• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.435-442
• /
• 2007

Since the Ronan Point apartment collapsed in 1968, researches on the progressive collapse have been intermittently conducted, and the collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers made the researches active again. In the United States guidelines such as GSA (2003) and DoD (2005) were provided for design and analysis of building structures against the progressive collapse. In this study the progressive collapse-resisting capacity of steel moment resisting frames designed by KBC-2005 was investigated using linear elastic static analysis and linear dynamic analysis procedures suggested in the guidelines. The results showed that in accordance with the GSA guideline the moment frame designed only for gravity load turned out to be vulnerable to the progressive collapse, whereas the lateral load resisting frame designed for earthquake load satisfied the criteria for progressive collapse. However both systems sailed to satisfy the criteria of the DoD-2005 guideline.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.84-91
• /
• 2016

The transport and deposition of corrosion products in pressurized water nuclear reactor (PWR) steam generators have led to corrosion (SCC, denting etc.) problems. Lancing, mechanical cleaning and chemical cleaning have been used to reduce these problems. The methods of lancing and mechanical cleaning have limitations in removing corrosion products due to the structure of steam generator tubes. But high temperature chemical cleaning (HTCC) with EDTA is the most effective method to remove corrosion products regardless of the structure. However, EDTA in chemical cleaning aqueous solution and chemical cleaning environments affects the integrity of materials used in steam generators. The nuclear power plants have to perform the pre-test (also called as qualification test (QT)) that confirms the effect on the integrity of materials after HTCC. This is one of the series studies that assess the effect, and this study determines the effects of 20 % EDTA aqueous solution on defective tubes in high temperature chemical cleaning environments. The depth and magnitude of defects in steam generator (SG) tubes were measured by eddy current test (ECT) signals. Surface analysis and magnitude of defects were performed by using SEM/EDS. Corrosion rate was assessed by weight loss of specimens. The ECT signals (potential and depth %) of defective tubes increased marginally. But the lengths of defects, oxides on the surface and weights of specimens did not change. The average corrosion rate of standard corrosion specimens was negligible. But the surfaces on specimens showed traces of etching. The depth of etching showed a range on the nanometer. After comprehensive evaluation of all the results, it is concluded that 20 % EDTA aqueous solution in high temperature chemical cleaning environments does not have a negative effect on defective tubes.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.449-455
• /
• 2011

Recently, international collaborative research which was organized at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in India, was conducted to develop for pressure capacity and nonlinear behavior of PHWR 1/4 scale nuclear containment building between experimental test and numerical code. In this paper, a nonlinear finite element analysis was carried out in order to predict ultimate pressure capacity and nonlinear behavior of the 1/4 scale containment building. The 1/4 scale containment building is consisted of basemat, cylinder wall, dome and 4-buttress. For the finite element analysis, commercial program ABAQUS was used. Finite element models including concrete, rebar and tendon have been developed for assessment of ultimate pressure capacity and failure mode for nuclear containment building. From the analysis results, first crack of the concrete, the yielding of the rebar and ultimate capacity pressure occurred at $1.6P_d$(design pressure), $3.36P_d$ and $4.0P_d$, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.256-266
• /
• 1985

The loss of coolant flow accident is analyzed for the pressurized water reactor of Korea Nuclear Unit-1. The loss of coolant flow accident is classified into three types in accordance with its severity; partial loss of coolant flow, complete loss of coolant flow and pump locked rotor accident. Analysis has been carried out in three stages; system transient and average core analysis, DNBR calculation and hot spot analysis. The purpose of developing KTRAN is to simulate the transient fast. For the DNBR calculation, the thermal hydraulic codes, SCAN and COBRA IV-1, are adopted. And for the hot spot analysis, the fuel thermal transient code LTRAN is employed. This code system should be fast responding to the transient analysis. In case the transient occurs, severity comes within a couple of seconds. So response should be fast to accomodate the following sequence of the accident. Unfortunately this purpose could not be achieved by KTRAN. However, the calculated results are well comparable with FSAR results in range. Thereby, the effectiveness of KTRAN code analysis in this type of accident is proven.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.73-88
• /
• 1989

Ten methods of the total two-phase pressure drop prediction based on five existing models and correlations have been examined for their accuracy and applicability to pressurized water reactor conditions. These methods were tested against 209 experimental data of local and bulk boiling conditions : Each correlations were evaluated for different ranges of pressure, mass velocity and Quality, and best performing models were identified for each data subsets. A computer code entitled 'K-TWOPD' has been developed to calculate the total two-phase pressure drop using the best performing existing correlations for a specific property range and a correction factor to compensate for the predicted error of the selected correlations. Assessment of this code shows that the present method fits all the available data within $\pm$11% at a 95% confidence level compared with $\pm$25%, for the existing correlations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 1989

Numerous losses of decay heat removal capability have occurred at U during stutodwn while its significance to safety is needless to say. A study is carried out as an attempt to assess what could be done to lower the frequency of these events and to mitigate their consequences in the unlikely event that one occurs. The shutdown risk model is developed and analyzed using Event/Fault Tree for the typical pressurized water reactor. The human cognitive reliability (HCR) model, two-stage bayesian approach and staircase function model are used to estimate human reliability, initiating event frequency and offsite power non-recovery probability given loss of offsite power, respectively. The results of this study indicate that the risk of a Pm at shutdown is not much lower than the risk when the plant is operating. By examining the dominant accident sequences obtained, several design deficiencies are identified and it is found that some proposed changes lead to significant reduction in core damage frequency due to loss of cooling events.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.17-36
• /
• 2010

