• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.5
• /
• pp.1272-1278
• /
• 2019

A lumped kinetic modeling platform is developed to investigate the coupled nuclear/thermo-fluid features of the closed natural circulation loop in a low power lead cooled fast reactor. This coolant material serves a reliable choice with noticeable thermo-physical safety characteristics in terms of natural convection. Boussienesq approximation is resorted to appropriately reduce the governing partial differential equations (PDEs) for the fluid flow into a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). As a main contributing step, the coolant circulation speed is accordingly correlated to the loop operational power and temperature levels. Further temporal analysis and control synthesis activities may thus be carried out within a more consistent state space framework. Nyquist stability criterion is thereafter employed to carry out a sensitivity analysis for the system stability at various power and heat sink temperature levels and results confirm a widely stable natural circulation loop.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.48 no.5
• /
• pp.1071-1082
• /
• 2016

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has been developing a pool-type sodium-cooled fast reactor of the Prototype Gen-IV Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (PGSFR). To assess the effectiveness of the inherent safety features of the PGSFR, the system transients during design basis accidents and design extended conditions are analyzed with MARS-LMR and the subchannel blockage events are analyzed with MATRA-LMR-FB. In addition, the invessel source term is calculated based on the super-safe, small, and simple reactor methodology. The results show that the PGSFR meets safety acceptance criteria with a sufficient margin during the events and keeps accidents from deteriorating into more severe accidents.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.379-386
• /
• 2012

A symptom-based procedure with a critical safety function monitoring system has been established to reduce the operator's diagnosis and cognitive burden since the Three-Mile Island (TMI) accident. However, it has been reported that a symptom-based procedure also requires an operator's cognitive efforts to cope with off-normal events. This can be caused by mismatches between a static model, an emergency operating procedure (EOP), and a dynamic process, the nature of an ongoing situation. The purpose of this study is to share the evidence of mismatches that may result in an excessive cognitive burden in conducting EOPs. For this purpose, we analyzed simulated emergency operation records and observed some operator behaviors during the EOP operation: continuous steps, improper description, parameter check at a fixed time, decision by information previously obtained, execution complexity, operation by the operator's knowledge, notes and cautions, and a foldout page. Since observations in this study are comparable to the results of an existing study, it is expected that the operational behaviors observed in this study are generic features of operators who have to cope with a dynamic situation using a static procedure.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.10
• /
• pp.2262-2273
• /
• 2020

Digital twin technology can provide significant value for the prognostics and health management (PHM) of critical plant components by improving insight into system design and operating conditions. Digital twinning of systems can be utilized for anomaly detection, diagnosis and the estimation of the system's remaining useful life in order to optimize operations and maintenance processes in a nuclear plant. In this regard, a conceptual framework for the application of digital twin technology for the prognosis of Control Element Drive Mechanism (CEDM), and a data-driven approach to anomaly detection using coil current profile are presented in this study. Health management of plant components can capitalize on the data and signals that are already recorded as part of the monitored parameters of the plant's instrumentation and control systems. This work is focused on the development of machine learning algorithm and workflow for the analysis of the CEDM using the recorded coil current data. The workflow involves features extraction from the coil-current profile and consequently performing both clustering and classification algorithms. This approach provides an opportunity for health monitoring in support of condition-based predictive maintenance optimization and in the development of the CEDM digital twin model for improved plant safety and availability.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.763-775
• /
• 2021

The thermal hydraulic performances of Steam Generator (SG) under both steady and transient operation conditions are of great importance for the safety and economy in nuclear power plants. In this paper, based on our self-developed SG thermal hydraulic analysis code STAF (Steam-generator Thermalhydraulic Analysis code based on Fluent), an improved new version STAF-CT (fully Coupling and Transient) is developed and introduced. Compared with original STAF, the new version code STAF-CT has two main functional improvements including "Transient" and "Fully Three Dimensional Coupling" features. In STAF-CT, a three dimensional energy transferring module is established which can achieve energy exchange computing function at the corresponding position between two sides of SG. The STAF-CT is validated against the international benchmark experiment data and the results show great agreement. Then the U-shaped SG in AP1000 nuclear power plant is modeled and simulated using STAF-CT. The results show that three dimensional flow fields in the primary side make significant effect on the energy source distribution between two sides. The development of code STAF-CT in this paper can provide an effective method for further SG high fidelity research in the nuclear reactor system.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.5-11
• /
• 2014

The purpose of this paper is to investigate an analytical approach for opening performance evaluation of the nuclear pressure safety valve based on standard codes such as ASME or KEPIC. It is well-known that safety valve is considered as one of pressure relief valves for protecting a boiler or pressure vessel from exceeding the maximum allowable working pressure. When pressure in a container reaches its set pressure, the safety valve commences discharging the internal fluid by a sudden opening called as popping. Safety valve is usually evaluated by set pressure, full open, blow-down, leakage and flow capacity. The test procedure and technical requirement for performance evaluation is described in international code of ASME code such as BPVC. The opening characteristics of steam safety valve can be analyzed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and steam shaft dynamics. First, the flow analysis along opening process is simulated by running the CFD models of the ten types of opening steps from 0 to 100%. As a analysis result, the various CFD outputs of flow pattern, pressure, forces on the disc and mass flow at each simulation step is demonstrated. The lift force is calculated by using the forces applied on disc from static pressure and secondary flow. And, the effect of huddle chamber or control chamber is studied by dynamic analysis based on CFD simulation results such as lift force. As a result, dynamics analysis shows opening features according to the sizes of control chamber.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.3
• /
• pp.803-811
• /
• 2024

