• Title/Summary/Keyword: Nuclear power plants (NPPs)

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Analysis of the technical status of multiunit risk assessment in nuclear power plants

  • Seong, Changkyung;Heo, Gyunyoung;Baek, Sejin;Yoon, Ji Woong;Kim, Man Cheol
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.50 no.3
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    • pp.319-326
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    • 2018
  • Since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, concern and worry about multiunit accidents have been increasing. Korea has a higher urgency to evaluate its site risk because its number of nuclear power plants (NPPs) and population density are higher than those in other countries. Since the 1980s, technical documents have been published on multiunit probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), but the Fukushima accident accelerated research on multiunit PSA. It is therefore necessary to summarize the present situation and draw implications for further research. This article reviews journal and conference papers on multiunit or site risk evaluation published between 2011 and 2016. The contents of the reviewed literature are classified as research status, initiators, and methodologies representing dependencies, and the insights and conclusions are consolidated. As of 2017, the regulatory authority and nuclear power utility have launched a full-scale project to assess multiunit risk in Korea. This article provides comprehensive reference materials on the necessary enabling technology for subsequent studies of multiunit or site risk assessment.

Analysis of Source Terms at Domestic Nuclear Power Plant with CZT Semiconductor Detector (CZT 반도체 검출기를 이용한 국내 원전 내 선원항 분석)

  • Kang, Seo Kon;Kang, Hwayoon;Lee, Byoung-Il;Kim, Jeong-In
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.39 no.1
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    • pp.14-20
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    • 2014
  • A lot of radiation exposure for radiation workers who are engaged in Nuclear Power Plants, especially PWRs, have been caused during the outage by CRUD, such as $^{58}Co$, $^{60}Co$, in Reactor Coolant System. And therefore we need to know source terms to achieve optimization of protection for the radiation workers from radiation exposure at Nuclear Power Plants efficiently. This study analyzed source terms at domestic NPPs (PWRs) nearby Steam Generator with CZT semiconductor detector using by IN-VIVO method during the outage for the first time in the country. We checked difference for the detected source terms between old and new NPP. It was performed especially to see a change of source terms by water chemistry process as well. There was not any difference by water chemistry process both NPPs. The main source terms are $^{58}Co$ and $^{60}Co$ at all NPPs. $^{59}Fe$ only appears in the new NPP. $^{137}Cs$ and $^{95}Zr$ are shown in the old NPP. The fraction of $^{58}Co/^{60}Co$ in the new NPP is higher than the old NPP for increasing the specific activity of $^{60}Co$.

Development of Safety Competences, Behavioral Indicators and Measuring Methods for Preventing Human-Error in Nuclear Power Plants: A Preliminary Study (원전 인적오류 예방을 위한 안전 역량, 행동 지표 및 측정 방법 개발: 예비 연구)

  • Moon, Kwangsu;Kim, Sa Kil;Lee, Yong-Hee;Jang, Tong Il
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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    • v.31 no.1
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    • pp.132-138
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    • 2016
  • The purpose of this study was to develop safety competences, a set of behavioral indicators of each competence and measuring methods of behavioral indicators for preventing human error of nuclear power plants(NPPs). The safety competences and behavioral indicators were derived from the five steps consisted of derivation of preliminary competence items through literature review, content analysis, interview(FGI, BEI), examination of content validity and decision making of final indicators. The results showed that 13 core safety competences and 35 behavior indicators were derived finally. In addition, the methods of measuring safety competences or behavioral indicators such as Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS), Behavior Observation Scale (BOS) were developed and suggested.

