• Title/Summary/Keyword: Nuclear power plant accident

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EXPERT SYSTEM FOR A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ACCIDENT DIAGNOSIS USING A FUZZY INFERENCE METHOD

  • Lee, Mal-Rey;Oh, Jong-Chul
    • Journal of applied mathematics & informatics
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.505-518
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    • 2001
  • The huge and complicated plants such as nuclear power stations are likely to cause the operators to make mistakes due to a variety of inexplicable reasons and symptoms in case of emergency. That’s why the prevention system assisting the operators is being developed for. First of all. I suggest an improved fuzzy diagnosis. Secondly, I want to demonstrate that a classification system of nuclear plant’s accident investigating the causes of accidents foresees possible problems, and maintains the reliability of the diagnostic reports in spite of improper working in part. In the event of emergency in a nuclear plant, a lot of operational steps enable the operators to find out what caused the problems based on an emergent operating plan. Our system is able to classify their types within twenty to thirty seconds. As so, we expect the system to put down the accidents right after the rapid detection of the damage control-method concerned.

Analysis of severe accident progression and Cs behavior for SBO event during mid-loop operation of OPR1000 using MELCOR

  • Park, Yerim;Shin, Hoyoung;Kim, Seungwoo;Jin, Youngho;Kim, Dong Ha;Jae, Moosung
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.53 no.9
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    • pp.2859-2865
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    • 2021
  • One of the important issues raised from the Fukushima-Daiichi accident is the safety of multi-unit sites when simultaneous accidents occur at the site and recently a multi-unit PSA methodology is being developed worldwide. Since all operation modes of the plant should be considered in the multi-unit PSA, the accident analysis needs to be performed for shutdown operation modes, too. In this study, a station blackout during the mid-loop operation is selected as a reference scenario. The overall accident progression for the mid-loop operation is slower than that for the full-power operation because the residual heat per mass of coolant is about 6 times lower than that in the mid-loop scenario. Though the fractions of Cs released from the core to the RCS in both operation modes are almost the same, the amount of Cs delivered to the containment atmosphere is quite different due to the chemisorption in the RCS. While 45.5% of the initial inventory is chemisorbed on the RCS surfaces during the full-power operation, only 2.2% during the mid-loop operation. The containment remains intact during the mid-loop operation, though 83.9% of Cs is delivered to the containment.

An Analysis of Operating Experience Reports Published in the Domestic Nuclear Power Plants for Resent 5 Years (최근 5년간 국내원전 운전경험보고서 분석)

  • Lee, Sang-Hoon;Kim, Je-Hun;Hur, Nam-Young
    • Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.35-39
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    • 2013
  • The Operating Experience Report(OER) has written about the event and accident happened at a Nuclear Power Plant(NPP). The purpose of publishing the OER is to prevent the similar event or accident repeatedly by spreading the experience of a single plant to other plants personnel. Before initiating the analysis mentioned in this paper, 2,298 review reports for the same number of OER published from 2007 to June 2012 have been written to achieve the correct and objective statistics. The analysis introduced in this paper is performed with the various factors such as year, plant type, equipment, type of work, root-cause. The root-cause analysis is showed that the equipment problem is the major factor in domestic NPPs, but on the other hand human-error is the main part of the foreign NPPs. Moreover, while the number of the man-made event is decreasing, the equipment-made event is rapidly increasing in domestic NPPs.

Performance analysis of operators in a nuclear power plant control room using a task network model (직무 네트워크 모형을 이용한 원자력발전소 제어실 운전원들의 수행도분석)

  • 서상문;천세우;이용희
    • Proceedings of the ESK Conference
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    • 1993.10a
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    • pp.21-30
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    • 1993
  • This paper describes the development of a simulation model of nuclear power plant operators including cognitive aspects by using a network modeling soft ware, Micro-SAINT (System Analysis of Integrated Networks of Tasks) for the analysis of operator performance. Network model description based on Micro-SAINT includes tasks, resources, precedence relations among tasks, flow of information and PSFs (Performance Shaping Factors) on task performance. We have tried to evaluate the performance with several performance measures such as the number of tasks allocated, relative time presure among operators within a shift, for the selected test accident scenarior; small-break LOCA (Loss of Coolant Accident) in a PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) type nuclear power plant.

