• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2014

PID(Proportional, Integral, Derivative) controller is one of the most used process controllers in nuclear power plants. The optimized parameter setting of process controller contributes to the stable operation and efficiency in the operating nuclear power plants. PID parameter setting is tuned when new process control system is established or process control system is changed. It is a burdensome work for I&C(Instrument and Control) engineers to tune the PID controller because it requires a lot of experience and knowledge. When the plant is in operation, inadequate PID parameter setting can be the cause of the unstable process of the plant. Therefore the results of PID parameter setting should be compared, simulated, verified and finally optimized. The practical PID tuning methods used in process controller are tuning operation calculation(Ziegler-Nicholes, Minimum TIAE, Lambda, IMC), exclusive tuning program based on computer and Matlab application. This paper introduces the various tuning methods and suggests an optimized PID tuning process in the operating nuclear power plants.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.1369-1374
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• 2014

Most accidents of medium-voltage cables installed in nuclear power plants result from the initial defect of internal insulators or the initial failure due to poor construction. However, as the service years of plants increase, the possibility of cable accidents is also rapidly increases. This is primarily caused by electric, mechanical, thermal, and radiation stresses. Recently, much attention is paid to the study of cable diagnoses. To date, partial discharge and Tan${\delta}$ measurements are known as reliable methods to diagnose the aging of medium-voltage cables. High frequency partial discharge measurement techniques have been widely used to diagnose cables in transmission and distribution systems. However, the on-line high frequency partial discharge technique has not been used in the nuclear power plants because of the plant shutdown risk, degraded measurement sensitivity, and application problems. In this paper, the partial discharge measurement with a portable device was tried to evaluate the integrity of the 4.16kV and 13.8kV cable lines. The test results show that the high detection sensitivity can be achieved by the high frequency partial discharge technique. The present technique is highly attractive to diagnose medium voltage cables in nuclear power plants.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.484-494
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• 2017

In industrial plants such as nuclear power plants, system operations are performed by embedded controllers orchestrated by Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software. A targeted attack (also termed a control aware attack) on the controller/SCADA software can lead a control system to operate in an unsafe mode or sometimes to complete shutdown of the plant. Such malware attacks can result in tremendous cost to the organization for recovery, cleanup, and maintenance activity. SCADA systems in operational mode generate huge log files. These files are useful in analysis of the plant behavior and diagnostics during an ongoing attack. However, they are bulky and difficult for manual inspection. Data mining techniques such as least squares approximation and computational methods can be used in the analysis of logs and to take proactive actions when required. This paper explores methodologies and algorithms so as to develop an effective monitoring scheme against control aware cyber attacks. It also explains soft computation techniques such as the computational geometric method and least squares approximation that can be effective in monitor design. This paper provides insights into diagnostic monitoring of its effectiveness by attack simulations on a four-tank model and using computation techniques to diagnose it. Cyber security of instrumentation and control systems used in nuclear power plants is of paramount importance and hence could be a possible target of such applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.1345-1356
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• 2021

Damage to nuclear power plants causes human casualties and environmental disasters. There are electrical facilities that control safety-related devices in nuclear power plants, and seismic performance is required for them. The 2016 Gyeongju earthquake had many high-frequency components. Therefore, there is a high possibility that an earthquake involving many high frequency components will occur in South Korea. As such, it is necessary to examine the safety of nuclear power plants against an earthquake with many high-frequency components. In this study, the shaking table test of electrical facilities was conducted against the design earthquake for nuclear power plants with a large low-frequency components and an earthquake with a large high-frequency components. The response characteristics of the earthquake with a large high-frequency components were identified by deriving the amplification factors of the response through the shaking table test. In addition, safety of electrical facility against the two aforementioned types of earthquakes with different seismic characteristics was confirmed through limit-state seismic tests. The electrical facility that was performed to the shaking table test in this study was a motor control center (MCC).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.600-606
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• 2019

Studies on the application of the lead rubber bearing (LRB) isolation system to nuclear power plants are being carried out as one of the measures to improve seismic performance. Nuclear power plants with isolation systems require seismic probabilistic safety assessments, for which the seismic fragility of the structures, systems, and components needs be calculated, including for beyond design basis earthquakes. To this end, seismic response analyses are required, where it can be seen that the behaviors of the isolation system components govern the overall seismic response of an isolated plant. The numerical model of the LRB used in these seismic response analyses plays an important role, but in most cases, the extreme performance of the LRB has not been well studied. The current work therefore develops an extreme nonlinear numerical model that can express the seismic response of the LRB for beyond design basis earthquakes. A full-scale LRB was fabricated and dynamically tested with various input conditions, and test results confirmed that the developed numerical model better represents the behavior of the LRB over previous models. Subsequent seismic response analyses of isolated nuclear power plants using the model developed here are expected to provide more accurate results for seismic probabilistic safety assessments.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.317-324
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• 2019

