• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.708-713
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• 2011

U.S. nuclear regulatory commission(NRC) regulatory guide(RG) 1.20 requires a comprehensive vibration assessment program(CVAP) for use in verifying the structural integrity of reactor vessel internals(RVI) for flow-induced vibrations prior to commercial operation. The CVAP program consist of vibration and fatigue analysis, a vibration measurement program, an inspection program, and a correlation of their results. One of the main purposes of the analysis program is to select measurement locations, however measurement locations can not be determined by only analysis results, therefore we developed selection criteria of measurement locations for advanced power reactor 1400(APR1400) RVI CVAP, It will be used to select measurement locations and instrument types for APR1400 RVI CVAP.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.509-522
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• 2011

FRAPCON-3.4a and FRAPTRAN 1.4 are the most recent versions of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) steady-state and transient fuel performance codes, respectively. These codes have been assessed against separate effects data and integral assessment data and have been determined to provide a best estimate calculation of fuel performance. Recent updates included in FRAPCON-3.4a include updated material properties models, models for new fuel and cladding types, cladding finite element analysis capability, and capability to perform uncertainty analyses and calculate upper tolerance limits for important outputs. Recent updates included in FRAPTRAN 1.4 include: material properties models that are consistent with FRAPCON-3.4a, cladding failure models that are applicable for loss-of coolant-accident and reactivity initiated accident modeling, and updated heat transfer models. This paper briefly describes these code updates and data assessments, highlighting the particularly important improvements and data assessments. This paper also discusses areas of improvements that will be addressed in upcoming code versions.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.11-19
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• 2016

SNS users are continuously increasing and SNS is emerging as a major PR channel of government. In particular, SNS can be a useful tool, but also the challenges for risk communication. This study is examined how nuclear regulatory organizations' SNS management and visitors' responses to the facebook pages in Korea and U.S.. Results indicated that both organizations frequently used information-oriented posting. Concerning the types of PR, NSSC tended to mainly use 'Relationship-Management PR', NRC mainly use 'Image PR.' In addition, our analyses on visitors' responses showed that visitors usually in response to participational and visual(ex. video, card news) typed contents. Based on its' results, this study provides practical suggestions for government's future SNS management strategies.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.295-310
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• 2013

Industry- or regulatory-sponsored research activities on the resolution of Generic Safety Issue (GSI)-191 were reviewed, especially on the chemical effects. Potential chemical effects on the head loss across the debris-loaded sump strainer under a post-accident condition were experimentally evidenced by small-scale bench tests, integrated chemical effects test (ICET), and vertical loop head loss tests. Three main chemical precipitates were identified by WCAP-16530-NP: calcium phosphate, aluminum oxyhydroxide, and sodium aluminum silicate. The former two precipitates were also identified as major chemical precipitates by the ICETs. The assumption that all released calcium would form precipitates is reasonable. CalSil insulation needs to be minimized especially in a plant using trisodium phosphate buffer. The assumption that all released aluminum would form precipitates appears highly conservative because ICETs and other studies suggest substantial solubility of aluminum at high temperature and inhibition of aluminum corrosion by silicate or phosphate. The industry-proposed chemical surrogates are quite effective in increasing the head loss across the debris-loaded bed and more effective than the prototypical aluminum hydroxide precipitates generated by in-situ aluminum corrosion. There appears to be some unresolved potential issues related to GSI-191 chemical effects as identified in NUREG/CR-6988. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, however, concluded that the implications of these issues are either not generically significant or are appropriately addressed, although several issues associated with downstream in-vessel effects remain.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2016

In the near future, many countries, including the Republic of Korea, will face a significant increase in low level radioactive waste (LLW) from nuclear power plant decommissioning. The purpose of this paper is to look at blending as a method for enhancing disposal options for low-level radioactive waste from the decommissioning of nuclear reactors. The 2007 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission strategic assessment of the status of the U.S. LLW program identified the need to move to a risk-informed and performance-based regulatory approach for managing LLW. The strategic assessment identified blending waste of varying radionuclide concentrations as a potential means of enhancing options for LLW disposal. The NRC's position is that concentration averaging or blending can be performed in a way that does not diminish the overall safety of LLW disposal. The revised regulatory requirements for blending LLW are presented in the revised NRC Branch Technical Position for Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation (CA BTP 2015). The changes to the CA BTP that are the most significant for NPP operation, maintenance and decommissioning are reviewed in this paper and a potential application is identified for decommissioning waste in Korea. By far the largest volume of LLW from NPPs will come from decommissioning rather than operation. The large volumes in decommissioning present an opportunity for significant gains in disposal efficiency from blending and concentration averaging. The application of concentration averaging waste from a reactor bio-shield is also presented.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.95-106
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• 2019

