• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 2001년도 춘계학술발표회요약집
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• pp.266-266
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• 2001

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권3호
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• pp.832-845
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• 2024

Reactor cavity cooling systems (RCCSs) comprising passive safety features use the atmosphere as a coolant, which cannot be lost. However, their drawback is that they are easily affected by atmospheric disturbances. To realize the commercial application of the two types of passive RCCSs, namely RCCSs based on atmospheric radiation and atmospheric natural circulation, their safety must be evaluated, that is, they must be able to remove heat from the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) surface at all times and under any condition other than under normal operating conditions. These include both expected and unexpected natural phenomena and accidents. Moreover, they must be able to eliminate the heat leakage emitted from the RPV surface during normal operation. However, utilizing all of the heat emitted from the RPV surface increases the degree of waste heat utilization. This study aims to understand the characteristics and degree of passive safety features for heat removal by comparing RCCSs based on atmospheric radiation and atmospheric natural circulation under the same conditions. It was concluded that the proposed RCCS based on atmospheric radiation has an advantage in that the temperature of the RPV could be stably maintained against disturbances in the ambient air.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권3호
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• pp.1022-1028
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• 2024

A neutronics study of a supercritical CO₂-cooled fast reactor core for nuclear propulsion has been performed in this work. The thermal power of the reactor core is 30 MWth and a ceramic UO₂ fuel can be used to achieve a 20-year lifetime without refueling. In order to make a compact core with inherent safety features, the drum-type reactivity control system and folding-type shutdown system are adopted. In addition, we suggest a cold shutdown system using gadolinium as a spectral shift absorber (SSA) against flooding. Although there is a penalty of U-235 enrichment for the core embedded with the cold shutdown system, it effectively mitigates the increment of reactivity at the flooding of seawater. In this study, the neutronics analyses have been performed by using the continuous energy Monte Carlo Serpent 2 code with the evaluated nuclear data file ENDF/B-VII.1 Library. The supercritical CO₂-cooled fast reactor core is characterized in view of important safety parameters such as the reactivity worth of reactivity control systems, fuel temperature coefficient (FTC), coolant temperature coefficient (CTC), and coolant temperature-density coefficient (CTDC). We can say that the suggested core has inherent safety features and enough flexibility for load-following operation.

• 전기학회논문지
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• 제59권8호
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• pp.1456-1463
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• 2010

The safety critical systems in nuclear power plants should be designed to have a high level of fault tolerant capability because those systems are used for protection or mitigation of the postulated accidents of nuclear reactor. Due to increasing of the system complexity of the digital based system in nuclear fields, the reliability of the digital based systems without an auto-test or a self-diagnostic feature is generally lower than those of analog system. To overcome this problem, additional redundant architectures in each redundant channel and self-diagnostic features are commonly integrated into the digital safety systems. The self diagnostic function is a key factor for increasing fault tolerant capabilities in the digital based safety system. This paper presents an availability and safety evaluation model to analyze the effect to the system's fault tolerant capabilities depending on self-diagnostic features when the loss or erroneous behaviors of self-diagnostic function are expected to occur. The analysis result of the proposed model on the several modules of a safety platform shows that the improvement effect on unavailability of each module has generally become smaller than the result of usage of conventional models and the unavailability itself has changed significantly depending on the characteristics of failures or errors of self-diagnostic function.

• 설비공학논문집
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• 제28권5호
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• pp.186-194
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• 2016

As a turbulence-enhancing device, a mixing vane installed at a spacer grid of the fuel assembly plays a role in improving the convective heat transfer by generating either swirl flow in the subchannels or cross flow between fuel rod gaps. Therefore, both configuration and arrangement pattern of a mixing vane are important factors that determine the performance of a mixing vane. In this study, in order to examine the flow distribution features inside $5{\times}5$ fuel assembly with swirl-type mixing vanes used in benchmark calculation of OECD/NEA, simulations were conducted with commercial CFD software ANSYS CFX R.14. Predicted results were compared to data measured from MATiS-H (Measurement and Analysis of Turbulent Mixing in Subchannels-Horizontal) test facility. In addition, the effect of swirl-type mixing vanes on flow pattern inside the fuel assembly was described.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권7호
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• pp.1160-1167
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• 2018

