• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.709-718
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• 2019

The international nuclear industry has undergone a lot of changes since the Fukushima, Chernobyl and TMI nuclear power plant accidents. However, there are still large and small component deficiencies at nuclear power plants in the world. There are many causes of electrical equipment defects. There are also factors that cause component failures due to human errors. This paper analyzed the root causes of failure and types of human error in 300 cases of electrical component failures. We analyzed the operating experience of electrical components by methods of root causes in K-HPES (Korean-version of Human Performance Enhancement System) and by methods of human error types in HuRAM+ (Human error-Related event root cause Analysis Method Plus). As a result of analysis, the most electrical component failures appeared as circuit breakers and emergency generators. The major causes of failure showed deterioration and contact failure of electrical components by human error of operations management. The causes of direct failure were due to aged components. Types of human error affecting the causes of electrical equipment failure are as follows. The human error type group I showed that errors of commission (EOC) were 97%, the human error type group II showed that slip/lapse errors were 74%, and the human error type group III showed that latent errors were 95%. This paper is meaningful in that we have approached the causes of electrical equipment failures from a comprehensive human error perspective and found a countermeasure against the root cause. This study will help human performance enhancement in nuclear power plants. However, this paper has done a lot of research on improving human performance in the maintenance field rather than in the design and construction stages. In the future, continuous research on types of human error and prevention measures in the design and construction sector will be required.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.144-156
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• 2018

Level 3 Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) is performed for the risk assessment that calculates radioactive material dispersion to the environment. This risk assessment is performed with a tool of MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System (MACCS2 or WinMACCS). For the off-site consequence analysis of multi-unit nuclear power plant (NPP) accident, the single location (Center Of Mass, COM) method has been usually adopted with the assumption that all the NPPs in the nuclear site are located at the same COM point. It was well known that this COM calculation can lead to underestimated or overestimated radionuclide concentration. In order to overcome this underestimation or overestimation of radionuclide concentrations in the COM method, Multiple Location (ML) method was developed in this study. The radionuclide concentrations for the individual NPPs are separately calculated, and they are summed at every location in the nuclear site by the post-processing of radionuclide concentrations that is based on two-dimensional Gaussian Plume equations. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of the ML method, radionuclide concentrations were calculated for the six-unit NPP site, radionuclide concentrations of the ML method were compared with those by COM method. This comparison was performed for conditions of constant weather, yearly weather in Korea, and four seasons, and the results were discussed. This new ML method (1) improves accuracy of radionuclide concentrations when multi-unit NPP accident occurs, (2) calculates realistic atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides under various weather conditions, and finally (3) supports off-site emergency plan optimization. It is recommended that this new method be applied to the risk assessment of multi-unit NPP accident. This new method drastically improves the accuracy of radionuclide concentrations at the locations adjacent to or very close to NPPs. This ML method has a great strength over the COM method when people live near nuclear site, since it provides accurate radionuclide concentrations or radiation doses.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.184-193
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• 2021

Background: The radionuclides released by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident 9 years ago are still being monitored by various research teams and the Japanese government. Comparison of different surveys' results could help evaluate the exposure doses and the mechanism of radiocesium behavior in the urban environment in the area. In this study, we clarified the relationship between land use and temporal changes in the ambient dose rates (air dose rates) using big data. Materials and Methods: We set a series of 1 × 1 km² meshes within the 80 km zone of the FDNPP to compare the different survey results. We then prepared an analysis dataset from all survey meshes to analyze the temporal change in the air dose rate. The selected meshes included data from all survey types (airborne, fixed point, backpack, and carborne) obtained through the all-time survey campaigns. Results and Discussion: The characteristics of each survey's results were then evaluated using this dataset, as they depended on the measurement object. The dataset analysis revealed that, for example, the results of the carborne survey were smaller than those of the other surveys because the field of view of the carborne survey was limited to paved roads. The location factor of different land uses was also evaluated considering the characteristics of the four survey methods. Nine years after the FDNPP accident, the location factor ranged from 0.26 to 0.49, while the half-life of the air dose rate ranged from 1.2 to 1.6. Conclusion: We found that the decreasing trend in the air dose rate of the FDNPP accident was similar to the results obtained after the Chernobyl accident. These parameters will be useful for the prediction of the future exposure dose at the post-accident.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.144-148
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• 2023

Aircraft battery is the core equipment of an aircraft that supplies engine starting power and emergency power, and it must be charged to ensure sufficient capacity at all times and maintain high reliability to ensure stable power supply. The battery of the T-50 series aircraft is designed to enable the engine to start up to two times in temperatures as low as -18℃ and above. However, intermittent failures in engine starting have been observed during winter. In this paper, we analyze the failure phenomena occurring during low-temperature charging of the battery and improve the charging algorithm based on the analysis and test. Additionally, the results of start simulation tests show that the battery charging defects at low temperatures are resolved, and an improvement in the charging performance is confirmed; thus, validating the effectiveness of the new algorithm.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.75-86
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• 2024

Hydrogen has been selected as one of the key technologies for reducing CO₂ emissions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. However, hydrogen safety issues should be fully guaranteed before the commercial and widespread utilization of hydrogen. Here, a bow-tie risk assessment is conducted for the hydrogen fuel supply system in a gas turbine power plant, which can be a mass consumption application of hydrogen. The bow-tie program is utilized for a qualitative risk assessment, allowing the analysis of the causes and consequences according to the stages of accidents. This study proposed an advanced bow-tie method, which includes the barrier criticality matrix and visualized maps of quantitative risk reduction. It is based on evaluating the importance of numerous barriers for the extent of their impact. In addition, it emphasizes the prioritization and concentrated management of high-importance barriers. The radar chart of a bow tie allows the visual comparison of risk levels before/after the application of barriers (safety measures). The risk reduction methods are semi-quantitatively analyzed utilizing the criticality matrix and radar chart, and risk factors from multiple aspects are derived. For establishing a secure hydrogen fuel storage system, the improvements suggested by the bow-tie risk assessment results, such as 'Ergonomic equipment design to prevent human error' and 'Emergency shutdown system,' will enhance the safety level. It attempts to contribute to the development and enhancement of an efficient safety management system by suggesting a method of calculating the importance of barriers based on the bow-tie risk assessment.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.55-61
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• 2022

