• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.273-286
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• 2007

This paper presents the research activities performed to date for the development of a supercritical pressure water-cooled reactor (SCWR) in Korea. The research areas include a conceptual design of an SCWR with an internal flow recirculation, a reactor core conceptual design, a heat transfer test with supercritical $CO_2$, an adaptation of an existing safety analysis code to the supercritical pressure condition, and an evaluation of candidate materials through a corrosion study. Methods to reduce the cladding temperature are introduced from two different perspectives, namely, thermal-hydraulics and core neutronics. Briefly described are the results of an experiment on the heat transfer at a supercritical pressure, an experiment that is essential for the analysis of the subchannels of fuel assemblies and the analysis of a system safety. An existing system code has been adapted to SCWR conditions, and the process of a first-hand validation is presented. Finally, the corrosion test results of the candidate materials for an SCWR are introduced.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.1005-1016
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• 2014

Roles of reactor internals are to support nuclear fuel, provide insertion and withdrawal channels of nuclear fuel control rods, and carry out core cooling. In case of functional loss of the reactor internals, it may lead to severe accidents caused by damage of nuclear fuel assembly and deterioration of reactor vessel due to attack of fallen out parts. The present study is to examine fluid flows in reactor internals subjected to hydrodynamic loads. In this context, an integrated model was developed and applied to two kinds of numerical analyses; one is to analyze periodic loading effect caused by pump pulsation and the other is to analyze random loading effect employing different turbulent models. Acoustic pressure distributions and flow velocity as well as pressure and temperature fields were calculated and compared to establish appropriate analysis techniques.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.44-50
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• 2017

The shaft seal of the reactor coolant pump is installed on the upper side of the rotating shaft of the pump to seal the reactor coolant from flowing out between the rotating shaft and the non-rotating parts. In this study, the loading conditions for the normal operation and faulted conditions are identified and structural integrity evaluation is performed using the finite element stress analysis for the sealing apparatus of the APR 1400 reactor coolant pump. It is confirmed that the stress analysis results satisfy the design criteria at all loading conditions.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.191-198
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• 2014

In this paper, structural integrity evaluation of reactor pressure vessel bottom head without penetration nozzles in core melting accident has been performed. Considering the analysis results of thermal load, weight of molten core debris and internal pressure, thermal load is the most significant factor in reactor vessel bottom head. The failure probability was evaluated according to the established failure criteria and the evaluation showed that the equivalent plastic strain results are lower than critical strain failure criteria. Thermal-structural coupled analyses show that the existence of elastic zone with a lower stress than yield strength is in the middle of bottom head thickness. As a result of analysis, the elastic zone became narrow and moved to the internal wall as the internal pressure increases, and it is evaluated that the structural integrity of reactor vessel is maintained under core melting accident.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.265-276
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• 2013

Pressure tubes made of Zr-2.5 wt% Nb alloy are important components consisting reactor coolant pressure boundary of a pressurized heavy water reactor, in which unanticipated through-wall cracks and rupture may occur due to a delayed hydride cracking (DHC). The Canadian Standards Association has provided deterministic and probabilistic structural integrity evaluation procedures to protect pressure tubes against DHC. However, intuitive understanding and subsequent assessment of flaw behaviors are still insufficient due to complex degradation mechanisms and diverse influential parameters of DHC compared with those of stress corrosion cracking and fatigue crack growth phenomena. In the present study, a deterministic flaw assessment program was developed and applied for systematic integrity assessment of the pressure tubes. Based on the examination results dealing with effects of flaw shapes, pressure tube dimensional changes, hydrogen concentrations of pressure tubes and plant operation scenarios, a simple and rough method for effective cooldown operation was proposed to minimize DHC risks. The developed deterministic assessment program for pressure tubes can be used to derive further technical bases for probabilistic damage frequency assessment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1998.05b
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• pp.771-776
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• 1998

TORT is employed for fast neutron fluence calculation at the reactor pressure vessel. KORI Unit 1 reactor at cycle 1 is modeled for this calculation. Three-dimensional cycle averaged assembly power distributions for KORI Vnit 1 at cycle 1 are calculated by using the core physics code, NESTLE 5.0. The root mean square error is within 4.3% compared with NDR (Nuclear Design Report) far all burnup steps. The C/E (Calculated/Experimental) values for the in-vessel dosimeters distribute between 0.98 and 1.36. The most updated cross-section library. BUGLE-96 based on ENDF/B-VI is used for the neutron fluence calculation. The makimum fast neutron nun calculated on reactor pressure vessel for KORI Unit 1 operated for 411.41 effgctive full power days is 1.784x10$^{18}$ n/$\textrm{cm}^2$. The position of the maximum neutron fluence in RPV wall 1/4 T is nearby 60cm below the midplane at zero degree.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2023

This paper describes a newly-developed analysis methodology in comprehensive vibration assessment program (CVAP) of reactor internals to develop a valid-prototype for the design of nuclear power plants. The new analysis methodology developed in this study will be confirmed through a scale model testing (SMT). Based on the measurements obtained from dynamic pressure transducers in the SMT, a new non-dimensional equation is developed to apply the forcing functions at reactor internals for the prototype. In addition to the new non-dimensional equation, a computational fluid dynamics(CFD) is used to develop the application of the hydraulic loads at reactor internals for the prototype.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.7-12
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to present a methodology to estimate the capacity of the pressure relief valve which prevents overpressure of the pressure vessel in a cold state. In this methodology, the transient behavior of the flow rate through the pressure relief valve and the pressure inside the pressure vessel are considered. The result of this study shows the followings; The more the relief valve capacity is considered in excess, the more the initial relief flow rate and the initial pressure inside the pressure vessel are high and low respectively. When the relief valve capacity is determined properly, the pressure inside the pressure vessel maintains almost the same value, so the ASME code requirement will be met.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 2014

A Failure or degradation of reactor upper head penetration is a recurring problem due to long term operation at nuclear power plants. And a flaw in the reactor upper head penetration has caused unplanned plant shutdown for repair as well as high economic impact on the plants. Consequently, a detection of flaws is of the utmost importance. Prior to the replacement of reactor upper head penetration, some utilities have repaired the flaws of reactor upper head penetration generated by overlay weld. Until now, only the base metal in reactor upper head penetration has been inspected according to 10 CFR 50.55a and ASME code case N-729-1. Accordingly, it is difficult to detect manufacturing defects and repair defects in overlay weld. This paper presents a case study on the application of Time of Flight Diffraction technique for reactor head penetration mockup with artificial flaws in overlay weld. This study offers a way to understand the flaws detected in reactor upper head penetration overlay weld.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.377-383
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• 2005

Because explosive fluid is used at high temperature or under high pressure in petrochemistry and refined oil equipment, the interest about safety of equipments is intensive. Specially, the safety of high pressure reactor vessel is required among them. The material selected in this study is 2.25Cr-1Mo steel that is widely used for high pressure reactor vessel material of petrochemical plant. Eight kinds of artificially aged specimens were prepared by differing from aging periods under three different temperatures. The material was iso-thermally heat treated at higher temperatures than $391^{\circ}C$ that is the operating temperature of high pressure reactor vessel. Vickers hardness properties and electrical resistivity properties about artificially aged material as well as un-aged material were measured, and master curves were made out from the correlation with larson-Miller parameter. And electrical resistivity properties as well as Victors hardness properties measured at high pressure reactor vessel of the field were compared with master curves made out in a laboratory. Degradation evaluation possibility in the field of high pressure reactor vessel by using electrical resistivity method was examined. Electrical resistivity property measured in the field is similar with that of artificially aged material in similar aging level.