• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.7
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• pp.1776-1783
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• 2019

To accurately analyze the accidents in nuclear reactors, a thermohydraulic-neutronic coupling calculation is required to solve fluid dynamics and nuclear reactor kinetics equations in fine cells simultaneously and evaluate the local effects of neutronic and thermohydraulic parameters on each other. In the present study, a 3D thermohydraulic-neutronic coupling model is developed, validated and then applied for Isfahan MNSR (Miniature Neutron Source reactor) safety analysis. The proposed model is developed using FLUENT software and user defined functions (UDF) are applied to simulate the neutronic behavior of MNSR. The validation of the proposed model is first evaluated using 1mk reactivity insertion experiment into Isfahan MNSR core. Then, the developed coupling code is applied for a design basis accident (DBA) scenario analysis with the insertion of maximum allowed cold core reactivity of 4 mk. The results show that the proposed model is able to predict the behavior of the reactor core under normal and accident conditions with a good accuracy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1998.05a
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• pp.862-868
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• 1998

Korean Next Generation Reactor(KNGR) is a standardized evolutionary Advanced Light Water Reactor design under development Korea Power Company(KEPCO). It incorporates design enhncements such as active and passive advanced design features(ADFs) to increase the plant safety. A Preliminary level 1 Probabilistic Safety Assessment(PSA) has been performed for KNGR to examine the effect of these safety features. The preliminary PSA result shows that it meets the KNGR safety goal on core damage frequency(CDF). The result of this safety assessment shows that the four-train safety systems, and the ADFs such as Passive Secondary Cooling System (PSCS) contributes greatly to the reduction the CDF. Furthermore, several design changes are made or proposed for detailed review based on the PSA insights.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.1747-1755
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• 2021

This paper presents floating absorber for safety at transient (FAST) which is a passive safety device for sodium-cooled fast reactors with a positive coolant temperature coefficient. Working principle of the FAST makes it possible to insert negative reactivity passively in case of temperature rise or voiding of coolant. Behaviors of the FAST in conventional oxide fuel-loaded and metallic fuel-loaded SFRs are investigated assuming anticipated transients without scram (ATWS) scenarios. Unprotected loss of flow (ULOF), unprotected loss of heat sink (ULOHS), unprotected transient overpower (UTOP) and unprotected chilled inlet temperature (UCIT) scenarios are simulated at end of life (EOL) conditions of the oxide and the metallic SFR cores, and performance of the FAST to improve the reactor safety is analyzed in terms of reactivity feedback components, reactor power and maximum temperatures of fuel and coolant. It is shown that FAST is able to improve the safety margin of conventional burner-type SFRs during ULOF, ULOHS, UTOP and UCIT.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.11a
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• pp.395-400
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• 1996

Scoping analyses for the Safety Injection System (SIS) configuration for Korean Next Generation Reactor (KNGR) are peformed in this study. The KNGR SIS consists of four mechanically separated hydraulic trains. Each hydraulic train consisting of a High Pressure Safety Injection (HPSI) pump and a Safety Injection Tank (SIT) is connected to the Direct Vessel Injection (DVI) nozzle located above the elevation of cold leg and thus injects water into the upper portion of reactor vessel annulus. Also, the KNGR is going to adopt the advanced design feature of passive fluidic device which will be installed in the discharge line of SIT to allow more effective use of borated water during the transient of large break LOCA. To determine the feasible configuration and capacity of SIT and HPSI pump with the elimination of the Low Pressure Safety Injection (LPSI) pump for KNGR, licensing design basis evaluations are performed for the limiting large break LOCA. The study shows that the DVI injection with the fluidic device SIT enhances the SIS performance by allowing more effective use of borated water for an extended period of time during the large break LOCA.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.307-318
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• 2009

KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) has developed the GAMMA+ code for a thermo-fluid and safety analysis of a VHTR (Very High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor). A key safety issue of the VHTR design is to demonstrate its inherent safety features for an automatic reactor power trip and power stabilization during an anticipated transient without scram (ATWS) accident such as a loss of forced cooling by a trip of the helium circulator (LOFC) or a reactivity insertion by a control rod withdrawal (CRW). This paper intends to show the ATWS assessment capability of the GAMMA+ code which can simulate the reactor power response by solving the point-kinetic equations with six-group delayed neutrons, by considering the reactivity changes due to the effects of a core temperature variation, xenon transients, and reactivity insertions. The present benchmark calculations are performed by using the safety demonstration experiments of the 10 MW high temperature gas cooled-test module (HTR-10) in China. The calculation results of the power response transients and the solid core temperature behavior are compared with the experimental data of a LOFC ATWS test and two CRW ATWS tests by using a 1mk-control rod and a 5mk-control rod, respectively. The GAMMA+ code predicts the power response transients very well for the LOFC and CRW ATWS tests in HTR-10.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.71-81
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• 2017