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Analysis for External Cost of Nuclear Power Focusing on Additional Safety and Accident Risk Costs (추가안전대책비용, 사고위험대응비용의 외부비용을 반영한 원전비용 추정 연구)

  • Kim, Yoon Kyung;Cho, Sung-Jin
    • Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.367-391
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    • 2013
  • After the Fukushima nuclear accident, the external costs of generating electricity from nuclear power plants such as additional safety compliance costs and possible accident risk action costs have gained increasing attention from the public, policy-makers and politicians. Consequently, estimates of the external costs of nuclear power are very deliberate issue that is at the center of the controversy in Korea. In this paper, we try to calculate the external costs associated with the safety of the nuclear power plants, particularly focusing on additional safety compliance costs and possible accident risk action costs. To estimate the possible accident risk action costs, we adopt the damages expectation approach that is very similar way from the external cost calculation of Japanese government after the Fukushima accident. In addition, to estimate additional safety compliance costs, we apply the levelized cost of generation method. Furthermore, we perform the sensitivity analysis to examine how much these social costs increase the electricity price rate. Estimation results of the additional security measure cost is 0.53Won/kWh ~ 0.80Won/kWh depending on the capacity factor, giving little change on the nuclear power generation cost. The estimates of possible accident risk action costs could be in the wide range depending on the different damages of the nuclear power accident, probability of the severe nuclear power accident and the capacity factor. The preliminary results show that it is 0.0025Won/kWh ~ 26.4188Won/kWh. After including those two external costs on the generation cost of a nuclear power plant, increasing rate of electricity price is 0.001%~10.0563% under the capacity factor from 70% to 90%. This paper tries to examine the external costs of nuclear power plants, so as to include it into the generation cost and the electricity price. This paper suggests one of the methodologies that we might internalize the nuclear power generations' external cost, including it into the internal generation cost.

The Effect of an Aggressive Cool-Down Following A Refueling Outage Accident in which a Pressurizer Safety valve is Stuck Open

  • Lim, Ho- Gon;Park, Jin-Hee;Jang, Seung-Cheol
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.36 no.6
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    • pp.497-511
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    • 2004
  • A PSV (pressurizer safety valve) popping test carried out in the early phases of a refueling outage may trigger a test-induced LOCA(loss of coolant accident) if a PSV fails to fully close and is stuck in a partially open position. According to a KSNP (Korea standard nuclear power plant) low power and shutdown PSA (probabilistic safety assessment), the failure of a high pressure safety injection (HPSI) accompanied by the failure of a PSV to fully close was identified as a dominant accident sequence with a significant impact on low power and shutdown risks (LPSR). In this study, we aim to investigate and verify a new means for mitigating this type of accident using a thermal-hydraulic analysis. In particular, we explore the applicability of an aggressive cool-down combined with operator actions. The results of the various sensitivity studies performed there will help reduce LPSR and improve Refueling outage safety.

A Method to Calculate Off-site Radionuclide Concentration for Multi-unit Nuclear Power Plant Accident (다수기 원자력발전소 사고 시 소외 방사성물질 농도 계산 방법)