The decommissioning of nuclear power plants should be prepared by quantitative and qualitative risk assessment. Radiological and non-radiological hazards arising during decommissioning activities must be assessed to ensure the safety of decommissioning workers and the public. Decommissioning experiences by U.S. operators have mainly focused on deterministic risk assessment, which is standardized by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory commission (NRC) and focuses only on the consequences of risk. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has suggested an alternative to the deterministic approach, called the risk matrix technique. The risk matrix technique considers both the consequence and likelihood of risk. In this study, decommissioning stages, processes, and activities are organized under a work breakdown structure. Potential accidents in the decommissioning process of NPPs are analyzed using the composite risk matrix to assess both radiological and non-radiological hazards. The levels of risk for all potential accidents considered by U.S. NPP operators who have performed decommissioning were estimated based on their consequences and likelihood of events.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.424-435
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• 2016

Background: The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations and the Federal Guidance Report (FGR) published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been widely applied worldwide in the fields of radiation protection and dose assessment. The dose conversion coefficients of the ICRP and FGR are widely used for assessing exposure doses. However, before the coefficients are used, the user must thoroughly understand the derivation process of the coefficients to ensure that they are used appropriately in the evaluation. Materials and Methods: The ICRP provides recommendations to regulatory and advisory agencies, mainly in the form of guidance on the fundamental principles on which appropriate radiological protection can be based. The FGR provides federal and state agencies with technical information to assist their implementation of radiation protection programs for the U.S. population. The system of radiation dose assessment and dose conversion coefficients in the ICRP and FGR is reviewed in this study. Results and Discussion: A thorough understanding of their background is essential for the proper use of dose conversion coefficients. The FGR dose assessment system was strongly influenced by the ICRP and the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), and is hence consistent with those recommendations. Moreover, the ICRP and FGR both used the scientific data reported by Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) and United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) as their primary source of information. The difference between the ICRP and FGR lies in the fact that the ICRP utilized information regarding a population of diverse races, whereas the FGR utilized data on the American population, as its goal was to provide guidelines for radiological protection in the US. Conclusion: The contents of this study are expected to be utilized as basic research material in the areas of radiation protection and dose assessment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.259-267
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• 2002

NFPA-803 has been referred as the Fire Protection Standard at the Nuclear Power Plants of Pressurized Water Reactor. This Standard has been used as the fire protection regulation, containing prescriptive requirements with deterministic methodology. Recently, with cumulative efforts by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Utilities in America to establish a new Standard, including a quantitative evaluation methodology, NFPA-805, the Performance-Based Standard for FIRE Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants was issued and approved by the American National Standards Institute as an American National Standard with an effective date of February 9, 2001. This paper presents an analysis result from the computer modeling for the fire simulation In addition, it proposes the idea that this kind of analytic method can be available for the facilities design of fire prevention and protection fields, as well as an evaluation for the fire suppression system with a quantitative analysis for the thermal phenomena in fire compartments in Nuclear Power Plants.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.1032-1036
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• 2019

When the equipment which is related to safety or important to power production is installed in nuclear power plant units (NPPs), verification of equipment Electromagnetic Susceptibility (EMS) must be performed. The low-frequency radiated magnetic field susceptibility (RS101) test is one of the EMS tests specified in U.S NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.180 revision 1. The RS101 test verifies the ability of equipment installed in close proximity to sources of large radiated magnetic fields to withstand them. However, RG 1.180 revision 1 allows for an exemption of the low-frequency radiated magnetic susceptibility (RS101) test if the safety-related equipment will not be installed in areas with strong sources of magnetic fields. There is no specific exemption criterion in RG 1.180 revision 1. EPRI TR-102323 revision 4 specifically provides a guide that the low-frequency radiated magnetic field susceptibility (RS101) test can be conservatively exempted for equipment installed at least 1 m away from the sources of large magnetic fields (>300 A/m). But there is no exemption criterion for equipment installed within 1 m of the sources of smaller magnetic fields (<300 A/m). Since some types of equipment radiating magnetic flux are often installed near safety related equipment in an electrical equipment room (EER) and main control room (MCR), the RS101 test exemption criterion needs to be reasonably defined for the cases of installation within 1 m. There is also insufficient data regarding the strength of magnetic fields that can be used in NPPs. In order to ensure confidence in the RS101 test exemption criterion, we measured the strength of low-frequency radiated magnetic fields by distance. This study is expected to provide an insight into the RS101 test exemption criterion that meets the RG 1.180 revision 1. It also provides a margin analysis that can be used to mitigate the influence of low-frequency radiated magnetic field sources in NPPs.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.267-277
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• 2016

For the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant, a site characterization and final status survey require a site-specific suite of radionuclides that could potentially still be present in the site during or after the decontamination processes. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC) requires a Decommissioning Technical Base Document (DTBD) along with a Site Characterization and Historical Site Assessment (HSA) from the utility for decommissioning to proceed. Both the DTBD and HSA are preliminary components of the Radiological Site Survey investigation process and should be included in the final License Termination Plan (LTP) for site release and reuse consideration from the U.S. NRC and the utility company. This study reviews the United States Nuclear Power Plants (U.S. NPPs) decommissioning cases and is especially focused on the methodologies used for determining a site-specific suite of radionuclides before and during the site characterization and final status surveys. In 2017, Kori-1 will be ready for decommissioning and related preparations are ongoing, this review will help Korea to prepare regulatory guidelines and give technical background for the safe and successful decommissioning of NPPs.