• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2020

Despite the recent growth of interest in molten salt reactor technology and the crucial role which heat transfer plays in the design of power reactors, specific studies on the design of heat exchangers for the Molten Salt Fast Reactor have not yet been performed. In this work we deliver a preliminary but quantitative analysis of the intermediate heat exchangers, based on reference design data from the SAMOFAR H2020-Euratom project. Two different promising reference technologies are selected for study thanks to their compactness features, the Printed Circuit and the Helical Coil heat exchangers. We present preliminary design results for each technology, based on simplified design tools. Results highlight the limiting effects of the compactness constraints imposed on the fuel salt inventory and the allowed size. Large pressure drops on both flow sides are to be expected, with negative consequences on pumping power and natural circulation capabilities. The small size required for the flow channels also represents possible fabrication issues and safety concerns regarding channel blockage.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.15-20
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• 1975

The power overshoot is rises in the output during the transient period when the output of nuclear reactor is increased from the initial state to the desired target state and certain amount of constraint on power level is of primary importance for safety control of nuclear reactor. Therefore, the maximum principle is applied to this process control in transfering its power from the initial state(no, co) to the final target state(2no, 2co or 1.5no, 1.5co), adjusting the reactivity so that its overshoot is limited within the allowable constraint required. In this case, the switching points, switching times, optimal lima and optimal control reactivity are calculated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.476-483
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• 2017

The decay heat that is produced by nuclear reactor spent fuel must be cooled in a spent fuel storage pool. A wickless heat pipe or a vertical two-phase closed thermosyphon (TPCT) is used to remove this decay heat. The objective of this research is to investigate the thermal performance of a prototype model for a large-scale vertical TPCT as a passive cooling system for a nuclear research reactor spent fuel storage pool. An experimental investigation and numerical simulation using RELAP5/MOD 3.2 were used to investigate the TPCT thermal performance. The effects of the initial pressure, filling ratio, and heat load were analyzed. Demineralized water was used as the TPCT working fluid. The cooled water was circulated in the water jacket as a cooling system. The experimental results show that the best thermal performance was obtained at a thermal resistance of $0.22^{\circ}C/W$, the lowest initial pressure, a filling ratio of 60%, and a high evaporator heat load. The simulation model that was experimentally validated showed a pattern and trend line similar to those of the experiment and can be used to predict the heat transfer phenomena of TPCT with varying inputs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.3879-3891
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• 2021

A heat pipe residual heat removal system is proposed to be incorporated into the reactor driven subcritical (RDS) facility, which has been proposed by MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory for testing and demonstrating the Fluoride-salt-cooled High-temperature Reactor (FHR). It aims to reduce the risk of the system operation after the shutdown of the facility. One of the main components of the system is an air-cooled heat pipe heat exchanger. The alkali-metal high-temperature heat pipe was designed to meet the operation temperature and residual heat removal requirement of the facility. The heat pipe model developed in the previous work was adopted to simulate the designed heat pipe and assess the heat transport capability. 3D numerical simulation of the subcritical facility active zone was performed by the commercial CFD software STAR CCM + to investigate the operation characteristics of this proposed system. The thermal resistance network of the heat pipe was built and incorporated into the CFD model. The nominal condition, partial loss of air flow accident and partial heat pipe failure accident were simulated and analyzed. The results show that the residual heat removal system can provide sufficient cooling of the subcritical facility with a remarkable safety margin. The heat pipe can work under the recommended operation temperature range and the heat flux is below all thermal limits. The facility peak temperature is also lower than the safety limits.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.356-367
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• 2018

A series of tests dedicated to station blackout (SBO) accident scenarios have been recently performed at the $Prim{\ddot{a}}rkreislauf-Versuchsanlage$ (primary coolant loop test facility; PKL) facility in the framework of the OECD/NEA PKL-3 project. These investigations address current safety issues related to beyond design basis accident transients with significant core heat up. This work presents a detailed analysis using the best estimate thermal-hydraulic code TRACE (v5.0 Patch4) of different SBO scenarios conducted at the PKL facility; failures of high- and low-pressure safety injection systems together with steam generator (SG) feedwater supply are considered, thus calling for adequate accident management actions and timely implementation of alternative emergency cooling procedures to prevent core meltdown. The presented analysis evaluates the capability of the applied TRACE model of the PKL facility to correctly capture the sequences of events in the different SBO scenarios, namely the SBO tests H2.1, H2.2 run 1 and H2.2 run 2, including symmetric or asymmetric secondary side depressurization, primary side depressurization, accumulator (ACC) injection in the cold legs and secondary side feeding with mobile pump and/or primary side emergency core coolant injection from the fuel pool cooling pump. This study is focused specifically on the prediction of the core exit temperature, which drives the execution of the most relevant accident management actions. This work presents, in particular, the key improvements made to the TRACE model that helped to improve the code predictions, including the modeling of dynamical heat losses, the nodalization of SGs' heat exchanger tubes and the ACCs. Another relevant aspect of this work is to evaluate how well the model simulations of the three different scenarios qualitatively and quantitatively capture the trends and results exhibited by the actual experiments. For instance, how the number of SGs considered for secondary side depressurization affects the heat transfer from primary side; how the discharge capacity of the pressurizer relief valve affects the dynamics of the transient; how ACC initial pressure and nitrogen release affect the grace time between ACC injection and subsequent core heat up; and how well the alternative feeding modes of the secondary and/or primary side with mobile injection pumps affect core quenching and ensure stable long-term core cooling under controlled boiling conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.7-15
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• 2017