A high energy arcing fault event occurred in the medium-voltage (13.8 kV and 4.16 kV) metalclad switchgears in a nuclear power plant not only affecting switchgear but also connected equipment due to the arc energy. The high energy arcing fault also causes a fire that influences the safety function of the unit. Therefore, from the safety point of view, it is necessary to evaluate the influences of high energy arcing fault events on the safety functions of nuclear power plants. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the characteristics of high energy arcing faults and propose a high energy arcing fault mitigation scheme for medium voltage networks in nuclear power plants.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.161-172
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• 2023

Coal-fired power plants handle large quantities of coal, one of the most prominent NORM, and the coal ash produced after the coal is burned can be tens of times more radioactive than the coal. Workers in these industries may be exposed to internal exposure by inhalation of particles while handling NORM. This study evaluated the size, concentration, particle shape and density, and radioactivity concentrations of airborne suspended particles in the main processes of a coal-fired power plant. Finally, the internal radiation dose to workers from particle inhalation was evaluated. For this purpose, airborne particles were collected by size using a multi-stage particle collector to determine the size, shape, and concentration of particles. Samples of coal and coal ash were collected to measure the density and radioactivity of particles. The dose conversion factor and annual radionuclide inhalation amount were derived based on the characteristics of the particles. Finally, the internal radiation dose due to particle inhalation was evaluated. Overall, the internal radiation dose to workers in the main processes of coalfired power plants A and B ranged from 1.47×10^-5~1.12×10^-3 mSv y^-1. Due to the effect of dust generated during loading operations, the internal radiation dose of fly ash loading processes in both coal-fired power plants A and B was higher than that of other processes. In the case of workers in the coal storage yard at power plants A and B, the characteristic values such as particle size, airborne concentration, and working time were the same, but due to the difference in radioactivity concentration and density depending on the origin of the coal, the internal radiation dose by origin was different, and the highest was found when inhaling coal imported from Australia among the five origins. In addition, the main nuclide contributing the most to the internal radiation dose from the main processes in the coal-fired power plants was thorium due to differences in dose conversion factors. However, considering the external radiation dose of workers in coal-fired power plants presented in overseas research cases, the annual effective dose of workers in the main processes of power plants A and B does not exceed 1mSv y^-1, which is the dose limit for the general public notified by the Nuclear Safety Act. The results of this study can be utilized to identify the internal exposure levels of workers in domestic coal-fired power plants and will contribute to the establishment of a data base for a differential safety management system for NORM-handling industries in the future.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.136-145
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• 2000

The objective of this study is to evaluate the human performance relating to the layouts of the two different hand switch types with two and three buttons in the nuclear power plants. Using a computer simulation, the cognitive performance for the hand switch layouts was measured on the basis of response and task completion times. Comparative analyses were performed with three different layouts representing the current switch arrangements in the Yonggwang nuclear plants 5 and 6 and Ulchin 3 and 4, respectively. Statistical analyses revealed that the performance of the two-buttoned switch layouts was found to be better than those of the three-buttoned switch. Furthermore, the superiority of the two-buttoned switch type is consistent regardless of various layout types. These results imply that the difference of the cognitive performance can be attributable to the switch types rather than to the switch layouts. Therefore, from the cognitive perspective, the two-buttoned switch type is recommended for future power nuclear plants.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.82-95
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• 2024

Analyzing the aftermath of events at domestic nuclear power plants brings in the question: "Why do workers not comply with the prescribed procedures?" The current investigation of nuclear power plant events identifies their reasons considering the factors affecting the workers' behaviors. However, there are some complications to it: in addition to confirming the action such as an error or a violation, there is a limit to identifying the intention of the actor. To overcome this limitation, the study analyzed and examined the reasons for non-compliance identified in nuclear power plant events by Reason's rule-related behavior classification. For behavior analysis, I selected unit behaviors for events that are related to human and organizational factors and occurred at domestic nuclear power plants since 2017, and then I applied the rule-related behavior classification introduced by Reason (2008). This allowed me to identify the intentions by classifying unit behaviors according to quality and compliance with the rules. I also identified the factors that influenced unit behaviors. The analysis showed that most often, non-compliance only pursued personal goals and was based on inadequate risk appraisal. On the other hand, the analysis identified cases where it was caused by such factors as poorly written procedures or human system interfaces. Therefore, the probability of non-compliance can be reduced if these factors are properly addressed. Unlike event investigation techniques that struggle to identify the reasons for employee behavior, this study provides a new interpretation of non-compliance in nuclear power plant events by examining workers' intentions based on the concept of rule-related behavior classification.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.3464-3466
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• 2007

Power uprate is the process of increasing the maximum power level at which a commercial nuclear power plant may operate. Power uprate applications(113 units) for NPPs(Nuclear Power Plants) were recently approved in the United States. Utilities have been using power uprates since the 1970s as a way of increasing the power output of their nuclear plants. To increase the power output of a reactor, typically more highly enriched uranium fuel and/or more fresh fuel is used. This enables the reactor to produce more thermal energy and therefore more steam, driving a turbine generator to produce electricity. In this paper, the propriety of power uprate is explained through the review on the power uprate method and the changes of the physical parameters due to power uprate. The analysis results showed that the CDF(Core Damage Frequency) and LERF(Large Early Release Frequency) are affected in the current probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) model.