• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.259-274
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• 2023

In this paper, mechanical properties of periodic foundation made of concrete and rubber are investigated by a parametric study using the finite element method (FEM). Periodic foundation is a special type of seismic isolation foundation used in civil engineering, which is inspired by the meso-scale structure of phononic crystals in solid-state physics. This type of foundation is capable of reducing the seismic wave propagating though the foundation, therefore providing additional protection for the structures. In the FEM analysis, layered periodic foundation is frequently modelled due to its simplicity in numerical modeling. However, the isolation effect of periodic foundation on nuclear power plant has not been fully discussed to the best knowledge of authors. In this work, we construct four numerical models of nuclear power plant with different foundations to investigate the seismic isolation effects of periodic foundations. The results show that the layered periodic foundation can increase the natural period of the nuclear power plant like traditional base isolation systems, which is beneficial to the structures. In addition, the seismic response of the nuclear power plant can also be effectively reduced in both vertical and horizontal directions when the frequencies of the incident waves fall into some specific frequency bandgaps of the periodic foundation. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the layered periodic foundation can reduce the amplitude of the floor response spectrum, which plays an important role in the protection of the equipment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.278-280
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• 2013

To minimize construction quantity of nuclear facility, it is required to reduce reinforcing bar amount and solve reinforcing bar concentration and for this, it is necessary to develop application design technology and modular of high strength reinforcing bar. Hence, KHNP reduces excessive reinforcing bar amount which can cause possibility of poor construction of concrete through design standard development and modular of nuclear facility structure using high strength reinforcing bar to raise economics and has its purpose to maintain high-level safety and durability as they are.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.99-104
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• 2011

A Structure Health Monitoring (SHM) system needs a real-time remote data acquisition system to monitor the status of a structure from anywhere via Internet access. In this paper, we present a data acquisition system that monitors up to 40 Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors remotely in real-time. Using a TCP/IP protocol, users can access information gathered by the sensors from anywhere. An experiment in laboratory conditions has been done to prove the feasibility of our proposed system, which is built in special-purpose monitoring system.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.5A
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• pp.277-287
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• 2012

The shear wall with openings built with reinforced concrete (RC) have been elaborately studied by many researchers, whereas the steel plate concrete (SC) wall structure has not been investigated as much. The recent SC wall structures developed in Korea have been partly applied to nuclear power plant structures, although its design specification or guideline for the SC wall structure with openings has not been completed yet. This study based on numerical analysis evaluates the effects of opening on the structural resistance of the SC structure in nuclear power plant. As a result from nonlinear analysis, since the strengthening for openings significantly affect the overall strength of SC wall, the openings should be considered to strengthen them around adjacent area. It is also proved that the strengthened openings have the sufficient resistance and ductility regardless their size, shape, location, and quantity.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 1993

A method to verify seismic qualification of the plant protection system cabinet for a nuclear power plant is presented. A finite element model of the cabinet is developed and the dynamic characteristics are obtained. The results of the modal analysis provide insight into the fundamental dynamic properties of the structure, which correspond to the frequency of the peak values of the input seismic spectrum. It necessitates the design modification of the reference cabinet. Techniques for verifying structural integrity and operability are exemplified by summarizing response spectrum and time history analyses of the structure.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.349-356
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• 2022

Nuclear power plant decommissioning generates significant concrete waste, which is slightly contaminated, and expected to be classified as clearance concrete waste. Clearance concrete waste is generally crushed into rubble at the site or a satellite treatment facility for practical disposal purposes. During the process, workers are exposed to radiation from the nuclides in concrete waste. The treatment processes consist of concrete cutting/crushing, transportation, and loading/unloading. Workers' radiation exposure during the process was systematically studied. A shielding package comprising a cylindrical and hexahedron structure was considered to reduce workers' radiation exposure, and improved the treatment process's efficiency. The shielding package's effect on workers' radiation exposure during the cutting and crushing process was also studied. The calculated annual radiation exposure of concrete treatment workers was below 1 mSv, which is the annual radiation exposure limit for members of the public. It was also found that workers involved in cutting and crushing were exposed the most.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.3956-3972
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• 2023

The floor response spectrum (FRS) is used to evaluate the seismic demand of equipment installed in nuclear power plants. In the conventional design practice of NPP structure, the FRS is simplified using the lumped-mass stick model (LMSM), assuming the floor slab as a rigid diaphragm. In the present study, to study the variation of seismic response in a floor, the FRSs at different locations were generated by 3-D finite element model, and the response was compared to that of the rigid diaphragm model. The result showed that the FRS significantly varied due to the large opening in a floor, which was not captured by the rigid diaphragm model. Based on the result, seismic fragility analysis was performed for the anchorage of a heat exchanger, to investigate the effect of location-dependent FRS disparity on the high confidence low probability of failure (HCLPF).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.817-824
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• 2012

The most important component of a nuclear power plant is its nuclear reactor. Studies on the integrity of reactors have become an important part regarding the safety of a nuclear power plant. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulatory Guide (NRC RG) 1.20 presents a Comprehensive Vibration Assessment Program (CVAP) to be used to verify the structural integrity of the Reactor Vessel Internals (RVI) for flow-induced vibration prior to commercial operation. However, there are few published studies related to the RVI CVAP. We classified the Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400) RVI CVAP as a non-prototype category-2 reactor as part of an independent validation of its design. The aim of this paper is to present the results of structural response analyses of the Upper Guide Structure (UGS) assembly of the APR1400 reactor. These results show that the UGS and the Inner Barrel Assembly (IBA) meet the specified integrity levels of the design acceptance criteria. The vibration and stress analysis results in this paper will be used as basic information to select measurement locations of the vibration and stress for the APR1400 RVI CVAP.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.519-526
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• 2003

In this paper, a Fiber Bragg Grating (FRG) sensor system is described and FBGs are well-suited for long term and extremely severe experiments, where traditional strain gauges fail. In the system, a reflect wave-length measurement method which employs a tunable light source to find out the center wave-length of FBG sensor is used. We apply the FBG system to nuclear energy Power Plant for structural integrity test to measure the displacement of the structure under designed pressure and to check the elasticity of the structure by measuring the residual strain. The system works very well and it is expected that it can be used for a real-time strain. temperature and vibration detector of smart structure.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.77-86
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• 2014

Objective: The purpose of this study is to grasp the fundamental structure of incident occurrence in nuclear organizations based on system thinking, and analyze how various causes are interrelated in terms of the causal loop diagram. Background: The recent domestic and overseas nuclear power plant-related incidents and accidents are directly or indirectly associated with safety culture, and thus effective plans for the improvement of safety culture are being called for. While the safety of a nuclear power plant is highly dependent upon technology and equipment, the utilization, maintenance and inspection of the technology and equipment are conducted by workers of the nuclear power plant. Method: Methodology of system thinking perspective using causal loop analysis. Results: As a result of the analysis, first, it turned out that the fundamental cause of incident occurrence in nuclear organizations is time constraint. Second, if a workload of workers increases, their adherence to regulations and procedures comes to be reduced due to time constraint. Third, it is needed, through organizational learning education, to increase actions made from thoughts considering safety as the utmost priority in advance. Fourth, it is necessary to improve professionalism by enhancing educational programs for new workers, and to develop various scenarios with which they can cope with certain situations. Application: This paper provides a base for system dynamics simulation model for future study.