• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.7
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• pp.1758-1764
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• 2019

As the safety level of nuclear power plants (NPPs) relates to the safety of individuals, society, and the environment, it is important to establish NPP safety goals. In Korea, two quantitative health objectives and one large release frequency (LRF) criterion were formally set as quantitative safety goals for NPPs by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission in 2016. The risks of prompt and cancer fatalities from NPPs should be less than 0.1% of the overall risk, and the frequency of nuclear accidents releasing more than 100 TBq of Cs-137 should not exceed 1E-06 per reactor year. This paper reviews the hierarchical structure of safety goals in Korea, its relationship with those of other countries, and the relationships among safety goals and subsidiary criteria like core damage frequency and large early release frequency. By analyzing the effect of the release of 100 TBq of Cs-137 via consequence analysis codes in eight different accident scenarios, it was shown that meeting the LRF criterion results in negligible prompt fatalities in the surrounding area. Hence, the LRF criterion dominates the safety goals for Korean NPPs. Safety goals must be consistent with national policy, international standards, and the goals of other counties.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.129-134
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• 2012

UT(Ultrasonic Test), one of the non-destructive tests, is the most common thickness measurement method for evaluating the wear rate in NPPs(Nuclear Power Plants). UT is used widely because it is easy and safe for use. However some amount of error inevitably occurs in attempting to measure the thickness. The error, that could make the thickness data thicker or thinner, may affect estimation of wear rate in pipes. NPPs are composed of a lot of pipes and components. Some of them are tested to check the current status during RFO(Re-Fueling Outage). Reliability analysis of UT is essential for evaluating pipe wear rate and establishing the long-term management plan in NPPs. This paper reviewed the cause of error occurrence and presented the UT data reliability analysis method. Also, this paper shows the application result of reliability analysis to the UT data acquired in NPPs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.05a
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• pp.571-576
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• 1996

Currently most nuclear power plants(NPPs) are adopted the mid-loop operation to minimize the overhaul period and save the operating cost. For mid-loop operation it is essential to install nozzle dam between RCS pipe and steam generator(SG). Because SG remains more highly contaminated with radioactive material than any other parts of the NPPs, the repairmen are very reluctant to carry out installing nozzle dam inside the SG. Until now, unfortunately, it appears that no practically applicable device was developed to provide the longstanding demand. Also the accidents have been reported by licenser event report during this operation mode due to loss of residual heat removal(RHR). The purpose of this paper is to conduct remotely blocking and disintegration of nozzle of a SG which has the highest radiation exposure during the maintenance in NPPs. The remote nozzle blocking device of a SG includes three bladders, hubs, air controller provisions to supply and contact air pressure into the bladders. This remote nozzle block device will give the larger operation margin to prevent the loss of RHR and minimize the radiation exposure dose to the repairman and shorten the overhaul periods.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.56 no.10
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• pp.1852-1858
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• 2007

To Increase availability and to enhance the safety, the modernization of Instrumentation & Control (I&C) systems is considered. The extended use of the digital technology lets nuclear power plants(NPPs) to replace their old analog systems with some proven digital systems. To adapt digital equipment to plants effectively and systematically, however, there must be an essential prerequisite, which is to evaluate current I&C equipment. This paper shows a practical methodology to evaluate the current status and reliability of I&C systems of NPPs using Reliability Evaluation System(RES) before performing upgrades or replacements for systems. The proposed method was applied to KORI Unit 2. The proposed method shows the current status of operating I&C systems effectively for upgrading I&C systems.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.87-111
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• 2021

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) produce radioactive waste and decommissioning this waste entails additional cost; determining these costs for various types and specifications of radioactive waste can be challenging. The purpose of this study is to identify major determinants of the decommissioning cost and their impact on NPPs. To this end, data from defunct NPPs were gathered and 2SLS (Two Stage Least Squares) regression models were developed to investigate the major contributors depending on the reactor types, viz. PWR (Pressurized Water Reactors) and BWR (Boiling Water Reactors). Additionally, cost estimations and the Monte Carlo simulation were performed as part of performance validation. Our study established that the decommissioning costs are primarily influenced by the level of radioactivity in the decommissioned waste, which can be realized from operational factors like operation period, overall efficiency, and plant capacity, as well as from duration of decommissioning and labour cost. While our study provides an improved statistical approach to recognize these factors, we acknowledge that our models have limitations in forecasting accurately which we envisage to bolster in future studies by identifying more substantive factors.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.3-16
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• 2000

The ultimate safety-goal of nuclear power plants should be targeted at preventing release of nuclear radiation compared to general structures, Accordingly the phases of siting design construction and operation of NPPs are severely regulated by codes of aseismic design so as to assure safety of NPPs. To accomplish this goal strict quality assurace and seismic qualification tests should be conducted for all phases of NPP construction. In addition seismic monitoring systems should be installed and always in operation to provide proper post-earhquake procedures. Besides periodic safety review should be performed during operation along with the seismic margin assessment. In this paper general procedures to secure seismic safety of NPPs are systematically reviewed and additional considerations for improvement are suggested.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.118-126
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• 2005

