• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1384-1389
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• 2004

As operating time of heat exchangers progresses, fouling generated by water-borne deposits and the number of plugged tubes increase and thermal performance decreases. Both fouling and tube plugging are known to interfere with normal flow characteristics and to reduce thermal efficiencies of heat exchangers. The heat exchangers of domestic nuclear power plants have been analyzed in terms of the heat flux and heat transfer coefficient at test conditions as a means of heat exchanger management. Except for the fouling level generated in operation of heat exchangers, also, all of the tubes of heat exchangers have been replaced when the number of plugged tubes exceeds the plugging criteria based on design performance sheet. This paper describes the plugging margin evaluation mettled reflected the fouling of shell-and-tube heat exchangers, which can evaluate the thermal performance for heat exchangers, estimate the future fouling variations, and reflect the current fouling level. To identify the effectiveness of the developed method, the fouling and plugging margin evaluations were performed for a component cooling heat exchanger in a nuclear power plant.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2001

In contrast with conventional fieldbus researches which are focused merely on real-time performance, this study aims to evaluate the real-time performance of the communication system including fault-tolerant mechanisms Maintaining performance in presence of recoverable faults is very important in case that the communication network is applied to a highly reliable system such as next generation Nuclear. Power. Plant (NPP). If the tie characteristics meet the requirements of the system, the faults will be recovered by fieldbus recovery mechanisms and the system will be safe. If the time characteristics can not meet the requirements, the faults in the fieldbus can propagate to the system failure. In this study, for the purpose of investigating the time characteristics of fieldbus, the recoverable faults are classified and then the formulas that represent delays including recovery mechanisms are developed. In order to validate the proposed approach, we have developed a simulation model that represents the Korea Next Generation Reactor (KNGR) NSSS Process Control System (NPCS). The results of the simulation show us the reasonable delay characteristics of the fault cases with recovery mechanisms. Using the simulation results and the system requirements, we also can calculate the failure propagation probability from fieldbus to outer system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.770-780
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• 2022

In 1993 the University of Extremadura initiated the design, construction and management of the Radiological Alert Network of Extremadura (RAREx). The goal was to acquire reliable near-real-time information on the environmental radiological status in the surroundings of the Almaraz Nuclear Power Plant by measuring, mainly, the ambient dose equivalent. However, the phased development of this network has been carried out from two points of view. Firstly, there has been an increase in the number of stations comprising the network. Secondly, there has been an increase in the number of monitored parameters. As a consequence of the growth of RAREx network, large data volumes are daily generated. To face this big data paradigm, software applications have been developed and implemented in order to maintain the indispensable real-time and efficient performance of the alert network. In this paper, the description of the current status of RAREx network after 30 years of design and performance is showed. Also, the performance of the graphing software for daily assessment of the registered parameters and the automatic on real time warning notification system, which aid with the decision making process and analysis of values of possible radiological and non-radiological alterations, is briefly described in this paper.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2013

In this study, the structural performance of nuclear power plant containment buildings, which are made of steel fiber reinforced concrete(SFRC) and subject to aircraft crash, is examined by finite element analyses. The applied loads by aircraft crash against the buildings are modeled using Riera impact load function and by the varying aircraft contact area with respect to time. CSCM concrete model in LS-DYNA is employed to model SFRC. The parameters for the material model are determined from SFRC strength prediction models. Based on the volume ratio of steel fiber in SFRC, the structural performance of nuclear containment buildings subject to aircraft crash are analysed using a commercial finite element analysis program LS-DYNA. The safety assessments of the buildings subject to the crash are discussed and the effectiveness of SFRC for nuclear power plant containment building on the increase of aircraft crash resistance is also evaluated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2427-2444
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• 2021

The lack of plant-side energy storage analysis to support nuclear power plants (NPP), has setup this research endeavor to understand the characteristics and role of specific storage technologies and the integration to an NPP. The paper provides a qualitative review of a wide range of configurations for integrating the energy storage system (ESS) to an operating NPP with pressurized water reactor (PWR). The role of ESS technologies most suitable for large-scale storage are evaluated, including thermal energy storage, compressed gas energy storage, and liquid air energy storage. The methods of integration to the NPP steam cycle are introduced and categorized as electrical, mechanical, and thermal, with a review on developments in the integration of ESS with an operating PWR. By adopting simplified off-design modeling for the steam turbines and heat exchangers, the results show the performance of the PWR steam cycle changes with respect to steam bypass rate for thermal and mechanical storage integration options. Analysis of the integrated system characteristics of proposed concepts for three different ESS suggests that certain storage technologies could support steady operation of an NPP. After having reviewed what have been accomplished through the years, the research team presents a list of possible future works.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.141-149
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• 2018