Detectability of the loose parts (LPs) in steam generator (SG) was studied with eddy current testing technique such as X-probe, bobbin and rotating coils ($MRPC^{(R)}$) as a function of LP size and spacing between LP and tube or between LP and support structures. SG mockup simulating SG tube and support structures with LP was fabricated. The X-probe showed slightly better detectability than $MRPC^{(R)}$ for LP of ferrous (F-LP) material and vice versa for LP of nonferrous (NF-LP) material. In terms of feasibility, inspection rate and other predictable features of the SG tubing inspections, X-probe can be used reliably for monitoring the LPs and the flaws formed by LPs on SG tubes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권7호
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• pp.1557-1564
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• 2020

In this paper, 3D model-based interactive gamma ray shielding package (MIGSHIELD) is developed in virtual reality platform for windows operating system. In MIGSHIELD, the computational methodology is based on point kernel algorithm (PK), several key parameters of PK are obtained using new technique and new methods. MIGSHIELD has interactive capability with virtual world. The main features made in the MIGSHIELD are (i) handling of physical information from virtual world, (ii) handling of arbitrary shapes radioactive source, (iii) calculating the mean free path of gamma ray, (iv) providing interactive function between PK and virtual world, (v) making better use of PK for virtual simulation, (vi) plug and play. The developed package will be of immense use for calculations involving radiation dose assessment in nuclear safety and contributing to fast radiation simulation for virtual nuclear facilities.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제48권5호
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• pp.1059-1070
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• 2016

The Prototype Gen IV sodium cooled fast reactor (PGSFR) has been developed for the last 4 years, fulfilling the technology demonstration of the burning capability of transuranic elements included in light water reactor spent nuclear fuel. The PGSFR design has been focused on the robustness of safety systems by enhancing inherent safety characteristics of metal fuel and strengthening passive safety features using natural circulation and thermal expansion. The preliminary safety information document as a major outcome of the first design phase of PGSFR development was issued at the end of 2015. The project entered the second design phase at the beginning of 2016. This paper summarizes the overall structures, systems, and components of nuclear steam supply system and safety characteristics of the PGSFR. The research and development activities to demonstrate the safety performance are also briefly introduced in the paper.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.293-305
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• 2015

In this paper, we suggest the conceptual design of a water-cooled reactor system for a low-pressure inherent heat sink nuclear desalination plant (LIND) that applies the safety-related design concepts of high temperature gas-cooled reactors to a water-cooled reactor for inherent and passive safety features. Through a scoping analysis, we found that the current LIND design satisfied several essential thermal-hydraulic and neutronic design requirements. In a thermal-hydraulic analysis using an analytical method based on the Wooton-Epstein correlation, we checked the possibility of safely removing decay heat through the steel containment even if all the active safety systems failed. In a neutronic analysis using the Monte Carlo N-particle transport code, we estimated a cycle length of approximately 6 years under 200 $MW_{th}$ and 4.5% enrichment. The very long cycle length and simple safety features minimize the burdens from the operation, maintenance, and spent-fuel management, with a positive impact on the economic feasibility. Finally, because a nuclear reactor should not be directly coupled to a desalination system to prevent the leakage of radioactive material into the desalinated water, three types of intermediate systems were studied: a steam producing system, a hot water system, and an organic Rankine cycle system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제39권4호
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• pp.257-272
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• 2007

Supercritical water-cooled reactors (SCWRs) are recognized as a Generation IV reactor concept. The Super LWR is a pressure-vessel type thermal spectrum SCWR with downward-flow water rods and is currently under study at the University of Tokyo. This paper reviews Super LWR safety. The fundamental requirement for the Super LWR, which has a once-through coolant cycle, is the core coolant flow rate rather than the coolant inventory. Key safety characteristics of the Super LWR inhere in the design features and have been identified through a series of safety analyses. Although loss-of-flow is the most important abnormality, fuel rod heat-up is mitigated by the "heat sink" and "water source" effects of the water rods. Response of the reactor power against pressurization events is mild due to a small change in the average coolant density and flow stagnation of the once-through coolant cycle. These mild responses against transients and also reactivity feedbacks provide good inherent safety against anticipated-transient-without-scram (ATWS) events without alternative actions. Initiation of an automatic depressurization system provides effective heat removal from the fuel rods. An "in-vessel accumulator" effect of the reactor vessel top dome enhances the fuel rod cooling. This effect enlarges the safety margin for large LOCA.