• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.1
• /
• pp.45-53
• /
• 2019

Thermal-hydraulic passive safety systems (PSSs) are incorporated into many advanced reactor designs on the bases of simplicity, economics and inherent safety nature. Several factors among which are the critical parameters (CPs) that influence failure and reliability of thermal-hydraulic (t-h) passive systems are now being explored. For simplicity, it is assumed in most reliability analyses that the CPs are independent whereas in practice this assumption is not always valid. There is need to critically examine the dependency influence of the CPs on reliability of the t-h passive systems at design stage and in operation to guarantee safety/better performance. In this paper, two multivariate analysis methods (covariance and conditional subjective probability density function) were presented and applied to a simple PSS. The methods followed a generalized procedure for evaluating t-h reliability based on dependency consideration. A passively water-cooled steam generator was used to demonstrate the dependency of the identified key CPs using the methods. The results obtained from the methods are in agreement and justified the need to consider the dependency of CPs in t-h reliability. For dependable t-h reliability, it is advisable to adopt all possible CPs and apply suitable multivariate method in dependency consideration of CPs among other factors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.12
• /
• pp.4583-4590
• /
• 2023

This study aims at modeling the beryllium reflector poisoning under neutron irradiation conditions and calculating the impact of beryllium poisoning on the core parameters of ETRR-2 research reactor. The CITVAP code was used to calculate the neutron flux and parameters of ETRR-2 core with beryllium reflector elements. The neutron flux in each reflector element was calculated to solve the modeling equations for the atomic densities of lithium-6 (⁶Li), tritium-3 (³H), and helium-3 (³He) using the BERYL program. The results are discussed based on CITVAP calculations of the core excess reactivity and cycle length Full Power Days (FPD). Possible solutions to minimize the degradation due to beryllium poisoning are also discussed and compared based on calculations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.793-803
• /
• 2021

The small PWR has been paid more and more attention due to its diversity of application and flexibility in the site selection. However, the large core power density, the small containment space and the rapid accident progress characteristics make it difficult to control the containment pressure like the traditional PWR during the LOCA. The pressure suppression system has been used by the BWR since the early design, which is a suitable technique that can be applied to the small PWR. Since the configuration and operating conditions are different from the BWR, the pressure suppression system should be redesigned for the small PWR. Conducting the experiments on the scale down test facility is a good choice to reproduce the prototypical phenomena in the test facility, which is both economical and reasonable. A systematic scaling method referring to the H2TS method was proposed to determine the geometrical and thermohydraulic parameters of the pressure suppression containment response test facility for the small PWR conceptual design. The containment and the pressure suppression system related thermohydraulic phenomena were analyzed with top-down and bottom-up scaling methods. A set of the scaling criteria were obtained, through which the main parameters of the test facility can be determined.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.6-12
• /
• 2011

The failure probabilities of pipes in nuclear power plants due to stress corrosion are obtained using the P-PIE program, which is developed for evaluating failure probability of pipes based on the existing PRAISE program. Leak, big leak and LOCA(loss of coolant accident) probabilities are calculated as a function of operating time for several pipes in a domestic nuclear plant. The sensitivity analysis is also performed to find out the important parameters for the failure of pipes due to stress corrosion. The results show that the steady state oxygen concentration and steady state temperature are important parameters and failure probability is very low when the oxygen concentration is maintained according to the regulation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 1999.05a
• /
• pp.51-51
• /
• 1999

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.5
• /
• pp.1079-1092
• /
• 2020

A parametric study of several parameters relevant to design safety on the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) rod response under a drop accident is presented. In the view of the complexity of interactions between the independent safety-related parameters, a factorial design of experiment is employed as an efficient method to investigate the main effects and the interactions between them. A detailed single full-length fuel rod is used with consideration of post-irradiated fuel conditions under horizontal and vertical free-drops onto an unyielding surface using finite-element analysis. Critical drop heights and critical g-loads that yield the threshold plastic strain in the cladding are numerically estimated to evaluate the fuel rod structural resistance to impact load. The combinatory effects of four uncertain parameters (pellet-cladding interfacial bonding, material properties, spacer grid stiffness, rod internal pressure) and the interactions between them on the fuel rod response are investigated. The principal finding of this research showed that the effects of above-mentioned parameters on the load-carrying capacity of fuel rod are significantly different. This study could help to prioritize the importance of data in managing and studying the structural integrity of the SNF.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.4
• /
• pp.1571-1584
• /
• 2023

