• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.40-47
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• 2013

The capacity factor of nuclear power plant in Korea is the highest level in the world. However, the integrity assessment of nuclear power plant is depended on foreign country. Especially, most eddy current testing systems for inspecting steam generators in nuclear power plant are currently imported from USA, Canada, and so on. Therefore, the eddy current testing system can react more active and adaptive from economic and managerial standpoint for actual nuclear power plants in Korea is required. In this paper, an eddy current testing system for inspecting steam generators in nuclear power plants is introduced. Frequency generator, analog circuit, analog digital converter circuit, and digital control circuit are composed in eddy current testing system. A benchmarking of acquisition system and acquisition software, eddynet 11i made by Zetec, and modifications are carried out based on the test environment of Korea nuclear power plants. Finally, all eddy current apparatus are integrated to inspect steam generator tubes in nuclear power plants.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.222-228
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• 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
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.211-217
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• 2016

Most nuclear power plants now utilize solid grounded low voltage systems. For safety and reliability reasons, the low voltage (LV) high resistance grounding (HRG) system is also increasingly used in the pulp and paper, petroleum and chemical, and semiconductor industries. Fault detection is easiest and fastest with a solidly grounded system. However, a solidly grounded system has many limitations such as severe fault damage, poor reliability on essential circuits, and electrical noise caused by the high magnitude of ground fault currents. This paper will briefly address the strengths and weaknesses of LV grounding systems. An example of a low voltage HRG system in the LV system of a nuclear power plant will be presented. The HRG system is highly recommended for LV systems of nuclear power plants if sufficient considerations are provided to prevent nuisance tripping of ground fault relays and to avoid the deterioration of system reliability.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.116-122
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• 2010

The fire protection system of nuclear power plants shall be designed, constructed and operated, through a defense-in depth criterion to suppress the leakage of radioactivity to the outside and to allow the safety shutdown function when a fire occurs. In order to achieve these purposes, most of countries abroad operating the nuclear power plants keep up the integrated regulations, however we have two guidelines, the fire protection service act and the nuclear energy act, as mandatory requirements to apply to the fire protection systems in nuclear power plants. It has shown that USA, Canada and Japan which have long experience in operating nuclear power plants have regulations integrated technically for fire protection system of nuclear power plants. It is proposed that the things once verified the risk analysis of the fire hazard by the nuclear law in the design for fire suppression system in plants should be authorized by the fire protection service act as an exception.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 2023

Only about 10% of selected equipment in nuclear power plants are monitored by wiring to address failures or problems caused by vibration. The purpose is primarily for preventive maintenance, not for predictive maintenance. This paper shows that vibration monitoring and diagnosis using Industrial 4.0 enables the complete predictive maintenance for all vibrating equipments in nuclear power plants with the convergence of internet of things; wireless technology, big data through periodic collection and artificial intelligence. Predictive maintenance using wireless technology is possible in all areas of nuclear power plants and in all systems, but it should satisfy regulatory guides on electromagnetic interference and cyber security.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.909-916
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• 2022

To study the developments and variations of unsafe behaviors in nuclear power plants thus reduce the possibility of human-related accidents, this paper, based on the Game Theory, focused on the changes in benefits of the Department of Management, Operational and Emergency in a nuclear power plant, and established the expected revenue functions of these departments. Additionally, the preventive measures of unsafe behaviors in nuclear power plants were also presented in terms of these 3 departments. Results showed that the violations of the Operation Department (OD) and the Emergency Department (ED) were not only relevant with the factors such as their own risks, costs, and the responsibility-sharing due to accidents, but also affected by the safety investments from the Management Department (MD). Furthermore, results also showed that the accident-induced responsibility-sharing of both the OD and the ED would rise, if the MD increased the investments in safety. As a result, the probability of violation behaviors of these 3 departments would be attenuated consciously, which would reduce the unsafe behaviors in the nuclear power plants significantly.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.389-401
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• 2024