The Proposal for Reliability Improvement of Emergency Diesel Engines through the Evaluation of the Maintenance Program and Overseas Cases for their Applications (정비프로그램 평가 및 해외사례 분석을 통한 비상디젤엔진의 신뢰성 향상방안)

  • Cho, K.H.;Jeong, H.J.;Ahn, S.K.
    • Journal of Power System Engineering
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.5-11
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    • 2004
  • The failure frequency of the Emergency Diesel Generator(EDG) at Nuclear Power Plants(NPPs) is not so much lower than that of the Marine engines, whereas the running hours of the diesel engine at NPPs is much less than those of the engines for commercial service. The primary factor results from the severe surveillance test requirements such as fast start, large number of starting test, fast load-run, high load running, etc. The other factor comes from the excessive maintenance based on the engine maker's instruction manual that did not incorporate the peculiar characteristics of the diesel engines at NPPs. In this paper, the present preventive maintenance program on the basis of the Pielstick diesel engines was reviewed for the purpose of securing the reliability of the emergency diesel generator at NPPs and the ways for its improvement were presented by referring to the overseas cases for their applications.

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Application of STPA-SafeSec for a cyber-attack impact analysis of NPPs with a condensate water system test-bed

  • Shin, Jinsoo;Choi, Jong-Gyun;Lee, Jung-Woon;Lee, Cheol-Kwon;Song, Jae-Gu;Son, Jun-Young
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.53 no.10
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    • pp.3319-3326
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    • 2021
  • As a form of industrial control systems (ICS), nuclear instrumentation and control (I&C) systems have been digitalized increasingly. This has raised in turn cyber security concerns. Cyber security for ICS is important because cyber-attacks against ICS can cause not only equipment damage and loss of production but also personal and public safety hazards unlike in general IT environments. Numerous risk analyses have been carried out to enhance the safety of ICS and recently, many studies related to the cyber security of ICS are being conducted. Many existing risk analyses and cyber security studies have considered safety and cyber security separately. However, both safety and cyber security perspectives should be considered when analyzing risks for complex and critical ICS facilities such as nuclear power plants (NPPs). In this paper, the STPA-SafeSec methodology is selected to consider both safety and security perspectives when performing a risk analysis for NPPs in order to assess impacts on the safety by cyber-attacks against the digital I&C systems. The STPA-SafeSec methodology was applied to a test-bed system that simulates a condensate water (CD) system in an NPP. The process of the application up to the development of mitigation strategies is described in detail.

PROCEDURE FOR APPLICATION OF SOFTWARE RELIABILITY GROWTH MODELS TO NPP PSA

  • Son, Han-Seong;Kang, Hyun-Gook;Chang, Seung-Cheol
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.41 no.8
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    • pp.1065-1072
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    • 2009
  • As the use of software increases at nuclear power plants (NPPs), the necessity for including software reliability and/or safety into the NPP Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) rises. This work proposes an application procedure of software reliability growth models (RGMs), which are most widely used to quantify software reliability, to NPP PSA. Through the proposed procedure, it can be determined if a software reliability growth model can be applied to the NPP PSA before its real application. The procedure proposed in this work is expected to be very helpful for incorporating software into NPP PSA.

Preliminary Study on the Internal Dosimetry Program for Carbon-14 at Korean CANDU Reactors (중수로원전에서 발생하는 $^{14}C$에 대한 내부피폭 선량평가 프로그램에 관한 예비 조사)

  • Kong T.Y.;Kim H.C.;Park G.;Hang D.W.;Lee G.J.;Lee S.K.;Park S.C.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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    • 2005.11a
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    • pp.317-320
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    • 2005
  • More strict radioactive regulations are applied to Korean nuclear power plants (NPPs) since ICRP-60 recommendation for radiation protection and has been enforced since 2003. In particular. carbon-14 and tritium concentrations are significantly higher at CANDU reactors compared to PWR reactors and this increases the risk of internal radiation exposure to workers at CANDU NPPs. Thus, it is necessary to estimate the exact amount of internal radiation exposure to workers fur radiological protection at CANDU reactors. In this paper, the current dosimetry method for carbon-14 is analyzed for the establishment of internal dosimetry for carbon-14 at domestic NPPs.