In this study, a numerical analysis was performed as part of an international joint research project to reproduce a real cable tray fire that occurred in the heater bay area of the turbine building of a nuclear power plant. A sensitivity analysis was performed on various input parameters to derive results consistent with the sprinkler activation time obtained from the fire event analysis. For all sensitive parameters, the normalized sprinkler activation time correlated well with the power function of the normalized sprinkler height. A correlation equation was developed to identify the sprinkler activation time at any location when determining the slope or fire growth rate under the conditions assuming a linear or t-squared heat release rate (HRR) time curve. Various cable fire growth assumptions were used to determine which assumption was better to provide the prediction coincident with the information given from the fire event analysis in terms of the sprinkler activation time and total energy generated from cables damaged by fire. In the comprehensive analysis of all the sensitive parameters, the standard deviation of the input parameters increased as the sprinkler height decreased. Within the range of the sensitivity parameter values given in this study, when considering all sprinkler heights, the standard deviation of the cable model change was the largest and that of the overhang position change was the smallest.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.48 no.5
• /
• pp.1109-1119
• /
• 2016

Although, the direct use of spent pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel in CANda Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors (DUPIC) cycle is still under investigation, DUPIC cycle is a promising method for uranium utilization improvement, for reduction of high level nuclear waste, and for high degree of proliferation resistance. This paper focuses on the effect of DUPIC cycle on CANDU reactor safety parameters. MCNP6 was used for lattice cell simulation of a typical 3,411 MWth PWR fueled by $UO_2$ enriched to 4.5w/o U-235 to calculate the spent fuel inventories after a burnup of 51.7 MWd/kgU. The code was also used to simulate the lattice cell of CANDU-6 reactor fueled with spent fuel after its fabrication into the standard 37-element fuel bundle. It is assumed a 5-year cooling time between the spent fuel discharges from the PWR to the loading into the CANDU-6. The simulation was carried out to calculate the burnup and the effect of DUPIC fuel on: (1) the power distribution amongst the fuel elements of the bundle; (2) the coolant void reactivity; and (3) the reactor point-kinetics parameters.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2019

To find proper lathe machining parameters for SA182 Grade 304 stainless steel (SS), six kinds of samples with different machining surface states were prepared using a lathe. Surface morphologies and microstructures of near surface deformed layers on different samples were analysed. Surface morphologies and chemical composition of oxide films formed on different samples in simulated primary water with $100{\mu}g/L\;O_2$ at $310^{\circ}C$ were characterized. Results showed that surface roughness was mainly affected by lathe feed. Surface machining caused grain refinement at the top layer. A severely deformed layer with different thicknesses formed on all samples. In addition to high defect density caused by surface deformation, phase transformation, residual stress, and strain also affected the oxidation behaviour of SA182 Grade 304 SS in the test solution. Machining parameters used for # 4 (feed, 0.15 mm/r; back engagement, 2 mm; cutting speed, 114.86 m/min) and # 6 (feed,0.20 mm/r; back engagement, 1 mm; cutting speed, 73.01 m/min) samples were found to be proper for lathe machining of SA182 Grade 304 SS.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.39 no.5
• /
• pp.647-654
• /
• 2007

Postulation of flaws, one of the most important areas in RPV integrity assessment, significantly affects the results. In the present work, several parameters, such as orientation, underclad vs. surface cracking, crack depth and shape, etc., are postulated and parametric studies are performed to investigate the influence of the flaw parameters on the structural integrity assessment of the reactor pressure vessel during pressurized thermal shock. The influence of individual parameters describing the crack is evaluated based on sensitivity study results.