In recent decades, numerous instances of blockages have been reported in coastal nuclear power plants globally, leading to serious safety accidents such as power reduction, manual or automatic power loss, or shutdown of nuclear power units. Loss or shortage of cooling water may compromise the reliability of the cooling water system, thus threatening the operational safety of power plants and resulting in revenue reduction. This study provides a comprehensive review of the current state of cooling water system safety in coastal nuclear power plants worldwide and the common challenges they face, as well as the relevant research on cooling water system safety issues. The research overview and progress in investigation methods, outbreak mechanisms, prevention and control measures, and practical cases of blockages were summarized. Despite existing research, there are still many shortcomings regarding the pertinence, comprehensiveness and prospects of related research, and many problems urgently need to be solved. The most fundamental concern involves understanding the list of potential risks of blockages and their spatially distributed effects in surrounding waters. Furthermore, knowledge of the biological cycles and ecological habits of key organisms is essential for implementing risk prevention and control and for building a scientific and effective monitoring system.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.162-173
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• 2013

This study was to examine the effect of trust, stigma, optimistic bias on risk perception of nuclear power plants. For this study, we carried out a survey targeting residents, total of 383, living in Seoul. The findings showed that trust of general public on nuclear power plants influenced negatively on stigma. Second, trust of general public on nuclear power plants influenced not significantly on optimistic bias. Third, stigma of general public on nuclear power plants influenced positively on risk perception. Fourth, optimistic bias of general public on nuclear power plants influenced negatively on risk perception.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.402-408
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• 2016

Background: Ascertainment bias are common in epidemiologic studies to assess the association between thyroid cancer risk and living near nuclear power plants because many thyroid cancers are diagnosed by chance through health examination. We surveyed the ultra sonography (USG) examination history and conducted thyroid and breast USG in residents living near nuclear power plants. Materials and Methods: The study population comprised 2,421 residents living near nuclear power plants in Korea. Information on demographic characteristics, including diagnostic examination history, was collected by interview using questionnaires. USG examination was conducted to evaluate the presence of thyroid nodules and breast lesion. Study participants were divided into 3 groups according to the distance of their respective villages from a nuclear power plant. The proportions of USG examination history and prevalence of thyroid nodules and breast lesions were compared between groups. Results and Discussion: Examination histories of thyroid USG were 23.1%, 13.7%, and 10.5% in men and 31.3%, 26.7%, 18.3% in women in the short, intermediate, and long distance groups, respectively. There were significant inverse associations between thyroid USG history and the distance from nuclear power plants (P for trend = 0.001 for men and 0.017 for women). However, there was no association between the distance of villages from nuclear power plants and prevalence of thyroid nodules. Conclusion: Our results suggest that there may be an ascertainment bias in population-based studies examining the harmful effects of NPPs examination and researchers should pay attention to ascertainment bias resulted from differential health examination. Correction for ascertainment bias, active follow-up and examination for all study population to remove differential health examination is needed.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers P
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.290-294
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• 2014

PID(Proportional, Integral, Derivative) controller is the most popular process controllers in nuclear power plants. The optimized parameter setting of the process controller contributes to the stable operation and the efficiency of the operating nuclear power plants. PID parameter setting is tuned when new process control systems are installed or current process control systems are changed. When the nuclear plant is shut down, a lot of PID tuning methods such as the Trial and Error method, Ultimate Oscillation method operation, Ziegler-Nichols method, frequency method are used to tune the PID values. But inadequate PID parameter setting can be the cause of the unstable process of the operating nuclear power plant. Therefore the results of PID parameter setting should be simulated, optimized and finally verified. This paper introduces the simulation method of PID tuning to optimize the PID parameter setting and confirms them of the actual PID controller in the operating nuclear power plants. The simulation method provides the accurate process modeling and optimized PID parameter setting of the multi-loop control process in particular.