International standards such as IEC-61508 and IEC-61511 require Safety Integrity Levels (SILs) for Safety Instrumented Functions (SIFs) in process industries. SIL verification is one of the methods for process safety description. Results of the SIL verification in some cases indicated that several Safety Instrumented Functions (SIFs) do not satisfy the required SIL. This results in some problems in terms of cost and risks to the industries. This study has been performed to improve the reliability of a safety instrumented function (SIF) installed in hydrodesulfurization reactor heater using Partial Stroke Testing (PST). Emergency shutdown system was chosen as an SIF in this study. SIL verification has been performed for cases chosen through the layer of protection analysis method. The probability of failure on demands (PFDs) for SIFs in fault tree analysis was $4.82{\times}10^{-3}$. As a result, the SIFs were unsuitable for the needed RRF, although they were capable of satisfying their target SIL 2. So, different PST intervals from 1 to 4 years were applied to the SIFs. It was found that the PFD of SIFs was $2.13{\times}10^{-3}$ and the RRF was 469 at the PST interval of one year, and this satisfies the RRF requirements in this case. It was also found that shorter interval of PST caused higher reliability of the SIF.

• KIISE Transactions on Computing Practices
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.335-342
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• 2017

In the verification and validation procedures regarding the safety-critical software of nuclear power plants for the attainment of the requisite license from the regulatory body, it is difficult to judge the safety and dependability of the development, implementation, and validation activities through a simple reading and review of the documentation. Therefore, these activities, especially safety assurance activities, require systematic evaluation techniques to determine that software faults are acceptable level. In this study, a safety case methodology is applied in an assessment of the level and depth of the results of the development and validation of a manufacturer in its targeting of the bistable processor of a digital reactor protection system, and the evaluation results are analyzed. This study confirms the possibility of an effective supplementation of the existing safety demonstration method through the application of the employed safety case methodology.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.1871-1880
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• 2020

Round robin analyses for vessel failure probabilities due to PTS events are proposed for plant-specific analyses of all types of reactors developed in Korea. Four organizations, that are responsible for regulation, operation, research and design of the nuclear power plant in Korea, participated in the round robin analysis. The vessel failure probabilities from the probabilistic fracture mechanics analyses are calculated to assure the structural integrity of the reactor pressure vessel during transients that are expected to initiate PTS events. The failure probabilities due to various parameters are compared with each other. All results are obtained based on several assumptions about material properties, flaw distribution data, and transient data such as pressure, temperature, and heat transfer coefficient. The realistic input data can be used to obtain more realistic failure probabilities. The various results presented in this study will be helpful not only for benchmark calculations, result comparisons, and verification of PFM codes developed but also as a contribution to knowledge management for the future generation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Industrial Safety Conference
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• 1999.06a
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• pp.217-222
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• 1999

비열플라스마를 형성하는 방법은 전자 beam조사식과 전기방전법이 있다. 이 두방법의 공통점은 고에너지의 전자를 생성하여 플라스마를 발생시켜 가스분자의 전자충돌과 이온화에 의해 free radical반응에 의하여 가스분자를 분해시키는 것이다. (중략)

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Industrial Safety Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.34-39
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• 2002

원자력발전소(원전)에서 발생 가능성이 거의 없지만, 그래도 핵연료의 용융을 가져오는 중대사고가 발생하면 다량의 수소가 발생한다. 즉, 노심이 노출됨에 따라, 노심은 과열되고 핵연료 피복재인 지르코늄이 수증기와 반응을 하여 산화되면서 수소를 생성하게된다. 원자로내에서 생성된 수소는 발생된 수소는, 원자로 냉각재계통(Reactor Coolant System, RCS)이 건전하다면 RCS내에 축적되고, RCS에 누설 경로가 있다면 격납건물로 방출되어 격납건물에 축적된다.(중략)