In this study, we compare the mass release rates of radionuclides(1) from waste forms arising from the KIEP-21 pyroprocessing system with (2) those from the directly-disposed pressurized-water reactor spent fuel, to investigate the potential radiological and environmental impacts. In both cases, most actinides and their daughters have been observed to remain in the vicinity of waste packages as precipitates because of their low solubility. The effects of the waste-form alteration rate on the release of radionuclides from the engineered-barrier boundary have been found to be significant, especially for congruently released radionuclides. the total mass release rate of radionuclides from direct disposal concept is similar to those from the pyroprocessing disposal concept. While the mass release rates for most radionuclides would decrease to negligible levels due to radioactive decay while in the engineered barriers and the surrounding host rock in both cases even without assuming any dilution or dispersal mechanisms during their transport, significant mass release rates for three fission-product radionuclides, $^{129}I$, $^{79}Se$, and $^{36}Cl$, are observed at the 1,000-m location in the host rock. For these three radionuclides, we need to account for dilution/dispersal in the geosphere and the biosphere to confirm finally that the repository would achieve sufficient level of radiological safety. This can be done only after we have known where the repository site would by sited. the footprint of repository for the KIEP-21 system is about one tenth of those for the direct disposal.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.79-88
• /
• 2010

Spent $UO_2$ nuclear fuel discharged from a nuclear power plant (NPP) contains fission products, U, Pu, and other actinides. Due to neutron capture by $^{238}U$ in the rim region and a temperature gradient between the center and the rim of a fuel pellet, a considerable increase in the concentration of fission products, Pu, and other actinides are expected in the pellet periphery of high burnup fuel. The characterization of the radial profiles of the various isotopic concentrations is our main concern. For an analysis, spent nuclear fuels originating from the Yeonggwang-2 pressurized water reactor (PWR) were chosen as the test specimens. In this work, the distributions of some actinide isotopes were measured from center to rim of the spent fuel specimens by a radiation shielded laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS) system. Sampling was performed along the diameter of the specimen by reducing the sampling intervals from 500 ${\mu}m$ in the center to 100 ${\mu}m$ in the pellet periphery region. It was observed that the isotopic concentration ratios for minor actinides in the center of the specimen remain almost constant and increase near the pellet periphery due to the rim effect apart from the $^{236}U$ to $^{235}U$ ratio, which remains approximately constant. In addition, the distributions of local burnup were derived from the measured isotope ratios by applying the relationship between burnup and isotopic ratio for plutonium and minor actinides calculated by the ORIGEN2 code.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.50 no.2
• /
• pp.229-236
• /
• 2018

Accident-tolerant fuels (ATFs) are currently of high interest to researchers in the nuclear industry and in governmental and international organizations. One widely studied accident-tolerant fuel concept is multilayer cladding (also known as coated cladding). This concept is based on a traditional Zr-based alloy (Zircaloy-4, M5, E110, ZIRLO etc.) serving as a substrate. Different protective materials are applied to the substrate surface by various techniques, thus enhancing the accident tolerance of the fuel. This study focuses on the results of testing of Zircaloy-4 coated with pure chromium metal using the cold spray (CS) technique. In comparison with other deposition methods, e.g., Physical vapor deposition (PVD), laser coating, or Chemical vapor deposition techniques (CVD), the CS technique is more cost efficient due to lower energy consumption and high deposition rates, making it more suitable for industry-scale production. The Cr-coated samples were tested at different conditions ($500^{\circ}C$ steam, $1200^{\circ}C$ steam, and Pressurized water reactor (PWR) pressurization test) and were precharacterized and postcharacterized by various techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy, Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), or nanoindentation; results are discussed. Results of the steady-state fuel performance simulations using the Bison code predicted the concept's feasibility. It is concluded that CS Cr coating has high potential benefits but requires further optimization and out-of-pile and in-pile testing.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.48 no.6
• /
• pp.1360-1367
• /
• 2016

This paper introduces a boron meter with improved accuracy compared with other commercially available boron meters. Its design includes a new fitting function and a multi-detector. In pressurized water reactors (PWRs) in Korea, many boron meters have been used to continuously monitor boron concentration in reactor coolant. However, it is difficult to use the boron meters in practice because the measurement uncertainty is high. For this reason, there has been a strong demand for improvement in their accuracy. In this work, a boron meter evaluation model was developed, and two approaches were considered to improve the boron meter accuracy: the first approach uses a new fitting function and the second approach uses a multi-detector. With the new fitting function, the boron concentration error was decreased from 3.30 ppm to 0.73 ppm. With the multi-detector, the count signals were contaminated with noise such as field measurement data, and analyses were repeated 1,000 times to obtain average and standard deviations of the boron concentration errors. Finally, using the new fitting formulation and multi-detector together, the average error was decreased from 5.95 ppm to 1.83 ppm and its standard deviation was decreased from 0.64 ppm to 0.26 ppm. This result represents a great improvement of the boron meter accuracy.