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Fatigue Evaluation for the Socket Weld in Nuclear Power Plants

  • Choi, Young Hwan;Choi, Sun Yeong;Huh, Nam Soo
    • Corrosion Science and Technology
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    • v.3 no.5
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    • pp.216-221
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    • 2004
  • The operating experience showed that the fatigue is one of the major piping failure mechanisms in nuclear power plants (NPPs). The pressure and/or temperature loading transients, the vibration, and the mechanical cyclic loading during the plant operation may induce the fatigue failure in the nuclear piping. Recently, many fatigue piping failure occurred at the socket weld area have been widely reported. Many failure cases showed that the gap requirement between the pipe and fitting in the socket weld was not satisfied though the ASME Code Sec. III requires 1/16 inch gap in the socket weld. The ASME Code OM also limits the vibration level of the piping system, but some failure cases showed the limitation was not satisfied during the plant operation. In this paper, the fatigue behavior of the socket weld in the nuclear piping was estimated by using the three dimensional finite element method. The results are as follows. (1) The socket weld is susceptible to the vibration if the vibration levels exceed the requirement in the ASME Code OM. (2) The effect of the pressure or temperature transient load on the socket weld in NPPs is not significant because of the very low frequency of the transient during the plant lifetime operation. (3) 'No gap' is very risky to the socket weld integrity for the specific systems having the vibration condition to exceed the requirement in the ASME OM Code and/or the transient loading condition. (4) The reduction of the weld leg size from $1.09*t_1$ to $0.75*t_1$ can affect severely on the socket weld integrity.

Equivalency Assessment for an Eddy Current System Used for Steam Generator Tubing Inspection

  • Cho, Chan-Hee;Lee, Tae-Hun;Yoo, Hyun-Ju;Moon, Gyoon-Young
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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    • v.35 no.4
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    • pp.258-267
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    • 2015
  • Eddy current testing is widely used for inspecting steam generator tubing in nuclear power plants (NPPs). The inspection technique for steam generator tubing in NPPs should be qualified in accordance with examination guidelines. When the components of a qualified system such as eddy current tester, probe, and data analysis program, are changed, the equivalency of the modified system to the originally qualified system must be verified. The eddy current tester is the most important part of an eddy current testing system because it excites and transmits alternating currents to the probe, receives coil impedance of the probe and generates signals for anomalies. The Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. (KHNP) developed an eddy current testing system with an eddy current tester and data acquisition-analysis program for inspecting the steam generator tubing in NPPs; this system can be used for an array probe and as a bobbin and rotating probes. The equivalency assessment for the currently developed system was carried out, and we describe the results in this paper.

Generation of Design Time History Complying With Japanese Seismic Design Standards for Nuclear Power Plants (일본 원전 내진설계 기술기준을 적용한 모의지진파(가속 도시간이력) 작성)

  • Gin, Seungmin;Kim, Yongbog;Lee, Yongsun;Moon, Il Hwan
    • Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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    • v.25 no.2
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    • pp.83-91
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    • 2021
  • Seismic designs for Korean nuclear power plants (NPPs) under earthquakes' design basis are noticed due to the recent earthquake events in Korea and Japan. Japan has developed the technologies and experiences of the NPPs through theoretical research and experimental verification with extensively accumulated measurement data. This paper describes the main features of the design-time history complying with the Japanese seismic design standard. Proper seed motions in the earthquake catalog are used to generate one set of design time histories. A magnitude and epicentral distance specify the amplitude envelope function configuring the shape of the earthquake. Cumulative velocity response spectral values of the design time histories are compared and checked to the target response spectra. Spectral accelerations of the time histories and the multiple-damping target response spectra are also checked to exceed. The generated design time histories are input to the reactor building seismic analyses with fixed-base boundary conditions to calculate the seismic responses. Another set of design time histories is generated to comply with Korean seismic design procedures for NPPs and used for seismic input motions to the same reactor containment building seismic analyses. The responses at the dome apex of the building are compared and analyzed. The generated design time histories will be also applied to subsequent seismic analyses of other Korean standard NPP structures.