• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 2006

It is necessary to monitor periodically the operability of safety-related motor-operated valves (MOVs) in nuclear power plants. However, acquiring diagnostic signals for MOVs is very difficult, and doing so requires an excessive amount of time, effort, and expenditure. This paper introduces an accurate and economical method to evaluate the performance of MOVs remotely. The technique to be utilized includes electrical measurements and signal processing to estimate the motor torque and the stem thrust, which have been cited as the two most effective parameters in diagnosing MOVs by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The motor torque is calculated by using electrical signals, which can be measured in the motor control center (MCC). Some advantages of using the motor torque signature over other signatures are examined. The stem thrust is calculated considering the characteristics of the MOV and the estimated motor torque. The basic principle of estimating stem thrust is explained. The developed method is implemented in diagnostic equipment, namely, the Motor Operated Valve Intelligent Diagnostic System (MOVIDS), which is used to obtain the accuracy of and to validate the applicability of the developed method in nuclear power plants. Finally, the accuracy of the developed method is presented and some examples applied to field data are discussed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.825-837
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• 2017

Due to the severe impacts of recent earthquakes, the use of seismic isolation is paramount for the safety of nuclear structures. The diversity observed in seismic events demands ongoing research to analyze the devastating attributes involved, and hence to enhance the sustainability of base-isolated nuclear power plants. This study reports the seismic performance of a seismically-isolated nuclear reactor containment building (NRCB) under strong short-period ground motions (SPGMs) and long-period ground motions (LPGMs). The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission-based design response spectrum for the seismic design of nuclear power plants is stipulated as the reference spectrum for ground motion selection. Within the period range(s) of interest, the spectral matching of selected records with the target spectrum is ensured using the spectral-compatibility approach. NRC-compliant SPGMs and LPGMs from the mega-thrust Tohoku earthquake are used to obtain the structural response of the base-isolated NRCB. To account for the lack of earthquakes in low-to-moderate seismicity zones and the gap in the artificial synthesis of long-period records, wavelet-decomposition based autoregressive moving average modeling for artificial generation of real ground motions is performed. Based on analysis results from real and simulated SPGMs versus LPGMs, the performance of NRCBs is discussed with suggestions for future research and seismic provisions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.561-572
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• 2019

In the design criterion for the nuclear power plant piping system, the limit state of the piping against an earthquake is assumed to be plastic collapse. The failure of a common piping system, however, means the leakage caused by the cracks. Therefore, for the seismic fragility analysis of a nuclear power plant, a method capable of quantitatively expressing the failure of an actual piping system is required. In this study, it was conducted to propose a quantitative failure criterion for piping system, which is required for the seismic fragility analysis of nuclear power plants against critical accidents. The in-plane cyclic loading test was conducted to propose a quantitative failure criterion for steel pipe elbows in the nuclear power plant piping system. Nonlinear analysis was conducted using a finite element model, and the results were compared with the test results to verify the effectiveness of the finite element model. The collapse load point derived from the experiment and analysis results and the damage index based on the stress-strain relationship were defined as failure criteria, and seismic fragility analysis was conducted for the piping system of the BNL (Brookhaven National Laboratory) - NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) benchmark model.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.09a
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• pp.67-74
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• 2001

This paper presents the Safe Shutdown Earthquake(SSE) input motion for the seismic design of the Advanced Power Reactor 1400(APR1400). The Design Ground Response Spectra(DGRS) far the SSE is based on the design spectrum specified in regulatory Guide(RG) 1.60 of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission(US NRC), anchored to a Peak Ground Acceleration(PGA) of 0.3g and enriched in the high frequency range. This SSE seismic input motion is to be applied to the seismic analysis as the free-field seismic motion at the ground surface of both the rock and generic soil sites fur APRI1400. The enrichment for APR1400 seismic input motion is performed considering the current US NRC regulations, the seismic hazard studies performed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LINL) and Electric Power Research Institute(EPRI) for the Central and Eastern United States nuclear power plant sites, and the seismic input motions used in the design certifications of the three existing U.S. advanced standard plants. It is represented by a set of DGRS and the accompanying Target Power Spectral Density(PSD) Function in both the horizontal and vertical directions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.207-220
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• 2005

Nuclear power plants (NPP) are complex socio-technological systems that rely on the success of both hardware and human components. Empirical studies of plant operating experience show that human errors are important contributors to accidents and incidents, and that organizational factors play an important role in creating contexts for human errors. Current probabilistic safety assessments (PSA) do not explicitly model the systematic contribution of organizational factors to safety. As some countries, like the United States, are moving towards increased use of risk information in the regulation and operation of nuclear facilities, PSA quality has been identified as an area for improvement. The modeling of human errors, and underlying organizational weaknesses at the root of these errors, are important sources of uncertainty in existing PSAs and areas of on-going research. This paper presents a review of research into the following questions: Is there evidence that organizational factors are important to NPP safety? How do organizations contribute to safety in NPP operations? And how can these organizational contributions be captured more explicitly in PSA? We present a few past incidents that illustrate the potential safety implications of organizational deficiencies, some mechanisms by which organizational factors contribute to NPP risk, and some of the methods proposed in the literature for performing root-cause analyses and including organizational factors in PSA.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.1224-1235
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• 2021