Currently police and fire departments use a Network/Wifi/GPS based emergency location positioning system established by mobile carriers to directly link with the device of the people who request the rescue to accurately position the expected location in the call area. However in the case of mountain rescue it is difficult to rescue the victim in golden time because the location of the search area cannot be limited when the victim is located in a radio shadow area of the mountain or the device power is off and this situation become worse if victim fail to report 911 by himself due to the injury. In this paper, we are expected to solve the previous problem by propose the mobile telecommunication forensic simulator consist of time series of cell information, human mobility model which include some general and specific features (age, gender, behavioral characteristics of victim, etc.) and intelligent infer system. The results of analysis appear in heatmap of polygons on the map based on the probability of the expected location information of the victim. With this technology we are expected to contribute to rapid and accurate lifesaving by reducing the search area of rescue team.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.10
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• pp.2619-2627
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• 2009

The ground fault is occupying 70% among the total number of faults in ungrounded distribution power system. When the ground fault occurs in ungrounded system, the fault current is so small that it is hard to detect. But fault handling is very important because to continue power supply during fault conditions may cause the fault spreading and the distribution device in trouble. This paper presents the fault line detection method by using GPT signal detecting zero sequence voltage, and the fault section detection method by detecting whether GPT signal is disappeared or not during shifting normally open switch, which is connecting switch between distribution lines with open state in order to restore the outage area under emergency situation, and during isolating each section one by one which belongs to the fault line. This method is efficient because there is no whole power interruption during the fault section detection, and it is possible to perform both the fault section detection and the service restoration for the outage area at the same time, and it can apply to various distribution system configuration. Program for the fault restoration was developed applying proposed method, and it has been validated by applying to the pilot project of distribution automation system in Vietnam which has the ungrounded distribution system.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.411-417
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• 2014

Special Protection Scheme(SPS) for generator tripping action is an emergency control tool that secures the power system stability by instantly tripping the pre-determined number of generators to avoid the acceleration of the remaining generators in a large-scaled power plants when a fault occurs on the drawing transmission lines. However, since the existing operating conditions of SPS are set based on a peak demand, SPS could trip more generators than required if it is activated during the off-peak demand period. For this, this paper proposes the algorithm for setting the operating conditions of SPS through the online stability evaluation with the periodically updated operating conditions of power systems. The proposed algorithm adopts COA for the accuracy and speed of the stability evaluation, and can reduce the number of tripping generators by SPS during the off-peak demand period. This results in reducing the loss of profit caused by a fault on power systems.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.662-669
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• 2018

Recently, the installation of submarine power cables is under consideration due to the increase of electric power usage and the development of the offshore wind farm in island areas, including Jeju. In order to protect power cables installed on the seabed, it is necessary to calculate the burial depth based on the characteristics of anchoring, dragging and fishing, etc. However, there is no design standard related to the size of target ships to protect the cables in Korea. In this study, we analyzed the design standards for the protection of domestic submarine pipelines similar to submarine cables, and developed the risk matrix based on the classification by emergency anchoring considering the installation environment, then designed the size of target ships according to the cumulative function scale by ship size sailing through the sea concerned. Also, we linked marine accident conditions, such as anchoring, dragging, etc. and the environmental conditions such as current, sea-area depth of installation etc. to the criteria of the protection of submarine cable, and examined the size of specific target ships by dividing the operating environment of ships into harbor, coastal and short sea. To confirm the adequacy and availability of the size of target ships, we verified this result by applying to No. 3 submarine power cables, which is to be installed in the section from Wando to Jeju Island. This result is expected to influence in the development of a protection system for submarine cables and pipelines as well as the selection of anchor weight according to the determination of burial depth.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.122-133
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• 2022

The aim of this study was to investigating whether lncRNA H19 promotes myocardial fibrosis by suppressing the miR-29a-3p/miR-29b-3p-VEGFA/TGF-β axis. Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and healthy volunteers were included in the study, and their biochemical parameters were collected. In addition, pcDNA3.1-H19, si-H19, and miR-29a/b-3p mimic/inhibitor were transfected into cardiac fibroblasts (CFs), and proliferation of CFs was detected by MTT assay. Expression of H19 and miR-29a/b-3p were detected using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen I, collagen II, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), and elastin were measured by western blot analysis. The dual luciferase reporter gene assay was carried out to detect the sponging relationship between H19 and miR-29a/b-3p in CFs. Compared with healthy volunteers, the level of plasma H19 was significantly elevated in patients with AF, while miR-29a-3p and miR-29b-3p were markedly depressed (P < 0.05). Serum expression of lncRNA H19 was negatively correlated with the expression of miR-29a-3p and miR-29b-3p among patients with AF (r_s = -0.337, r_s = -0.236). Moreover, up-regulation of H19 expression and down-regulation of miR-29a/b-3p expression facilitated proliferation and synthesis of extracellular matrix (ECM)-related proteins. SB431542 and si-VEGFA are able to reverse the promotion of miR-29a/b-3p on proliferation of CFs and ECM-related protein synthesis. The findings of the present study suggest that H19 promoted CF proliferation and collagen synthesis by suppressing the miR-29a-3p/miR-29b-3p-VEGFA/TGF-β axis, and provide support for a potential new direction for the treatment of AF.