  • Lee, Hye Rin;Lee, Gee Man;Jung, Woo Sik
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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    • v.33 no.6
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    • pp.144-156
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    • 2018
  • Level 3 Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) is performed for the risk assessment that calculates radioactive material dispersion to the environment. This risk assessment is performed with a tool of MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System (MACCS2 or WinMACCS). For the off-site consequence analysis of multi-unit nuclear power plant (NPP) accident, the single location (Center Of Mass, COM) method has been usually adopted with the assumption that all the NPPs in the nuclear site are located at the same COM point. It was well known that this COM calculation can lead to underestimated or overestimated radionuclide concentration. In order to overcome this underestimation or overestimation of radionuclide concentrations in the COM method, Multiple Location (ML) method was developed in this study. The radionuclide concentrations for the individual NPPs are separately calculated, and they are summed at every location in the nuclear site by the post-processing of radionuclide concentrations that is based on two-dimensional Gaussian Plume equations. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of the ML method, radionuclide concentrations were calculated for the six-unit NPP site, radionuclide concentrations of the ML method were compared with those by COM method. This comparison was performed for conditions of constant weather, yearly weather in Korea, and four seasons, and the results were discussed. This new ML method (1) improves accuracy of radionuclide concentrations when multi-unit NPP accident occurs, (2) calculates realistic atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides under various weather conditions, and finally (3) supports off-site emergency plan optimization. It is recommended that this new method be applied to the risk assessment of multi-unit NPP accident. This new method drastically improves the accuracy of radionuclide concentrations at the locations adjacent to or very close to NPPs. This ML method has a great strength over the COM method when people live near nuclear site, since it provides accurate radionuclide concentrations or radiation doses.

A Phenomenological Study on the Elementary Teachers' Perception towards Socio-Scientific Issue: Around the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident (과학 관련 사회적 문제(socio-scientific issue)에 대한 초등학교 교사들의 인식에 관한 현상학적 연구: 후쿠시마 원전사고를 중심으로)

  • Wee, Soo-Meen;Jang, Keun-Young;Lim, Sung-Man;Yang, Il-Ho;Kim, Soon-Mi
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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    • v.6 no.3
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    • pp.174-184
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    • 2013
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the awareness of elementary school teachers on the socio-scientific issues. Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident was used by concrete issue connected with SSI for this study. Participants in this study were twelve elementary school teachers studying at K University Graduate School of Education, located in the central region, who underwent a semi-structured interview. The study method was the phenomenological research method which is one of the qualitative research methods, and the interview papers had been examined by three scientific experts. As a result of the study, it was divided into twenty six themes, eight theme clusters, and two categories, and considered the thoughts on the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, its influence on Korea, the relationship between science and society as a result of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, interested in social issues related to science, application in class, response from students and the influence on students. Teachers had a general understanding of science-related social issues, but did not have much interest in the subject. However, they mentioned that to apply the issues in the curriculum would have a positive influence and encourage scientific motivation in students and, furthermore, helped them to develop the awareness of science in their surroundings. A greater interest in socio-scientific issues need to require from teachers and, through including these issues in the curriculum, we should have positive influence in developing science education.

Comparison of Dose Rates from Four Surveys around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant for Location Factor Evaluation

  • Sanada, Yukihisa;Ishida, Mutsushi;Yoshimura, Kazuya;Mikami, Satoshi
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.46 no.4
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    • pp.184-193
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    • 2021
  • Background: The radionuclides released by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident 9 years ago are still being monitored by various research teams and the Japanese government. Comparison of different surveys' results could help evaluate the exposure doses and the mechanism of radiocesium behavior in the urban environment in the area. In this study, we clarified the relationship between land use and temporal changes in the ambient dose rates (air dose rates) using big data. Materials and Methods: We set a series of 1 × 1 km2 meshes within the 80 km zone of the FDNPP to compare the different survey results. We then prepared an analysis dataset from all survey meshes to analyze the temporal change in the air dose rate. The selected meshes included data from all survey types (airborne, fixed point, backpack, and carborne) obtained through the all-time survey campaigns. Results and Discussion: The characteristics of each survey's results were then evaluated using this dataset, as they depended on the measurement object. The dataset analysis revealed that, for example, the results of the carborne survey were smaller than those of the other surveys because the field of view of the carborne survey was limited to paved roads. The location factor of different land uses was also evaluated considering the characteristics of the four survey methods. Nine years after the FDNPP accident, the location factor ranged from 0.26 to 0.49, while the half-life of the air dose rate ranged from 1.2 to 1.6. Conclusion: We found that the decreasing trend in the air dose rate of the FDNPP accident was similar to the results obtained after the Chernobyl accident. These parameters will be useful for the prediction of the future exposure dose at the post-accident.