• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.144-155
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• 2023

The core catcher is used as a passive safety system in new generation nuclear power plants to create a space in the containment for the placing and cooling of the molten corium under various severe accidents. This research investigates the role of the core catcher in the VVER-1000 reactor containment system in mitigating the effects of core meltdown under various severe accidents within the context of the Ex-vessel Melt Retention (EVMR) strategy. Hence, a comparison study of three severe accidents is conducted, including Station Black-Out (SBO), SBO combined with the Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LB-LOCA), and SBO combined with the Small Break Loss of Coolant Accident (SB-LOCA). Numerical comparative simulations are performed for the aforementioned scenario with and without the EX-vessel core-catcher. The results showed that considering the EX-Vessel core catcher reduces the amount of hydrogen by about 18.2 percent in the case of SBO + LB-LOCA, and hydrogen production decreases by 12.4 percent in the case of SBO + SB-LOCA. Furthermore, in the presence of an EX-Vessel core-catcher, the production of gases such as CO and CO2 for the SBO accident is negligible. It was revealed that the greatest decrease in pressure and temperature of the containment is related to the SBO accident.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1994

The flame speed correlation considering thermal-hydraulic phenomena under severe accidents is proposed and correction coefficients are defined. This correlation modifies the pressure dependency in Iijima-Takeno correlation and adds the steam suppression effects to it in the anticipated hydrogen and steam concentration ranges under severe accidents. The existing models of flame speed due to hydrogen combustion under severe accidents are based on the experiments which were performed merely at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. They have difficulty in predicting a accurate flame speed in a case of high temperature and pressure during severe accidents. Thus the flame structure is assumed as a prerequisite to the reliable determination of flame speed and theoretical model is developed. To examine the validity, flame speeds in various conditions calculated by this model are compared with those obtained by the calculation of the existing correlations of the codes such as improved HECTR and MAAP. Also the steam suppression ratio is quantified and the steam suppression coefficient is defined as a composition of mixture. Initial temperature and pressure dependencies are investigated and correction coefficents are determined. More experimental studies can be recommended to improve this correlation to its further works.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.292-309
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• 1987

A large dry PWR containment response analysis for postulated severe accidents was performed as part of the Zion Risk Rebaselining study for input to the U.S. NRC's "Reactor Risk Reference Document," NUREG-1150. The Methodologies used in the present work were developed as part of the Severe Accident Risk Reduction Program (SARRP) at Sandia National Laboratory specifically for the Surry Plant, but they were extrapolated to Zion. Major steps of the quantification of risk from a nuclear power plant are first outlined. Then, the methodologies of containment response analysis for severe accidents used for Zion are described in detail: major features of the containment event tree (CET) analysis codes and CET quantification procedures are summarized. In addition, plant specific features important to containment response analysis are presented along with the containment loading and performance issues included in the present uncertainty analysis. Finally, a brief summary of the results of deterministic and statistical containment event tree analysis is presented to provide a perspective on the large dry PWR containment response for postulated severe accidents.accidents.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.393-404
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• 2012

After the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, there has been increasing concern regarding severe accidents in nuclear facilities. Severe accident scenarios are difficult for operators to monitor and identify. Therefore, accurate prediction of a severe accident is important in order to manage it appropriately in the unfavorable conditions. In this study, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, such as support vector classification (SVC), probabilistic neural network (PNN), group method of data handling (GMDH), and fuzzy neural network (FNN), were used to monitor the major transient scenarios of a severe accident caused by three different initiating events, the hot-leg loss of coolant accident (LOCA), the cold-leg LOCA, and the steam generator tube rupture in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The SVC and PNN models were used for the event classification. The GMDH and FNN models were employed to accurately predict the important timing representing severe accident scenarios. In addition, in order to verify the proposed algorithm, data from a number of numerical simulations were required in order to train the AI techniques due to the shortage of real LOCA data. The data was acquired by performing simulations using the MAAP4 code. The prediction accuracy of the three types of initiating events was sufficiently high to predict severe accident scenarios. Therefore, the AI techniques can be applied successfully in the identification and monitoring of severe accident scenarios in real PWRs.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.16-25
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• 2013