While emergency operating procedures (EOPs) occupy an important role in the management of various abnormal situations in nuclear power plants (NPPs), current technology for the validation of EOPs still largely depends on manual review. A validation method for EOPs of NPPs is thus proposed based on dynamic multi-level flow modeling (MFM). The MFM modeling procedure and the EOP validation procedure are developed and provided in the paper. Application of the proposed method to EOPs of an actual NPP shows that the proposed method provides an efficient means of validating EOPs. It is also found that the information on state transitions in MFM models during the management of abnormal situations is also useful for further analysis on EOPs including their optimization.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.28-43
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• 2023

Background: High-fidelity meteorological data is a prerequisite for the realistic simulation of atmospheric dispersion of radioactive materials near nuclear power plants (NPPs). However, many meteorological models frequently overestimate near-surface wind speeds, failing to represent local meteorological conditions near NPPs. This study presents a new high-resolution (approximately 1 km) meteorological downscaling method for modeling short-range (< 100 km) atmospheric dispersion of accidental NPP plumes. Materials and Methods: Six considerations from literature reviews have been suggested for a new dynamic downscaling method. The dynamic downscaling method is developed based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model version 3.6.1, applying high-resolution land-use and topography data. In addition, a new subgrid-scale topographic drag parameterization has been implemented for a realistic representation of the atmospheric surface-layer momentum transfer. Finally, a year-long simulation for the Kori and Wolsong NPPs, located in southeastern coastal areas, has been made for 2016 and evaluated against operational surface meteorological measurements and the NPPs' on-site weather stations. Results and Discussion: The new dynamic downscaling method can represent multiscale atmospheric motions from the synoptic to the boundary-layer scales and produce three-dimensional local meteorological fields near the NPPs with a 1.2 km grid resolution. Comparing the year-long simulation against the measurements showed a salient improvement in simulating near-surface wind fields by reducing the root mean square error of approximately 1 m/s. Furthermore, the improved wind field simulation led to a better agreement in the Eulerian estimate of the local atmospheric dispersion. The new subgrid-scale topographic drag parameterization was essential for improved performance, suggesting the importance of the subgrid-scale momentum interactions in the atmospheric surface layer. Conclusion: A new dynamic downscaling method has been developed to produce high-resolution local meteorological fields around the Kori and Wolsong NPPs, which can be used in short-range atmospheric dispersion modeling near the NPPs.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1-7
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• 2013

In nuclear power plants, lined carbon steel pipes or PCCPs (pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes) have been widely used for sea water transport systems. However, de-bonding of linings and oxidation of PCCP could make problems in aged NPPs (nuclear power plants). Recently at several NPPs in the United States, the PCCPs or lined carbon steel pipes of the sea water or raw water system have been replaced with HDPE (high density polyethylene) pipes, which have outstanding resistance to oxidation and seismic loading. ASME B&PV Code committee developed Code Case N-755, which describes rules for the construction of buried Safety Class 3 polyethylene pressure piping systems. Although US NRC permitted HDPE materials for Class 3 buried piping, their permission was limited to only 10-year operation because of several concerns including the quality of fusion zone of HDPE. In this study, various requirements for fusion qualification test of HDPE and some regulatory issues raised during HDPE application review in foreign NPPs are introduced.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1644-1651
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• 2022

This paper focuses on the power-level control of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the presence of lumped disturbances. An adaptive second-order nonsingular terminal sliding mode control (ASONTSMC) scheme is proposed by resorting to the second-order nonsingular terminal sliding mode. The pre-existing mathematical model of the nuclear reactor system is firstly described based on point-reactor kinetics equations with six delayed neutron groups. Then, a second-order sliding mode control approach is proposed by integrating a proportional-derivative sliding mode (PDSM) manifold with a nonsingular terminal sliding mode (NTSM) manifold. An adaptive mechanism is designed to estimate the unknown upper bound of a lumped uncertain term that is composed of lumped disturbances and system states real-timely. The estimated values are then added to the controller, resulting in the control system capable of compensating the adverse effects of the lumped disturbances efficiently. Since the sign function is contained in the first time derivative of the real control law, the continuous input signal is obtained after integration so that the chattering effects of the conventional sliding mode control are suppressed. The robust stability of the overall control system is demonstrated through Lyapunov stability theory. Finally, the proposed control scheme is validated through simulations and comparisons with a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller, a super twisting sliding mode controller (STSMC), and a disturbance observer-based adaptive sliding mode controller (DO-ASMC).