An integrated waste management approach for irradiated graphite was developed during the European Commission project 'Treatment and Disposal of Irradiated Graphite and other Carbonaceous Waste'. This included the identification of potential options for the management of irradiated graphite, taking account of storage, retrieval, treatment and disposal methods. This paper describes how these options can be assessed using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) for a case study relating to a generic power reactor. Criteria have been defined to account for safety, environmental, economic and socio-political factors, including radiological impact, resource usage, economic costs and risks. The impact of each option against each criterion has been assessed using data from the project and the wider literature. A linear additive approach has been used to convert the calculated impacts to scores. To account for the relative importance of the criteria, example weightings were allocated. This application has shown that MCDA approaches can be used to support complex decisions regarding irradiated graphite management, accounting for a wide range of criteria. Use of this approach by individual countries or organisations will need to account for the specific options, scores, weightings and constraints that apply, based on their national strategies, regulatory requirements and public acceptability.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.709-716
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• 2018

A criticality safety analysis was performed for the APR-1400 spent fuel pool region-II to ensure the safe storage of spent fuel, with credit taken for depletion and in-rack neutron absorbers (Metamic panels). PLUS7 fuel assembly was modeled using TRITON-NEWT of SCALE-6.1. The burnup-dependent cross-section library was generated under limiting core-operating conditions with 5%-w U-235 initial enrichment. MCNP5 was used to evaluate the neutron multiplication factor in an infinite array of rack cells with the axially nonuniformly burnt PLUS7 assemblies under normal, abnormal, and accident conditions; including all biases and uncertainties. The main purpose of this study is to investigate reactivity variations due to the critical depletion and reactor operation parameters. The approach, assumptions, and modeling methods were verified by analyzing the contents of the most important fissile and the associated reactivity effects. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) guidance on k-eff being less than 1.0 for spent fuel pools filled with unborated water was the main criterion used in this study. It was found that assemblies with 49.0 GWd/MTU and 5.0 w/o U-235 initial enrichment loaded in Region-II satisfy this criterion. Moreover, it was found that the end effect resulted in a positive bias, thus ensuring its consideration.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.745-752
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• 2013

For thermo-fluid and safety analyses of a High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR), intensive efforts are in progress in the developments of the GAMMA+ code of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and the AGREE code of the University of Michigan (U of M). One of the important requirements for GAMMA+ and AGREE is an accurate modeling capability of a bypass flow in a prismatic core. Recently, a series of air experiments were performed at Seoul National University (SNU) in order to understand bypass flow behavior and generate an experimental database for the validation of computer codes. The main objective of the present work is to validate the GAMMA+ and AGREE codes using the experimental data published by SNU. The numerical results of the two codes were compared with the measured data. A good agreement was found between the calculations and the measurement. It was concluded that GAMMA+ and AGREE can reliably simulate the bypass flow behavior in a prismatic core.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.139-150
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• 2005

A robust control design procedure for a nuclear reactor has been developed and experimentally validated on the Penn State TRIGA research reactor. The utilization of the robust controller as a component of an autonomous control system is also demonstrated. Two methods of specifying a low order (fourth-order) nominal-plant model for a robust control design were evaluated: 1) by approximation based on the 'physics' of the process and 2) by an optimal Hankel approximation of a higher order plant model. The uncertainty between the nominal plant models and the higher order plant model is supplied as a specification to the ,u-synthesis robust control design procedure. Two methods of quantifying uncertainty were evaluated: 1) a combination of additive and multiplicative uncertainty and 2) multiplicative uncertainty alone. The conclusions are that the optimal Hankel approximation and a combination of additive and multiplicative uncertainty are the best approach to design robust control for this application. The results from nonlinear simulation testing and the physical experiments are consistent and thus help to confirm the correctness of the robust control design procedures and conclusions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.259-267
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• 2002

NFPA-803 has been referred as the Fire Protection Standard at the Nuclear Power Plants of Pressurized Water Reactor. This Standard has been used as the fire protection regulation, containing prescriptive requirements with deterministic methodology. Recently, with cumulative efforts by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Utilities in America to establish a new Standard, including a quantitative evaluation methodology, NFPA-805, the Performance-Based Standard for FIRE Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants was issued and approved by the American National Standards Institute as an American National Standard with an effective date of February 9, 2001. This paper presents an analysis result from the computer modeling for the fire simulation In addition, it proposes the idea that this kind of analytic method can be available for the facilities design of fire prevention and protection fields, as well as an evaluation for the fire suppression system with a quantitative analysis for the thermal phenomena in fire compartments in Nuclear Power Plants.