• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.55-64
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• 2011

Objective: The aim of this paper is to introduce the activities and research trends of human reliability analysis including brief summary about contents and methods of the analysis. Background: Various approaches and methods have been suggested and used to assess human reliability in field of risk assessment of nuclear power plants. However, it has noticed that there is high uncertainty in human reliability analysis which results in a major bottleneck for risk-informed activities of nuclear power plants. Method: First and second generation methods of human reliability analysis are reviewed and a few representative methods are discussed from the risk assessment perspective. The strength and weakness of each method is also examined from the viewpoint of reliability analyst as a user. In addition, new research trends in this field are briefly summarized. Results: Human reliability analysis has become an important tool to support not only risk assessment but also system design of a centralized complex system. Conclusion: Human reliability analysis should be improved by active cooperation with researchers in field of human factors. Application: The trends of human reliability analysis explained in this paper will help researchers to find interest topics to which they could contribute.

• Journal of Korean Society of societal Security
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.57-64
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• 2009

With the increase in construction of long railway tunnel, social interest in the railway tunnel fire risk has also increased. However, quantitative fire risk research on this topic is still lacking, especially in terms of consideration of uncertainty of each variables used in risk analysis. Hence, in this study, to improve the overall performance of fire risk analysis technique for railway tunnel, Monte-Carlo simulation method is added to the traditional probabilistic risk analysis based on event tree approach and its validity is investigated by applying it to the real railway tunnel project.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.109-127
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• 2016

This paper examines the contribution of three sources of uncertainties to probabilistic seismic behaviour of wood frame buildings, including ground motions, intensity and seismic mass. This sensitivity analysis is performed using three methods, including the traditional method based on the conditional distributions of ground motions at given intensity measures, a method using the summation of conditional distributions at given ground motion records, and the Monte Carlo simulation. FEMA P-695 ground motions and its scaling methods are used in the analysis. Two archetype buildings are used in the sensitivity analysis, including a two-storey building and a four-storey building. The results of these analyses indicate that using data-fitting techniques to obtain probability distributions may cause some errors. Linear interpolation combined with data-fitting technique may be employed to improve the accuracy of the calculated exceeding probability. The procedures can be used to quantify the risk of wood frame buildings in seismic events and to calibrate seismic design provisions towards design code improvement.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권1호
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• pp.103-110
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• 2021

In the development of a Risk Monitor probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) model from the basic PSA model of a nuclear power plant, the modeling of common-cause failure (CCF) is very important. At present, some approximate modeling methods are widely used, but there lacks criterion of modeling accuracy and error analysis. In this paper, aiming at ensuring the accuracy of risk assessment and minimizing the Risk Monitor PSA models size, we present three basic issues of CCF model resulted from the changes of a nuclear power plant configuration, put forward corresponding modeling methods, and derive accuracy criteria of CCF modeling based on minimum cut sets and risk indicators according to the requirements of risk monitoring. Finally, a nuclear power plant Risk Monitor PSA model is taken as an example to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed modeling method and accuracy criteria, and the application scope of the idea of this paper is also discussed.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.437-447
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• 2018

Computational cost is one of the major obstacles for detailed risk analysis of structures. This paper puts forward a methodology for efficient probabilistic seismic loss assessment of structures using the Endurance Time (ET) analysis and the first-order reliability method (FORM). The ET analysis efficiently yields the structural responses for a continuous range of intensities through a single response-history analysis. Taking advantage of this property of ET, FORM is employed to estimate the annual rate of exceedance for the loss components. The proposed approach is an amalgamation of two analysis approaches, ET and FORM, that significantly lower the computational costs. This makes it possible to evaluate the seismic risk of complex systems. The probability distribution of losses due to the structural and non-structural damage as well as injuries and fatalities of a prototype structure are estimated using the proposed methodology. This methodology is an alternative to the prevalent risk analysis framework of the total probability theorem. Hence, the risk estimates of the proposed approach are compared with those from the total probability theorem as a benchmark. The results indicate a satisfactory agreement between the two methods while a significantly lower computational demand for the proposed approach.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권5호
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• pp.1307-1313
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• 2019

