• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.367-391
• /
• 2013

After the Fukushima nuclear accident, the external costs of generating electricity from nuclear power plants such as additional safety compliance costs and possible accident risk action costs have gained increasing attention from the public, policy-makers and politicians. Consequently, estimates of the external costs of nuclear power are very deliberate issue that is at the center of the controversy in Korea. In this paper, we try to calculate the external costs associated with the safety of the nuclear power plants, particularly focusing on additional safety compliance costs and possible accident risk action costs. To estimate the possible accident risk action costs, we adopt the damages expectation approach that is very similar way from the external cost calculation of Japanese government after the Fukushima accident. In addition, to estimate additional safety compliance costs, we apply the levelized cost of generation method. Furthermore, we perform the sensitivity analysis to examine how much these social costs increase the electricity price rate. Estimation results of the additional security measure cost is 0.53Won/kWh ~ 0.80Won/kWh depending on the capacity factor, giving little change on the nuclear power generation cost. The estimates of possible accident risk action costs could be in the wide range depending on the different damages of the nuclear power accident, probability of the severe nuclear power accident and the capacity factor. The preliminary results show that it is 0.0025Won/kWh ~ 26.4188Won/kWh. After including those two external costs on the generation cost of a nuclear power plant, increasing rate of electricity price is 0.001%~10.0563% under the capacity factor from 70% to 90%. This paper tries to examine the external costs of nuclear power plants, so as to include it into the generation cost and the electricity price. This paper suggests one of the methodologies that we might internalize the nuclear power generations' external cost, including it into the internal generation cost.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.56-63
• /
• 2011

his paper aimed to understand the residual stress in the dissimilar metal welds of nuclear power plant. Two kinds of residual stress were considered, which caused by welding and machining. Residual stress due to mechanical machining was measured by hole-drilling technique and x-ray diffraction method for the SA508 and F316L. Weld residual stress at dissimilar metal weld between SA508 and F316L was evaluated by FEA. Residual stress profiles were obtained for the inside surface and through thickness of welds. Machining effect was also analyzed by FEA. According to the residual stress measurement, it was observed that mechanical machining can generate tensile stress on the surface of the test material. However, FEA results showed that mechanical machining did not increase the tensile stress on the surface of weld region. Further study with more elaborate measurement and numerical analysis is required to identify the effect of machining on residual stress in the dissimilar metal weld region.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.449-470
• /
• 2016

This paper analyzes the effects of nuclear power generation on industrial growth in using the data of 22 manufacturing sectors in 14 nuclear power countries. The hypothesis that the change in the proportion of nuclear power generation in total electricity generation affects industrial value-added and industrial output through industrial electricity price reduction was tested using the dynamic panel data model. First, it was estimated that the increase in nuclear power generation by a 1% leads to a 0.8% reduction in electricity price. The results indicate that when nuclear power generation increased by a 1% point, industrial value-added and output increased by 0.16% and 0.23%,respectively, in the short-run and by 0.51% and 0.85%, respectively, in the long-run. It was also inferred that the effect of nuclear generation on industrial competitiveness working through electricity price reduction rely on institutional settings in the electricity markets. That is, the competitive effect is greater in the countries such as U.K and Japan where electricity price is high and price volatility is large. Meanwhile, in Germany which has pursued phasing out nuclear power, industrial competitiveness is promoted through stable electricity supply.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.39 no.2
• /
• pp.118-126
• /
• 2014