The perception of risk that firefighters have is closely related to their performance and emergency preparedness in nuclear power plant accidents. This study investigated the unique risk perception among firefighters working in nuclear power plants (NPPs) using a concept mapping method. Thirty three firefighters in NPPs participated in this study. Two core axes, "fear and control" and "coping resource", emerged in the firefighters' risk perception. In particular, the risk perception consisted of six clusters: fear of radiation exposure and low controllability; anxiety caused by the lack of control and authority; lack of trust and cooperation; lack of authority and professionals; lack of equipment, manual, and information; and lack of knowledge and training. Catastrophic expectation and a low sense of control caused by the lack of responsive resources were the main factors that increase the risk perception. The theoretical and practical contributions of this study were discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.237-240
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• 2006

Almost 30 years have been passed since the first nuclear power plant was operated in Korea. Many studies have been actively conducted from the early 1990's in order to develop the deterioration management system for concrete structures in NPPs(Nuclear Power Plants) accordingly. Base on these studies, a systematic deterioration management program has developed and operated since 1997. According to this program, systematic inspections to provide database and evaluation were periodically performed (every overhaul at intervals of $12{\sim}18$ month and every five years). Accumulated deterioration database was usefully utilized for the NPP PSR (Periodic Safety Review). In this paper, the long-term durability and integrity of Kori 1,2 NPP concrete structures which are the oldest ones in Korea were evaluated based on the precise inspection database and regulatory inspection results including compressive strength, depth of carbonation, amount of chlorination and spontaneous potential of reinforcing bar, etc. It was noted that Kori 1,2 NPP structures have not any serious durability problems.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.49-58
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• 2018

The regulatory periodic inspection program (PSI) conducted at every overhaul period is the most important process for confirming the safety of nuclear power plants. The PSI for operating nuclear power plants in Korea mainly consist of component level performance check that had been developed based on deterministic approach putting the same degree of importance to all the inspection items. This inspection methodology is likely to be effective for preoperational inspection. However, once the plant is put into service, the PSI must be focused on whether to minimize the risk of accident using defense-in-depth concept and risk insight. The incorporation of defense-in-depth concept and risk insight into the deterministic based safety inspection has not been well studied so far. In this study, two track approaches are proposed to make sure that core damage be avoided: one is to secure success path and the other to block the failure path in a specific event tree of PSA. The investigation shows how to select safety important components and how to set up inspection group to ensure that core damage would not occur for a given initiating event, which results in strengthening defense-in-depth level 3.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.731-744
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• 2013

Energy security is a topic of high importance to many countries throughout the world. Countries with access to vast energy supplies enjoy all of the economic and political benefits that come with controlling a highly sought after commodity. Given the desire to diversify away from fossil fuels due to rising environmental and economic concerns, there are limited technology options available for baseload electricity generation. Further complicating this issue is the desire for energy sources to be sustainable and globally scalable in addition to being economic and environmentally benign. Nuclear energy in its current form meets many but not all of these attributes. In order to address these limitations, TerraPower, LLC has developed the Traveling Wave Reactor (TWR) which is a near-term deployable and truly sustainable energy solution that is globally scalable for the indefinite future. The fast neutron spectrum allows up to a ~30-fold gain in fuel utilization efficiency when compared to conventional light water reactors utilizing enriched fuel. When compared to other fast reactors, TWRs represent the lowest cost alternative to enjoy the energy security benefits of an advanced nuclear fuel cycle without the associated proliferation concerns of chemical reprocessing. On a country level, this represents a significant savings in the energy generation infrastructure for several reasons 1) no reprocessing plants need to be built, 2) a reduced number of enrichment plants need to be built, 3) reduced waste production results in a lower repository capacity requirement and reduced waste transportation costs and 4) less uranium ore needs to be mined or purchased since natural or depleted uranium can be used directly as fuel. With advanced technological development and added cost, TWRs are also capable of reusing both their own used fuel and used fuel from LWRs, thereby eliminating the need for enrichment in the longer term and reducing the overall societal waste burden. This paper describes the origins and current status of the TWR development program at TerraPower, LLC. Some of the areas covered include the key TWR design challenges and brief descriptions of TWR-Prototype (TWR-P) reactor. Selected information on the TWR-P core designs are also provided in the areas of neutronic, thermal hydraulic and fuel performance. The TWR-P plant design is also described in such areas as; system design descriptions, mechanical design, and safety performance.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.828-833
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• 2010

Steam leakage is one of the major issues for the structural fracture of pipes of nuclear power plants. Therefore a method to inspect a large area of piping systems quickly and accurately is needed. In this paper, we proposed the method for the detecting steam leakage by using image signal processing. Our basic idea come from heat shimmer which shine with a soft light that looks as if it shakes slightly. To test the performance of this technique, experiments have been performed for simple heat source and steam generator. Results show that the proposed technique is quite powerful in the steam leak detection.