• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.1345-1354
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• 2019

Clogging of sump strainers that filter the recirculation water in containment after a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) seriously impedes the continued cooling of nuclear reactor cores. In experiments examining the corrosion of aluminium alloy 6061, a common material in containment equipment, in borated solutions simulating the water chemistry of sump water after a LOCA, we found that Fe-bearing intermetallic particles, which were initially buried in the Al matrix, were progressively exposed as corrosion continued. Their cathodic nature $vis-{\grave{a}}-vis$ the Al matrix provoked continuous trenching around them until they were finally released into the test solution. Such particles released from Al alloy components in a reactor containment after a LOCA will be transported to the sump entrance with the recirculation flow and trapped by the debris bed that typically forms on the strainer surface, potentially aggravating strainer clogging. These Fe-bearing intermetallic particles, many of which had a rod or thin strip-like geometry, were identified to be mainly the cubic phase ${\alpha}_c-Al(Fe,Mn)Si$ with an average size of about $2.15{\mu}m$; 11.5 g of particles with a volume of about $3.2cm^3$ would be released with the dissolution of every 1 kg 6061 aluminium alloy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.779-780
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• 2005

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.4003-4013
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• 2021

During the long-term cooling (LTC) phase of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) in a pressurized water reactor (PWR), water is supplied from the containment sump to the reactor coolant system (RCS) by the flooded sump water to the Reactor Vessel (RV) through the broken pipes. As part of the technical efforts for resolving GSI-191 [( Reid and Crytzer, May. 2007) 1, consideration is needed for the consequences of debris penetrating the sump screen and propagating downstream into the RV. Injection of debris (fiberglass) into the RV during the LTC recirculation phase needs special attention to assure that reactor core cooling is maintained. The point of concern is the potential for debris to adversely affect the reactor core flow paths or heat transfer [2]. However, all the experiments for proving the coolability of RV have been done with the assumption of the most of debris would be transferred to the RV and the bottom nozzle of the FAs. The purpose of the tests is to quantify the amount of the debris that would be accumulated at the lower plenum and the debris that passes through the FAs since non-conservatism of other researches assumptions that have been used in the past experimental or analytical programs.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.255-262
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• 2011

In a loss-of-coolantaccident, considerable debris may be generated and transported to the recirculation sump. The accumulation of debris will reduce the netpositivesuctionhead and threaten the safety of thenuclear power plant. Both NEI 04-07 and USNRC SER suggesteda CFD methodology. However, additional investigation is needed to consider the unique characteristics of nuclear power plants. The transport of the generated debris is strongly influenced by the break location and the plant characteristics, including the configuration.In this paper, a CFD methodology for blow-down transport evaluation is proposed and applied to an OPR1000 nuclear power plant. The results show that the percentage of small debris transported to the upper containment is 32%, which is 7% larger than the valuegiven in the NEI 04-07 baseline analysis. This result may be used as a point of reference in future analytical studies.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.186-190
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• 2014

Nuclear Power Plants require the control ability of chemical condition (pH) because pH control during transient accident such as LOCA makes an able the fission product removal capability to be maintained, stress corrosion cracking of stainless steel equipment to be prevented and the production of hydrogen by aluminum and zinc to be minimized. An NPP is designed to control the pH of containment spray and sump coolant using the spray additives 30% NaOH in the event of loss of coolant accident. In this paper, the pH of sump coolant of an NPP during LOCA was analyzed and the fission products removal constant and decontamination factor were calculated according to Standard Review Plan 6.5.2 related to spray chemical conditions of pH. The calculated pH value of recirculation mode using the computer code corresponds to 8.09~9.67, which meets the chemical environment regulation requirements. The fission product removal capability caused by containment spray system is performed to provide input to radiation analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.129-138
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• 2022

A new method for injecting cooling water into the Korean research reactor (KRR) in the event of beam tube rupture is proposed in this paper. Moreover, the research evaluates the risk to the reactor core in terms of core damage frequency (CDF). The proposed method maintains the cooling water in the chimney at a certain level in the tank to prevent nuclear fuel damage solely by gravitational coolant feeding from the emergency water supply system (EWSS). This technique does not require sump recirculation operations described in the current procedure for resolving beam tube accidents. The reduction in the risk to the core in the event of beam tube rupture that can be achieved by the proposed change in the cooling water injection design is quantified as follows. 1) The total CDF of the KRR for the proposed design change is approximately 4.17E-06/yr, which is 8.4% lower than the CDF of the current design (4.55E-06/yr). 2) The CDF for beam tube rupture is 7.10E-08/yr, which represents an 84.1% decrease compared with that of the current design (4.49E-07/yr). In addition to this quantitative reduction in risk, the modified cooling water injection design maintains a supply of pure coolant to the EWSS tank. This means that the reactor does not require decontamination after an accident. Thermal hydraulic analysis proves that the water level in the reactor pool does not cause damage to the nuclear fuel cladding after beam tube rupture. This is because the amount of water in the chimney can be regulated by the EWSS function. The EWSS supplies emergency water to the reactor core to compensate for the evaporation of coolant in the core, thus allowing water to cover the fuel assemblies in the reactor core over a sufficient amount of time.