A survey was conducted on perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes of elementary, middle, and high school students, who will lead public opinion in the future, regarding irradiated food, nuclear power generation, and medical radiation. These topics urgently require general social acceptability among various fields in which radiation is used. Educational methods to enhance social acceptability were partially discovered. First, it is necessary to implement different strategies when designing courses for female and male students. Male students have higher levels of objective knowledge (p<0.039) of irradiated food, necessity (p<0.001) and objective knowledge (p<0.001) of nuclear power generation, approval of building a nuclear power plant in the nation (p<0.001), necessity (p<0.001) and objective knowledge (p<0.001) of medical radiation, and attitudes regarding using medical radiation (p<0.007, p<0.001). Second, the educational effect of explanations to help increase national understanding of the necessity and safety of nuclear power generation will increase if information on the necessity and safety of medical radiation is provided as well. Both male and female students perceived that medical radiation is the most necessary (p<0.001), medical radiation is the safest (p<0.001), and nuclear power generation is the least safe (p<0.013). Moreover, the correlation between medical radiation and nuclear power generation was the highest. Third, there is a need for different lectures between classes, since the patterns of perception vary according to the field of radiation use among elementary, middle, and high school students. Elementary school students had high interest in education on nuclear power generation (p<0.005), perceived that irradiated food is safe (p<0.001), and had the most positive attitude toward consuming irradiated food (p<0.001). Middle school students had high interest in education on nuclear power generation (p<0.018), perceived that nuclear power generation (p<0.001) and medical radiation (p<0.002) are safe, and had the most positive attitude toward using radiation for treatment (p<0.001). High school students had the highest level of objective knowledge on nuclear power generation (p<0.001) and medical radiation (p<0.001), and perceived that medical radiation is the most necessary (p<0.017); however, they perceived that nuclear power generation is the least safe (p<0.001). Attitudes toward irradiated food intake (p<0.001) and approving construction of a nuclear power plant in their neighborhood (p<0.001) were both low. Fourth, it is necessary to provide educational programs to change perceptions and improve attitudes rather than providing education focused on objective knowledge. There was no correlation between objective knowledge and necessity of irradiated food, objective knowledge and safety and interest in education on nuclear power generation, and objective knowledge and interest in education and information acquirement regarding medical radiation. In particular, high school students had the highest level of objective knowledge and yet had the least positive attitudes toward approving construction of nuclear power plants in their neighborhood and intake of irradiated food. Therefore, to increase the social acceptability of using nuclear energy and radiation in Korea, it is desirable to provide strategic educational programs to improve perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes regarding the necessity and safety of their use.

• Bulletin of the Korea Photovoltaic Society
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.45-53
• /
• 2018

Natural gas demand for power generation continued to increase until 2013 due to the expansion of large-scale LNG power plants after the black-out of 2011. However, natural gas demand for power generation has decreased sharply due to the increase of nuclear power and coal power generation. But demand for power generation has increased again as energy policies have changed, such as reducing nuclear power and coal power plants, and abnormal high temperatures and cold waves have occurred. If the gas pipeline pressure can be properly maintained by predicting these fluctuations, it can contribute to enhancement of operation efficiency by minimizing the operation time of facilities required for production and supply. In this study, we have developed a regression model with daily power demand and base power generation capacity as explanatory variables considering characteristics by day of week. The model was constructed using data from January 2013 to December 2016, and it was confirmed that the error rate was 4.12% and the error rate in the 90th percentile was below 8.85%.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.1369-1377
• /
• 2021

Nowadays, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of new power plant in face of rising energy demand in such a way that the electricity will be generated at the lowest cost while reducing emissions caused by that generation. The expansion planning is one of the most important issues in electricity management. Nuclear energy comes forward with the low-carbon technology and increasing competitiveness to expand the share of generated energy by introducing Gen IV reactors. In this paper, the generation expansion planning of these new Gen reactors is investigated using the WASP software. Iran power grid is selected as a case of study. We present a comparison of the twenty-one year perspective on the future with the development of (1) traditional thermal power plants and Gen II reactors, (2) Gen III + reactors with traditional thermal power plants, (3) Gen IV reactors and traditional thermal power plants, (4) Gen III + reactors and the new generation of the thermal power plant, (5) the new generation of thermal power plants and the Gen IV reactors. The results show that the Gen IV reactors have the most developing among other types of power plants leading to reduce the operating costs and emissions. The obtained results show that the use of new Gen of combined cycle power plant and Gen IV reactors make the emissions and cost to be reduced to 16% and 72% of Gen II NPPs and traditional thermal power plants, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.9
• /
• pp.2888-2898
• /
• 2021

