• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권8호
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• pp.2859-2870
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• 2022

Because nuclear power plants (NPPs) are safety-critical infrastructure, it is essential to increase their safety and minimize risk. To reduce human error and support decision-making by operators, several artificial-intelligence-based diagnosis methods have been proposed. However, because of the nature of data-driven methods, conventional artificial intelligence requires large amount of measurement values to train and achieve enough diagnosis resolution. We propose a graph neural network (GNN) based accident diagnosis algorithm to achieve high diagnosis resolution with limited measurements. The proposed algorithm is trained with both the knowledge about physical correlation between components and measurement values. To validate the proposed methodology has a sufficiently high diagnostic resolution with limited measurement values, the diagnosis of multiple accidents was performed with limited measurement values and also, the performance was compared with convolution neural network (CNN). In case of the experiment that requires low diagnostic resolution, both CNN and GNN showed good results. However, for the tests that requires high diagnostic resolution, GNN greatly outperformed the CNN.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권1호
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• pp.261-269
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• 2023

During a nuclear power plant (NPP) accident, radioactive material may be released into the surrounding environment in the form of a radioactive plume. The behavior of the radioactive plume is influenced by meteorological factors such as wind direction and speed. If the residents are evacuated to a shelter in the direction of the flow of the radioactive plume, the radiation exposure of the residents may increase, contrary to the purpose of the evacuation. To avoid such an undesirable outcome, this paper applies a big data analysis to evaluate the suitability of the shelter locations near 5 NPPs in the Republic of Korea in terms of the seasonal wind direction frequency in those areas. To this end, the wind data measured around the NPPs from 2016 to 2020 were analyzed to derive the seasonal wind direction frequency using a big data analysis. These analyses results were then used to determine how many shelters around NPPs locate in areas with prevailing wind direction per season. Then, suggestions were made on the direction for residents not to evacuate, if possible, that is, the prevailing seasonal wind directions for 5 NPPs, depending on the season in which the accident occurs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권11호
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• pp.2660-2666
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• 2020

Korea successfully achieved energy independence in the shortest period of time from being the poorest country in terms of energy 50 years ago through steady development of nuclear technology. In the past, the nuclear industry has been driven through government-centered policy development, public institution-based research, and industrial facility and infrastructure construction. Consequently, South Korea became a nuclear energy powerhouse exporting nuclear power plants to the UAE, surpassing the level of domestic technological independence. However, in recent years, the nuclear industry in Korea has experienced a decline in new plant construction since the Fukushima accident in Japan, which caused changes in public perspectives regarding nuclear power plant operation, more stringent safety standards on the operation of nuclear power plants, and a shift in governmental energy policy. These changes are expected to change the domestic nuclear industry ecosystem. Therefore, in this study, we investigate the priority of technology development investment from the perspective of experts in private nuclear power companies, shifting the focus from government-led nuclear R&D policies. To establish a direction in nuclear technology development, a survey was conducted by applying an analytic hierarchy analysis to experts who have worked in nuclear power plants for more than 15 years. The analysis items of focus were the 3 attributes of strategic importance, urgency, and business feasibility of four major fields related to nuclear energy: nuclear safety, decommissioning, radioactive waste management, and strengthening industrial competitiveness.

• 대한기계학회논문집A
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• 제35권6호
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• pp.683-691
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• 2011

원자력발전소 용 솔레노이드 밸브의 국산화에 필수 과정인 기기검증 기술을 개발하기 위해 관련 규정을 분석하고, 시험절차 및 방법, 시험조건, 시험장치 및 허용기준 등을 구체화하였다. 솔레노이드 밸브의 기기검증 규격은 법규, 가이드, 규정 등의 순으로 계층화되어 있으며, 시험기기와 시험항목에 따라 규정이 세분화되어 있다. 세부 규정인 IEEE를 분석한 결과 기기검증 시험은 크게 기능시험, 일반환경시험 및 사고시험으로 구분되어 있는데, 일반환경시험과 사고시험을 통해 발전소 환경과 동일한 조건에서 솔레노이드 밸브를 노화시킨 후 기능시험에서 노화된 밸브의 성능을 확인하는 방식으로 검증시험을 수행하도록 구성되어 있었다. 본 논문에서 제시한 솔레노이드 밸브의 기기검증 시험절차와 방법은 기기검증 수행자뿐만 아니라 밸브 제조사에게 매우 유용한 기술 자료가 될 것으로 판단된다.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제7권3호
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• pp.23-29
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• 2011

The renewed global interest in nuclear power has arisen from the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to provide sufficient electricity for a growing global population before the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan. In spite of the safety issues of nuclear power plants raised by the ongoing Japanese nuclear crisis, many countries with nuclear power plants (NPPs) are still implementing license extensions of 10~20 years, and even consideration is being given to the concept of life-beyond-60, a further period of license extension from 60 to 80 years. To solving the materials aging problem is integral to its success. To evaluate the plant aging phenomena, a lot of background information such as materials and environment of the parts of the reactor and plant systems is needed by the experts. Information on degradation mechanisms is also used. In this paper, a materials degradation evaluation program called OnMDE-SYS (On-line Materials Degradation Evaluation System) is introduced. The developed program provides a variety of information on the materials and stressors as well as operational experience to the experts. It is also anticipated that the experts can perform materials degradation assessment on the web directly by referring to domestic and international information about the degradation of a nuclear power plants through OnMDE-SYS.

