• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2022

In accordance with the growing trend of decommissioning nuclear facilities, research on the cutting process is actively proceeding worldwide. In general, a thermal cutting process, such as plasma cutting is applied to decommissioning a nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV). Plasma cutting has the advantage of removing the radioactive materials and being able to cut thick materials. However, when operating under water, the molten metal remains in the cut plane and re-solidifies. Hence, cutting is not entirely accomplished. For these environmental reasons, it is difficult to cut thick metal. The contact arc metal cutting (CAMC) process can be used to cut thick metal under water. CAMC is a process that cuts metal using a plate-shaped electrode based on a high-current arc plasma heat source. During the cutting process, high-pressure water is sprayed from the electrode to remove the molten metal, known as rinsing. As the CAMC is conducted without using a shielding gas, such as Argon, the electrode is consumed during the process. In this study, CAMC is introduced as a method for dismantling nuclear vessels and the relationship between the metal removal and electrode consumption is investigated according to the cutting conditions.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.8-13
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• 2017

Nuclear power plant (NPP) constructions are large scale projects that are executed for several years, and schedule control utilizing various schedules is a critically important factor. Recently Korea independently developed the Advanced Power Reactor (APR) 1400 and is building nuclear facilities applying this new reactor type. The construction of Shin-Kori NPP (SKN) Unit 3, which adopted the APR1400, was completed and commercial operation has begun, while, SKN 4, Shin-Hanul NPP (SHN) Units 1&2, and SKN 5&6 are currently under construction. Prior to the development of the APR1400, Korea built 24 reactors and accumulated the schedule data of various reactor types which provided the foundation for schedule reduction to be possible. However, as there is no schedule development and review system established based on the standard schedule data (standard activities, durations, etc.) by reactor type, the process for developing the schedule for new builds is low in efficiency consuming much time and manpower. Also all construction data has been accumulated based on schedule activities. But because the connectivity of activities between projects is low, it is difficult to utilize such accumulated data (causes for schedule delay, causes for design changes, etc.) in new build projects. Due to such reasons, issues continue to arise in the process of developing standard schedule activities and a standard schedule for nuclear power plant construction. In order to develop a standard schedule for NPP construction, i) the development of an NPP standard schedule activity list, ii) development of the connection logic of NPP standard schedule activities, iii) development of NPP standard schedule activity resources and duration, and iv) integration of schedule data need to be performed. In this paper, an analysis was made on the coherence of schedule activity descriptions of existing NPPs by applying the probabilistic methodology on activities with low connectivity due to the utilization of the numbering system of four APR1400 reactors (SHN 1&2 and SKN 3&4).This study also describes the method for developing a standard schedule activity list and connectivity measures by extracting same and/or similar schedule activities.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.8
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• pp.3335-3346
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• 2024

Due to the radiation released by commonly used isotopes, many nuclear, medical, and industrial facilities require proper radiation shielding. In this work, distinct copper borate glasses intercalated with varied aluminum and vanadium oxide (Al₂O₃ and V₂O₅) content have been synthesized and used against radiation (gamma rays and fast/thermal neutrons). The different percents were as follows: [60% B₂O₃ + 35% CuO + (5-x)% Al₂O₃ + xV₂O₅], where x = 0, 1, and 2.5 wt.%, which was coded as BCu(5-x)Al:xV. The synthesized glass samples were characterized using Fourier transforms, infrared, and X-Raydiffraction analysis. Experimentally, the radiation shielding possessions of the samples were established using an HPGe detector at the gamma energy lines 0.356 MeV, 0.661 MeV, 1.173 MeV, and 1.332 MeV. Also, the prepared glasses were investigated theoretically using the Monte Carlo code (MCNP5) at photon energies of 0.015-15 MeV. Also, the fast and thermal neutron macroscopic effective removal cross-sections were calculated using MRCsC and JANIS-4.1 software, respectively. The prepared sample BCu2.5Al:2.5V, which has a vanadium and aluminum content of 2.5%, has the highest linear attenuation coefficient as well as the highest removal cross-section for fast, and thermal neutrons.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.134-140
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• 2020

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Korea are required to be maintained using a defense in-depth approach to prevent leakage of radioactive substances outside the plant and allow safe shutdown in the event of a fire. Periodic testing must be conducted to ensure that the fire protection facilities perform as required by the laws for various nuclear reactor types. In June 2017, for the first time in Korea, a nuclear plant, Kori Unit 1, was permanently shut down. It was prepared for decommissioning in accordance with the fire protection regulations imposed by the regulatory body. However, a standard protocol is necessary for systematically establishing the fire protection program for decommissioning of NPPs in the future. Therefore, the nuclear legal systems of countries with many operating nuclear power plants, such as the United States, Japan, Canada, and various European countries, were reviewed and guidelines for establishing a fire protection program for decommissioning NPPs was suggested; the fire protection requirements stated by Reg Guide 1.191 (Decommissioning fire protection program for NPPs during decommissioning and permanent shutdown) were used as a model. Suggestions for establishing legal regulations to optimize fire protection programs and secure basic technology for decommissioning NPPs were also made.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.455-460
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• 2014