Vital area identification (VAI) is an essential procedure for the design of physical protection systems (PPSs) for nuclear power plants (NPPs). The purpose of PPS design is to protect vital areas. VAI has been improved continuously to overcome the shortcomings of previous VAI generations. In first-generation VAI, a sabotage fault tree was developed directly without reusing probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) results or information. In second-generation VAI, VAI model was constructed from all PSA event trees and fault trees. While in third-generation VAI, it was developed from the simplified PSA event trees and fault trees. While VAIs have been performed for NPPs in full-power operations, VAI for NPPs in low-power and shutdown (LPSD) operations has not been studied and performed, even though NPPs in LPSD operations are very vulnerable to sabotage due to the very crowded nature of NPP maintenance. This study is the first to research and apply VAI to LPSD operation of NPP. Here, the third-generation VAI method for full-power operation of NPP was adapted to the VAI of LPSD operation. In this study, LPSD VAI for a few plant operational states (POSs) was performed. Furthermore, the operation strategy of vital areas for both full-power and LPSD operations was discussed. The LPSD VAI method discussed in this paper can be easily applied to all POSs. The method and insights in this study can be important for future LPSD VAI that reflects various LPSD operational states. Regulatory bodies and electric utilities can take advantage of this LPSD VAI method.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.222-228
• /
• 2017

Background: On June 18, 2017, Korea's first commercial nuclear reactor, the Kori Nuclear Power Plant No. 1, was permanently suspended, and the capacity of nuclear power generation facilities will be adjusted according to the governments denuclearization policy. In these circumstances, it is necessary to assess the quality of radiation safety management in nuclear power plants in Korea by evaluating the radiation dose associated with them. Materials and Methods: The average annual radiation dose per unit, the annual radiation dose per person, and the annual dose distribution were analyzed using the radiation dose database of nuclear reactors for the last 5 years. The results of our analysis were compared to the specifications of the Nuclear Safety Act and Medical Law in Korea. Results and Discussion: The annual average per unit radiation dose of global major nuclear power generation was 720 man-mSv, while that of Korea's nuclear power plants was 374 manmSv. No workers exceeded 50 mSv per year or 100 mSv in 5 years. The individual radiation dose according to occupational exposure was 0.59 mSv for nuclear workers, 1.77 mSv for non-destructive workers, and 0.8 mSv for diagnostic radiologists. Conclusion: The radiation safety management of nuclear power plants in Korea has achieved the best outcomes worldwide, which is considered to be the result of the as-low-as-reasonably-achievable (ALARA) approach and strict radiation safety management. Moreover, the occupational exposures were also very low.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.2208-2219
• /
• 2024

Kylin-2 is an advanced neutronics lattice code, developed by Nuclear Power Institute of China. High-precision multigroup cross section library is need for KYLIN-2 to carry out simulation of current pressurized water reactor (PWR) and advanced reactor. In this paper a multigroup cross section library generation system named TPAMS was developed, the methods in TPAMS dealing with resonance data such as subgroup parameters, lambda factor, resonance integral were discussed. Moreover, the depletion chain simplification method was studied. TPAMS can produce multigroup library in binary and ASIIC formats, including detailed data contents for resonance, transport and depletion calculations. A multigroup cross section library has been generated for KYLIN-2 based on TPAMS system. The multigroup cross section library was verified through the analysis of various criticality and burnup benchmarks, the values of multiplication factor and isotope density were compared with the experiment data. Numerical results demonstrate the accuracy of the multigroup cross section library and the reliability of the multigroup cross section library generation system TPAMS.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.183-191
• /
• 2013

We address the power generation mix problem that considers not only nuclear and fossil fuels such as oil, coal and LNG but also renewable energy technologies. Unlike nuclear or other generation technologies, the expansion plan of renewable energy is highly uncertain because of its dependency on the government policy and uncertainty associated with technology improvements. To address this issue, we conduct a delphi survey and forecast the capacity of renewable energy. We further propose a stochastic mixed integer programming model that determines an optimal capacity expansion and the amount of power generation using each generation technology. Using the proposed model, we test eight generation mix scenarios and particularly evaluate how much the expansion of renewable energy contributes to the total costs for power generation in Korea. The evaluation results show that the use of renewable energy incurs additional costs.