, which adopting computerized multi-functional artifacts and complicated organizations, such as nuclear power plants, chemical plants, steel and semi-conduct manufacturing system. As current systems have advanced with various automated equipments but human operators from various organizations are involved in the systems, system safety still remains uncertain. Especially, a human operator plays an important role at the time of critical conditions that can lead to catastrophic accidents. The knowledge on human error helps a risk manager as well as a designer to create and control a more credible system. Several human error theories were reviewed and adopted for forming the integrated perspective: gulf of execution and evaluation; risk homeostasis; the ironies of automation; trust in automation; design affordance; distributed cognition; situation awareness; and plan delegation theory. The integrated perspective embraces human error theories within three levels of human-system interactions such as affordance level, psychological logic level and trust level. This paper argued that risk management process should dealt with human errors by providing (1) reasoning improvement; (2) support to situation awareness of operators; and (3) continuous monitoring on harmonization of human system interaction. This approach may help people to understand risk of human-system interaction failure characteristics and their countermeasures.

• 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.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.617-633
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• 2014

Because the elevated temperature degrades the mechanical properties of materials used in containments, the global behavior of containments subjected to the internal pressure under high temperature is remarkably different from that subjected to the internal pressure only. This paper concentrates on the nonlinear finite element analyses of the nuclear power plant containment structures, and the importance for the consideration of the elevated temperature effect has been emphasized because severe accident usually accompanies internal high pressure together with a high temperature increase. In addition to the consideration of nonlinear effects in the containment structure such as the tension stiffening and bond-slip effects, the change in material properties under elevated temperature is also taken into account. This paper, accordingly, focuses on the three-dimensional nonlinear analyses with thermal effects. Upon the comparison of experiment data with numerical results for the SNL 1/4 PCCV tested by internal pressure only, three-dimensional analyses for the same structure have been performed by considering internal pressure and temperature loadings designed for two kinds of severe accidents of Saturated Station Condition (SSC) and Station Black-out Scenario (SBO). Through the difference in the structural behavior of containment structures according to the addition of temperature loading, the importance of elevated temperature effect on the ultimate resisting capacity of PCCV has been emphasized.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2004

The NSSS (Nuclear Steam Supply System) thermal-hydraulic programs adopted in the domestic full-scope power plant simulators were provided in early 1980s by foreign vendors. Because of limited compulsational capability at that time, they usually used very simplified physical models for a real-time simulation of NSSS thermal-hydraulic transients, which entails inaccurate results and, thus, the possibility of so-called "negative training", especially for complicated two-phase flows in the reactor coolant system. In resolve the problem, KEPRI developed a realistic NSSS T/H program ARTS which was based on the RETRAN-3D code for the improvement of the Nuclear Power Plant full-scope simulator. The ARTS (based on the RETRAN-3D code) guarantees the real-time calculations of almost all transients and ensures the robustness of simulations. However, there is some possibility of failing to calculate in the case of large break loss of coolant accident (LBLOCA) and low-pressure low-flow transient. In this case, the backup calculation system cover automatically the ARTS. The backup calculation system was expected to provide substantially more accurate predictions in the analysis of the system transients involving LBLOCA. The results were reasonable in terms of accuracy, real-time simulation, robustness and education of operators, complying with FSAR and the AMSI/ANS-3.5-1998 simulator software performance criteria.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2019

The accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) resulted in the deposition of large quantities of radionuclides over parts of eastern Japan. Radioactive contaminants have been observed over a large area including forests, cities, rivers and lakes. Due to the strong adsorption of radioactive cesium by soil particles, radioactive cesium migrates with the eroded soil, follows the surface flow paths, and is delivered downstream of population-rich regions and eventually to coastal areas. In this study, we developed a model to simulate the transport of contaminated sediment in a watershed hydrological system and this model was compared with observation data from eroded soil observation instruments located at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. Two methods were applied to analyze the soil particle size distribution of the collected soil samples, including standardized sieve analysis and image analysis methods. Numerical models were developed to simulate the movement of soil along with actual rainfall considering initial saturation, rainfall infiltration, multilayer and rain splash. In the 2019 study, a numerical model will be used to add rainfall shield effect by trees, evaporation effect and shield effects of surface water. An eroded soil observation instrument has been installed near the Wolsong nuclear power plant since 2018 and observation data are being continuously collected. Based on these observations data, we will develop the numerical model to analyze long-term behavior of radionuclides on land as they move from land to rivers, lakes and coastal areas.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.161-165
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• 2016

Background: Radiation accidents having occurred in recent containing the accident in Fukushima nuclear power plants of Japan were resulted to the increase in some public concern, anxiety and confusion for radiation or nuclear safety. The public anxiety for radiation is not being decreased though the announcements done in radiation research institutes in Korea. Therefore, this study aims at providing an effective system for radiation publicity to the public members by the clipping analysis for the radiation articles reported in the media. And, the relation between those radiation issues and the radiation perception to the public members is analyzed. Materials and Methods: The radiation articles reported by them in 2013 and 2014 have been collected, and they are then classified with the article characteristic, field and tendency. Classified articles have been reviewed by dividing as two year. The 210 articles have been compared for their tendencies, characteristics and fields by year reported, and their characteristic comparison by reported year are then reviewed. Results and Discussion: Though the frequency that the radiological accidents have occurred in worldwide is far low compared to the accidental frequencies occurred in the general industrial fields, the radiation perception is being still deteriorated because of its special problem, which is defined as exposure, contamination or radioactivity, about radiation. The basic principles for radiation communication were suggested for preventing some unnecessary misunderstanding due to the variation of understanding for radiation issues. Conclusion: It is necessary to perform a variety of strategies for the publicity in improving the radiation perception, to build a relationship with the press or the media and then to consistently interact with them. Radiation communication must be performed by radiation experts or complete charge department, and must be consistently performed and be taken predictable patterns.