Recent analysis results with realistic assumptions provide the variability of operator allowable time for the initiation of aggressive cooldown under small break loss of coolant accident or steam generator tube rupture with total failure of high pressure safety injection. We investigated how plant risk may vary depending on the variability of operators' failure probability of timely initiation of aggressive cooldown. Using a probabilistic safety assessment model of a nuclear power plant, we showed that plant risks had a linear relation with the failure probability of aggressive cooldown and could be reduced by up to 10% as aggressive cooldown is more reliably performed. For individual accident management, we found that core damage potential could be gradually reduced by up to 40.49% and 63.84% after a small break loss of coolant accident or a steam generator tube rupture, respectively. Based on the importance of timely initiation of aggressive cooldown by main control room operators within the success criteria, implications for improvement of emergency operating procedures are discussed. We recommend conducting further detailed analyses of aggressive cooldown, commensurate with its importance in reducing risks in nuclear power plants.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.62-69
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• 2013

A probabilistic assessment code, PRO-LOCA ver. 3.7 which was developed in an international co-operative research program, PARTRIDGE was evaluated by conducting sensitivity analysis. The effect of some variables such as simulation methods (adaptive sampling, iteration numbers, weld residual stress model), crack features(Poisson's arrival rate, maximum numbers of cracks, initial flaw size, fabrication flaws), operating and loading conditions(temperature, primary bending stress, earthquake strength and frequency), and inspection model(inspection intervals, detectable leak rate) on the failure probabilities of a surge line nozzle was investigated. The results of sensitivity analysis shows the remaining problems of the PRO-LOCA code such as the instability of adaptive sampling and unexpected trend of failure probabilities at an early stage.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권1호
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• pp.138-145
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• 2019

With the application of digital technology to safety-critical infrastructures, cyber-attacks have emerged as one of the new dangerous threats. In safety-critical infrastructures such as a nuclear power plant (NPP), a cyber-attack could have serious consequences by initiating dangerous events or rendering important safety systems unavailable. Since a cyber-attack is conducted intentionally, numerous possible cases should be considered for developing a cyber security system, such as the attack paths, methods, and potential target systems. Therefore, prior to developing a risk-informed cyber security strategy, the importance of cyber-attacks and significant critical digital assets (CDAs) should be analyzed. In this work, an importance analysis method for cyber-attacks on an NPP was proposed using the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) method. To develop an importance analysis framework for cyber-attacks, possible cyber-attacks were identified with failure modes, and a PSA model for cyber-attacks was developed. For case studies, the quantitative evaluations of cyber-attack scenarios were performed using the proposed method. By using quantitative importance of cyber-attacks and identifying significant CDAs that must be defended against cyber-attacks, it is possible to develop an efficient and reliable defense strategy against cyber-attacks on NPPs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• 제34권5호
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• pp.159-166
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• 2019

The seismic PSA is to probabilistically estimate the potential damage that a large earthquake will cause to a nuclear power plant. It integrates the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis, seismic fragility analysis, and system analysis and is utilized to identify seismic vulnerability and improve seismic capacity of nuclear power plants. Recently, the seismic risk of domestic multi-unit nuclear power plant sites has been evaluated after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Gyeongju Earthquake in Korea. However, while the currently available methods for system analysis can derive basic required results of seismic PSA, they do not provide the detailed results required for the efficient improvement of seismic capacity. Therefore, for in-depth seismic risk evaluation, improved system analysis method for seismic PSA has become necessary. This study develops a system analysis method that is not only suitable for multi-unit seismic PSA but also provides risk information for the seismic capacity improvements. It will also contribute to the enhancement of the safety of nuclear power plants by identifying the seismic vulnerability using the detailed results of seismic PSA. In addition, this system analysis method can be applied to other external event PSAs, such as fire PSA and tsunami PSA, which require similar analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제34권6호
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• pp.586-595
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• 2002

The Seismic probabilistic risk assessment (SPRA) or seismic margin assessment (SMA) have been used for the seismic safety evaluation of nuclear power plant structures and equipments. For the SPRA or SMA, the reference response spectrum should be defined. The site-specific median spectrum has been generally used for the seismic fragility analysis of structures and equipments in a Korean nuclear power plant Since the site-specific spectrum has been developed based on the peak ground motion parameter, the site-specific response spectrum does not represent the same probability of exceedance over the entire frequency range of interest. The uniform hazard spectrum is more appropriate to be used in seismic probabilistic risk assessment than the site- specific spectrum. A method for modifying the seismic fragility parameters that are calculated based on the site-specific median spectrum is described. This simple method was developed to incorporate the effects of the uniform hazard spectrum. The seismic fragility parameters of typical NPP components are modified using the uniform hazard spectrum. The modification factor is used to modify the original fragility parameters. An example uniform hazard spectrum is developed using the available seismic hazard data for the Korean nuclear power plant (NPP) site. This uniform hazard spectrum is used for the modification of fragility parameters.