• 방사선산업학회지
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.209-216
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• 2015

It has been about 5 years since the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, which contaminated large area with radioactive materials. It is necessary to assess radiation dose to establish evacuation areas and to set decontamination goal for the large contaminated area. In this study, we assessed temporal trend of radiation dose to the public living in the large area contaminated with radioactive materials after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. The dose assessment was performed based on Chernobyl model and RESRAD model for two evacuation lift areas, Kawauchi and Naraha. It was reported that deposition densities in the areas were $4.3{\sim}96kBq\;m^{-2}$ for $^{134}Cs$, $1.4{\sim}300kBq\;m^{-2}$ for $^{137}Cs$, respectively. Radiation dose to the residents depended on radioactive cesium concentrations in the soil, ranging $0.11{\sim}2.4mSv\;y^{-1}$ at Kawauchi area and $0.69{\sim}1.1mSv\;y^{-1}$ at Naraha area in July 2014. The difference was less than 5% in radiation doses estimated by two different models. Radiation dose decreased with calendar time and the decreasing slope varied depending on dose assessment models. Based on the Chernobyl dosimetry model, radiation doses decreased with calendar time to about 65% level of the radiation dose in 2014 after 1 year, 11% level after 10 years, and 5.6% level after 30 years. RESRAD dosimetry model more slowly decreased radiation dose with time to about 85% level after 1 year, 40% level after 10 years, and 15% level after 30 years. The decrease of radiation dose can be mainly attributed into radioactive decays and environmental transport of the radioactive cesium. Only environmental transports of radioactive cesium without consideration of radioactive decays decreased radiation dose additionally 43% after 1 year, 72% after 3 years, 80% after 10 years, and 83% after 30 years. Radiation doses estimated with cesium concentration in the soil based on Chernobyl dosimetry model were compared with directly measured radiation doses. The estimated doses well agreed with the measurement data. This study results can be applied to radiation dose assessments at the contaminated area for radiation safety assurance or emergency preparedness.

• 산업공학
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.211-216
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• 2000

A methodology that determines the optimal shutdown time of a nuclear power plant is suggested. The shutdown time is decided considering the trade off between the cost of accident and the loss of profit due to the early shutdown. We adopt the bayesian approach in manipulating the model parameter that predicts the accidents. We build decision tree models and apply dynamic programming approach to decide whether to shutdown immediately or operate one more period. The branch parameters in decision trees are updated by bayesian approach. We apply real data to this model and provide the cost of accidents that guarantees the immediate shutdown.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제28권6호
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• pp.507-521
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• 1996

Quantification of uncertainties in the source term estimations by a large computer code, such as MELCOR and MAAP, is an essential process of the current Probabilistic safety assessment. The main objective of the present study is to investigate the applicability of a combined procedure of the response surface method (RSM) based on input determined from a statistical design and the Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) technique for the uncertainty analysis of CsI release fractions under a Hypothetical severe accident sequence of a station blackout at Younggwang nuclear power plant using MAAP3. OB code as a benchmark problem. On the basis of the results obtained in the present work, the RSM is recommended to be used as a principal tool for an overall uncertainty analysis in source term quantifications, while using the LHS in the calculations of standardized regression coefficients (SRC) and standardized rank regression coefficient (SRRC) to determine the subset of the most important input parameters in the final screening step and to check the cumulative distribution functions obtained by RSM. Verification of the response surface model for its sufficient accuracy is a prerequisite for the reliability of the final results that can be obtained by the combined procedure proposed in the present work.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권5호
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• pp.1630-1643
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• 2023

The correct situation awareness (SA) of operators is important for managing nuclear power plants (NPPs), particularly in accident-related situations. Among the three levels of SA suggested by Ensley, Level 3 SA (i.e., projection of the future status of the situation) is challenging because of the complexity of NPPs as well as the uncertainty of accidents. Hence, several prediction methods using artificial intelligence techniques have been proposed to assist operators in accident prediction. However, these methods only predict short-term plant status (e.g., the status after a few minutes) and do not provide information regarding the uncertainty associated with the prediction. This paper proposes an algorithm that can predict the multivariate and long-term behavior of plant parameters for 2 h with 120 steps and provide the uncertainty of the prediction. The algorithm applies bidirectional long short-term memory and an attention mechanism, which enable the algorithm to predict the precise long-term trends of the parameters with high prediction accuracy. A conditional variational autoencoder was used to provide uncertainty information about the network prediction. The algorithm was trained, optimized, and validated using a compact nuclear simulator for a Westinghouse 900 MWe NPP.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.7-14
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• 2016

연구배경: 본 연구는 일본 후쿠시마 원전사고 이후 원전사고 및 방사능 오염에 대한 우리 국민들의 인식도를 확인하기 위한 목적으로 진행되었다. 재료 및 방법: 설문조사는 수도권에 거주하는 성인 600명을 대상으로 하였다. 결과 및 논의: 연구 결과, 대다수 국민들은 일본 원전사고로 인한 방사능 누출이 우리나라에 영향을 미치고 있다고 우려하였다. 식품, 특히 수산물의 방사능 오염에 대한 우려가 높았고, 선호하는 정보 취득원은 TV(49.8%)와 인터넷 매체(31.3%)였다. 한편 다수의 국민들은 일본 원전사고 및 방사능 오염 정보가 충분히 제공되지 않았고, 원전사고 이후 우리 정부의 대응조치를 잘 모르고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 국민 대다수가 식품 환경 등의 방사능 오염 정도와 안전성에 대한 정보제공 강화가 가장 중요한 것으로 인식하고 있었다. 결론: 본 연구 결과는 향후 방사능에 대한 올바른 인식 확립과 방사능 안전사고 리스크커뮤니케이션을 위한 유용한 자료로 활용될 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.