When an integral pressurized water reactor is operated under low power conditions, once-through steam generator group operation strategy is applied. However, group operation strategy will cause nonuniform coolant flow distribution at the core inlet and lower plenum. To help coolant flow mix more uniformly, a flow mixing chamber (FMC) has been designed. In this paper, computational fluid dynamics methods have been used to investigate the coolant distribution by the effect of FMC. Velocity and temperature characteristics under different low power conditions and optimized FMC configuration have been analyzed. The results illustrate that the FMC can help improve the nonuniform coolant temperature distribution at the core inlet effectively; at the same time, the FMC will induce more resistance in the downcomer and lower plenum.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.66-73
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• 2021

This report documents the results of an at-power internal events Level 1 Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) for a Korea research reactor (KRR). The aim of the study is to determine the accident sequences, construct an internal level 1 PSA model, and estimate the core damage frequency (CDF). The accident quantification is performed using the AIMS-PSA software version 1.2c along with a fault tree reliability evaluation expert (FTREX) quantification engine. The KRR PSA model is quantified using a cut-off value of 1.0E-15/yr to eliminate the non-effective minimal cut sets (MCSs). The final result indicates a point estimate of 4.55E-06/yr for the overall CDF attributable to internal initiating events in the core damage state for the KRR. Loss of Electric Power (LOEP) is the predominant contributor to the total CDF via a single initiating event (3.68E-6/yr), providing 80.9% of the CDF. The second largest contributor is the beam tube loss of coolant accident (LOCA), which accounts for 9.9% (4.49E-07/yr) of the CDF.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.506-519
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• 2024

To simulate the verification process using materials from a decommissioned reactor, a mock-up of the bottom-mounted instrument nozzle in the Kori 1 reactor, where the nozzle was attached to a plate by J-groove dissimilar metal welding, was fabricated. The mock-up distortion was quantified by measuring the plate surface displacement after welding. The residual stresses formed on the support plate surface and the inner surface of the nozzle were then analyzed using the hole-drilling method, contour method, and neutron diffraction. Welding simulations were performed using a 3D finite element method to validate the measured results. The measured and computed stress distributions on the support plate exhibited reasonable agreement. Conversely, the stresses on the inside of the nozzle were found to have an indisputable difference in the contour method and neutron diffraction measurements, which demonstrated strong tensile and compressive hoop stresses, respectively. The possible origins of such differences were investigated and we have provided some suggestions for a precise evaluation in the simulation. This study is expected to be useful in future research on decommissioned reactors.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.220-227
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• 2015

Complex thermal hydraulic characteristics exist inside the reactor because the reactor internals consist of fuel assembly, internal structures and so on. In this study, to examine the effect of Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)-based two-equation turbulence models in the analysis of flow distribution inside a 1/5 scaled-down APR+, simulation was performed using the commercial computational fluid dynamics software, ANSYS CFX R.13 and the predicted results were compared with the measured data. It was concluded that reactor internal flow pattern was locally different depending on the turbulence models. In addition, the prediction accuracy of k-${\varepsilon}$ model was superior to that of other two-equation turbulence models and this model predicted the relatively uniform distribution of core inlet flow rate.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.434-442
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• 2015

The advanced passive pressurized water reactor (PWR) is being constructed in China and the passive residual heat removal (PRHR) system was designed to remove the decay heat. During accident scenarios with increase of heat removal from the primary coolant system, the actuation of the PRHR will enhance the cooldown of the primary coolant system. There is a risk of power excursion during the cooldown of the primary coolant system. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the thermal hydraulic behavior of the reactor coolant system (RCS) at this condition. The advanced passive PWR model, including major components in the RCS, is built by SCDAP/RELAP5 code. The thermal hydraulic behavior of the core is studied for two typical accident sequences with PRHR actuation to investigate the core cooling capability with conservative assumptions, a main steam line break (MSLB) event and inadvertent opening of a steam generator (SG) safety valve event. The results show that the core is ultimately shut down by the boric acid solution delivered by Core Makeup Tank (CMT) injections. The effects of CMT boric acid concentration and the activation delay time on accident consequences are analyzed for MSLB, which shows that there is no consequential damage to the fuel or reactor coolant system in the selected conditions.