Nuclear accidents such as Fukushima Daiichi have highlighted the potential of passive safety systems to replace or complement active safety systems as part of the overall prevention and/or mitigation strategies. In addition, passive systems are key features of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), for which they are becoming almost unavoidable and are part of the basic design of many reactors available in today's nuclear market. Nevertheless, their potential to significantly increase the safety of nuclear power plants still needs to be strengthened, in particular the ability of computer codes to determine their performance and reliability in industrial applications and support the safety demonstration. The PASTELS project (September 2020-February 2024), funded by the European Commission "Euratom H2020" programme, is devoted to the study of passive systems relying on natural circulation. The project focuses on two types, namely the SAfety COndenser (SACO) for the evacuation of the core residual power and the Containment Wall Condenser (CWC) for the reduction of heat and pressure in the containment vessel in case of accident. A specific design for each of these systems is being investigated in the project. Firstly, a straight vertical pool type of SACO has been implemented on the Framatome's PKL loop at Erlangen. It represents a tube bundle type heat exchanger that transfers heat from the secondary circuit to the water pool in which it is immersed by condensing the vapour generated in the steam generator. Secondly, the project relies on the CWC installed on the PASI test loop at LUT University in Finland. This facility reproduces the thermal-hydraulic behaviour of a Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS) mainly composed of a CWC, a heat exchanger in the containment vessel connected to a water tank at atmospheric pressure outside the vessel which represents the ultimate heat sink. Several activities are carried out within the framework of the project. Different tests are conducted on these integral test facilities to produce new and relevant experimental data allowing to better characterize the physical behaviours and the performances of these systems for various thermo-hydraulic conditions. These test programmes are simulated by different codes acting at different scales, mainly system and CFD codes. New "system/CFD" coupling approaches are also considered to evaluate their potential to benefit both from the accuracy of CFD in regions where local 3D effects are dominant and system codes whose computational speed, robustness and general level of physical validation are particularly appreciated in industrial studies. In parallel, the project includes the study of single and two-phase natural circulation loops through a bibliographical study and the simulations of the PERSEO and HERO-2 experimental facilities. After a synthetic presentation of the project and its objectives, this article provides the reader with findings related to the physical analysis of the test results obtained on the PKL and PASI installations as well an overall evaluation of the capability of the different numerical tools to simulate passive systems.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.253-265
• /
• 2014

Nuclear education & training is an important issue for sustainability of nuclear energy and the safety of the nuclear power plant. The purpose of this paper is to present policy initiatives for establishment of the national nuclear education & training system. It analyzed current status of nuclear manpower and nuclear education & training systems of Korean nuclear organizations and government strategic plans for nuclear manpower education & training. The features of the current nuclear education & training in Korea are institutional diversification and decentralization in Industry-University-Research system. However, linkages and cooperation systematically integrated between institutions are very weak. In addition, duplicated education & training programs and resource allocation, and the resultant inefficiency have been raised as a problem. Therefore, this paper proposed the national nuclear education & training system model as a macro policy initiatives and construction of control tower that manage and adjust overall nuclear education & training.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.44 no.7
• /
• pp.781-790
• /
• 2012

The HyperGam program was developed for the analysis of complex HPGe ${\gamma}$-ray spectra. The previous version of HyperGam was mainly limited to the analysis of ${\gamma}$-ray peaks and the manual logging of the result. In this study, it is specifically developed into a tool for the isotopic analysis of spectra. The newly developed features include nuclide identification and activity determination. An algorithm for nuclide identification was developed to identify the peaks in the spectrum by considering the yield, efficiency, energy and peak area for the ${\gamma}$-ray lines emitted from the radionuclide. The detailed performance of nuclide identification and activity determination was accessed using the IAEA 2002 set of test spectra. By analyzing the test spectra, the numbers of radionuclides identified truly (true hit), falsely (false hit) or missed (misses) were counted and compared with the results from the IAEA 2002 tests. The determined activities of the radionuclides were also compared for four test spectra of several samples. The result of the performance test is promising in comparison with those of the well-known software packages for ${\gamma}$-ray spectrum analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.905-913
• /
• 2017

Advanced reactor designs often feature longer operating cycles between refueling and new concepts of operation beyond traditional baseload electricity production. Owing to this increased complexity, traditional proportional-integral control may not be sufficient across all potential operating regimes. The prototypical advanced reactor (PAR) design features two independent reactor modules, each connected to a single dedicated steam generator that feeds a common balance of plant for electricity generation and process heat applications. In the current research, the PAR is expected to operate in a load-following manner to produce electricity to meet grid demand over a 24-hour period. Over the operational lifetime of the PAR system, primary and intermediate sodium pumps are expected to degrade in performance. The independent operation of the two reactor modules in the PAR may allow the system to continue operating under degraded pump performance by shifting the power production between reactor modules in order to meet overall load demands. This paper proposes a Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy logic-based power distribution system. Two T-S fuzzy power distribution controllers have been designed and tested. Simulation shows that the devised T-S fuzzy controllers provide improved performance over traditional controls during daily load-following operation under different levels of pump degradation.