• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.121-133
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• 2020

Underwater cutting has a different mechanism than dry cutting, and there are more restrictions than benefits. Due to these constraints, research and development of underwater cutting has been very limited. At present, reactor dismantling is emerging as an important task worldwide, and reactor pressure containers, a key part of the reactor, are decommissioned based on underwater cutting. Reactor pressure containers are high-level radioactive waste, which is one of the main goals of today, such as to bridge the gap between environmental, safety, and cutting performance; hence, a process suitable for cutting should be applied. Therefore, many studies are being conducted on underwater cutting in connection with the dismantling of nuclear reactors in various areas in order to find appropriate processes. This paper first introduces the core technology of underwater cutting processes and discusses various processes. The emphasis is then placed on the adequacy of the reactor dismantling application. More specifically, we examine the suitability for the mechanical and thermal cutting processes, respectively, to find a solution suitable for dismantling a reactor. We discuss how each solution can sufficiently perform the specified functions at each stage of reactor dismantling and suggest that these processes can perform all of the work of underwater cutting.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.279-287
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• 2021

For application in nuclear decommissioning, underwater laser cutting studies were conducted on thick stainless-steel plates for various cutting directions using a 6 kW fiber laser. For cutting along the horizontal direction with horizontal laser irradiation, the maximum cutting speed was 110 mm·min^-1 for a 48 mm thick stainless-steel plate. For cutting along the vertical direction with horizontal laser irradiation, a maximum speed of 120 mm·min^-1 was obtained for the same thickness, which confirmed that the cutting performance was similar but slightly better. Moreover, when cutting with vertically downward laser irradiation, the maximum cutting speed was 120 mm·min^-1 for a plate of the same thickness. Thus, the cutting performance for vertical irradiation was nearly identical to that for horizontal irradiation. In conclusion, it was possible to cut thick stainless-steel plates regardless of the laser irradiation and cutting directions, although the assist gas rose up due to buoyancy. These observations are expected to benefit laser cutting procedures during the actual dismantling of nuclear facilities.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2018

In this study, several underwater steel cutting tests and AUTODYN numerical analyses were conducted to evaluate the penetration performance of a shaped charge device. Parameter analyses for the contribution rate were conducted by using the robust design method. The parameters adopted in this study were chamber type, stand-off, and wire setting, each of which had three levels in the analysis. Analysis results showed that the contribution rate was most affected by the stand-off, followed by the chamber type and wire setting. Experiments of underwater steel cutting were conducted at water depth of 25m. As expected, the experiments and numerical simulation showed similar results for underwater steel cutting performance, and thus the feasibility of the shaped charge device for underwater steel cutting at deep water depth was verified.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.25-39
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• 2015

The common underwater rock removal methods involve underwater blasting and crane's chisel dropping impact method. From an environmental point of view, these methods cause ground vibrations and underwater noise. At the site for this study, a method of dropping heavyweight chisel is selected to remove the underwater bedrock near the ferry rack in the course of improving the cargo handling ability of the loading dock. A prediction formula for the vibration was obtained based on the measurement and evaluation of the vibrations caused by the chisel dropping impacts during the test droppings. The prediction formula was successfully applied to the main construction for securing the stability of the structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.351-354
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• 2003

A new milling machine was designed and manufactured for underwater cutting of rotary specimen racks(RSR) used in the Korea Research Reactor. To cut out intermediate level radioactive stainless steel parts from RSR effectively and safely, the machine was designed to be operated in four directions of X, Y, Z axes and a rotation upon Z axis. The stress and displacement of main frame were simulated by using a structural analysis tool(Design Space) and the pressure of clamping device was evaluated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.1158-1161
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• 2003

For underwater milling of parts of nuclear reactor, a waterproof main spindle system was developed. which used a servo meter. Particularly, a waterproof system is available to cope with emergencies such as an electricity failure so that it prevents hazards from cutting radioactive materials. A developed spindle was designed to be capable of horizontal and vertical cutting and structural analysis was conducted with a FEM tool(Design Space) when the forces were loaded in each axis-direction.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.407-407
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• 2002

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.267-268
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• 2019

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.285-286
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• 2019

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.367-368
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• 2018