South Korea's power consumption is increasing every year. For stable electric power supply, more generation facilities are needed. But it is not easy to build nuclear power generation facilities, so provision of renewable energy is thought of as the solution. For the system's stable management, practical use of energy storing system is needed. Currently, pumping up electric power station is considered most useful. In this study, we have calculated the least amount of energy storing device by considering the renewable energy, HVDC, and change in power for the appliance of ESS in Jeju system, according to The 6th Basic Plan for Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand. Also we have calculated the amount of the battery and about the load equalizing effect to use battery as power storing device. Finally, we have calculated the reduction of electricity generation and the reduction of $CO_2$ emission with this study.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2007

An empirical formula fur the neutron dose equivalent at the maze entrance of medical accelerator treatment rooms was derived on the basis of a Monte Carlo simulation. The simulated neutron dose equivalents around the Varian medical accelerator by the MCNPX code were employed. Two cases of target rotational planes were considered: parallel and perpendicular to maze walls. Most of the maximum neutron dose equivalents at the doorway were found when the target rotational planes were parallel to maze walls and the beams were directed to the inner maze entrances. The neutron dose equivalents at the outer maze entrances were calculated for about 698 medical accelerator facilities which were generated from the geometry configurations of running treatment rooms, based on such gantry rotation that produces the maximum neutron dose at the doorway. The results calculated with the empirical formula in this study were compared with those calculated by the Kersey method for 7 operating facilities. It was found that the maximum disagreement between the calculation of this study and that of the Kersey method was a factor of 8.54 with the value calculated by the Kersey method exceeding that of this study. It was concluded that the kersey method estimated the neutron dose equivalent at the doorway computed by MCNPX more conservatively than this study technique.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.583-592
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• 2018

Today, buildings are exposed to the effects such as explosion and impact loads. Usually, explosion and impact loads that act on the buildings such as nuclear power plants, airports, defense industry and military facilities, can occur occasionally on the normal buildings because of some reasons like drop weight impacts, natural gas system explosions, and terrorist attacks. Therefore, it has become important to examine the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) structures under impact loading. Development of computational mechanics has facilitated the modeling of such load conditions. In this study, three kinds of RC walls that have different geometric forms (square, ellipse, and circle) and used in guardhouses with same usage area were modeled with Abaqus finite element software. The three configurations were subjected to the same impact energy to determine the geometric form that gives the best behavior under the impact loading. As a result of the analyses, the transverse impact forces and failure modes of RC walls under impact loading were obtained. Circular formed (CF) reinforced concrete wall which has same impact resistance in each direction had more advantages. Nonetheless, in the case of the impact loading occurring in the major axis direction of the ellipse (EF-1), the elliptical formed reinforced concrete wall has higher impact resistance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.597-598
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• 2013

A lot of fire and crime accidents are caused to a significant national loss. For example, the network and power facilities in national industry facilities, the fire risk region in large scale factories such as nuclear and thermal power plants, large-sized buildings, cultural properties, metal and steel mills, chemical plants, oil refineries. The development of a fire detection system that can detects the temperature and movement of objects as high-level quality is essential to prevent these incidents and accidents fundamentally. In this paper, the fire detection system based on infrared thermal imaging & CCD camera id designed to solve these problems.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.400-405
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• 2015

Operating system of CBRNE(Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and High-yield explosive)) weapon in North Korea has reached an internationally significant level. In preparation against the CBRNE weapon attack, the US is securing various forms of defense shelters and operating it based on classification by disaster characteristics. However, it is currently difficult to expect an efficient protective ability from South Korea due to the reckless designation of defense shelters without consideration of disaster characteristics. At this, this study examined the present condition of formerly used facilities, analyzed the characteristics of each facilities for the sorting of defense shelters that are possible of conversion into shelter against CBRNE weapon, and presented results and proposals gained through this study research.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.87-92
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• 2011

This paper introduces the policy and regulations on very low level waste (VLLW) management in China. Given the important decommissioning and site restoration program of the old facility, it is considered necessary to create a new disposal facility dedicated to VLLW. Many general design principles are in common with to the disposal facility for low and intermediate level waste (LILW), namely the isolation of the waste by means of a multibarrier system, but using bentonite and/or high density polyethylene membranes instead of the generalized use of concrete barriers. The design of the facility is consistent with the design of disposal facilities for hazardous waste. The engineering design of two VLLW disposal facilities is introduced.