This study deals with the relationships between flashing operation and traffic accident at signalized intersections. The objective of this study is to analyze safety effects of the yellow flashing operation at night. In pursuing the above, this study gives particular attention to evaluating the safety results from signal operation of Cheongju's 190 signalized intersections using before-after evaluation with comparison group that are categorized by highway function. The main results are as follow. First, the numbers of traffic accidents and of fatalities/injuries in two highway types (arterial and collector road) have increased after operating the yellow flashing signal at night. Second, the numbers of accidents, fatalities/injuries, severe accidents and of fatalities/severe injuries in group A(arterial) have increased by 19%, 36%, 15% and 14%, respectively. Finally, the numbers of accidents, fatalities/injuries, severe accidents and fatalities/severe injuries in group B (collector) have increased by 50%, 64%, 41% and 77%, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.1-5
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• 2007

We construct the procedure to predict safety accidents following Bayesian approach. We make a model that can utilize the data to predict other levels of accidents. An event tree model which is a frequently used graphical tool in describing accident initiation and escalation to more severe accident is transformed into an influence diagram model. Prior distributions for accident occurrence rate and probabilities to escalating to more severe accidents are assumed and likelihood of number of accidents in a given period of time is assessed. And then posterior distributions are obtained based on observed data. We also points out the advantages of the bayesian approach that estimates the whole distribution of accident rate over the classical point estimation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.2670-2677
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• 2023

In the nuclear safety studies, a new trend refers to the evaluation of uncertainties as a mandatory component of best-estimate safety analysis which is a modern and technically consistent approach being known as BEPU (Best Estimate Plus Uncertainty). The major objectives of this study consist in performing a study of uncertainties/sensitivities of the major analysis results for a generic CANDU 6 Nuclear Power Plant during Station Blackout (SBO) progression to understand and characterize the sources of uncertainties and their effects on the key figure-of-merits (FOMs) predictions in severe accidents (SA). The FOMs of interest are hydrogen mass generation and event timings such as the first fuel channel failure time, beginning of the core disassembly time, core collapse time and calandria vessel failure time. The outcomes of the study, will allow an improvement of capabilities and expertise to perform uncertainty and sensitivity analysis with severe accident codes for CANDU 6 Nuclear Power Plant.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.423-434
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• 2016

The importance of severe nuclear accidents and probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) were brought to international attention with the occurrence of severe nuclear accidents caused by the extreme natural disaster at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. In Korea, studies on level 3 PSA had made little progress until recently. The code systems of level 3 PSA, MACCS2 (MELCORE Accident Consequence Code System 2, US), COSYMA (COde SYstem from MAria, EU) and OSCAAR (Off-Site Consequence Analysis code for Atmospheric Releases in reactor accidents, JAPAN), were reviewed in this study, and the disadvantages and limitations of MACCS2 were also analyzed. Experts from Korea and abroad pointed out that the limitations of MACCS2 include the following: MACCS2 cannot simulate multi-unit accidents/release from spent fuel pools, and its atmospheric dispersion is based on a simple Gaussian plume model. Some of these limitations have been improved in the updated versions of MACCS2. The absence of a marine and aquatic dispersion model and the limited simulating range of food-chain and economic models are also important aspects that need to be improved. This paper is expected to be utilized as basic research material for developing a Korean code system for assessing off-site consequences of severe nuclear accidents.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.57-66
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• 2007

This study deals with the rear-end accidents of 4-legged signalized intersections in Cheongju. The objectives are to analyze the characteristics of the accidents and to develop the models which explain the relations among the accidents, traffic volumes and geometric structures. In pursuing the above, the study uses the data 308 rear-end accidents occurred at the 106 intersections (2004). The main results analyzed are as follows. First, the rear-end accidents were analyzed to be serious. because the ratio of severe accidents is 77.6%. Second, the more accidents were occurred of in the night than the daytime and in the approaching sections of intersections. In particular, the accidents of large-size struck vehicles were analyzed to be more serious. Finally, the multiple and Poission regression models developed in this study are all analyzed to be statistically significant.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.27-32
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• 2003

Fire accidents in tunnels and underground installations have resulted in significant loss in terms of life and costs. Several large research projects are launched in Europe to find cost effective ways to upgrade and make such installation more robust against accidents from fires and explosions. For one single tunnel, severe fire accidents are rare and operators and users will have very limit experience, when they do occur. There is a trend to solve the problem with high tech instrumentation and monitoring techniques and to rely on the fire brigade to play a major role in the rescue operation. These precautionary measures are very difficult to validate for the severe fires. For protection against the most critical fires, the safety has to be considered in the design of the tunnel and the technical installation validated so that it operates as indented.