• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.197-204
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• 1994

In a PWR rod cluster control assembly(RCCA) for shutdown is released upon action of control rod drive mechanism and falls down through the guide thimble by its weight. Drop time and impact velocity of the RCCA are two key parameters with respect to reactivity insertion time and the mechanical integrity of fuel assembly. Therefore, the precise control of drop time and impact velocity is prerequisite to modifying the existing design features of the RCCA and guide thimble or newly designing them. During its falling down into the core, the RCCA is retarded by various forces acting on it such as fluid resistance caused by the RCCA movement, buoyance and mechanical friction caused by contacting inner surface of the guide thimble, etc. However, complicated coupling of the various forces makes it difficult to derive an analytical dynamic equation for the drop time and impact velocity. This paper deals with the development of a computer program containing an analytical dynamic equation applicable to the Korean Fuel Assembly(KOFA). The computer program is benchmarked with an available single control rod drop tests. Since the predicted values are in good agreement with the test results, the computer program developed in this paper can be employed to modify the exiting design features of the RCCA and guide thimble and to develope their new design features for advanced nuclear reactors.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.256-260
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• 2014

Columnar-structured cesium iodide (CsI) scintillators doped with thallium (Tl) are frequently used as x-ray converters in medical and industrial imaging. In this study we investigated the imaging characteristics of CsI:Tl films with various reflective layers-aluminum (Al), chromium (Cr), and titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) powder-coated on glass substrates. We used two effusion-cell sources in a thermal evaporator system to fabricate CsI:Tl films on substrates. The scintillators were observed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and scintillation characteristics were evaluated on the basis of the emission spectrum, light output, light response to x-ray dose, modulation transfer function (MTF), and x-ray images. Compared to control films without a reflective layer, CsI:Tl films with reflective layers showed better sensitivity and light collection efficiency, and the film with a $TiO_2$ reflective layer showed the best properties.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.1463-1471
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• 2017

In order to monitor the pipe thinning caused by flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) that occurs in coolant piping systems, a shear horizontal ultrasonic pitch-catch waveguide technique was developed for accurate pipe wall thickness monitoring. A clamping device for dry coupling contact between the end of the waveguide and pipe surface was designed and fabricated. A computer program for multi-channel on-line monitoring of the pipe thickness at high temperature was also developed. Both a four-channel buffer rod pulse-echo type and a shear horizontal ultrasonic waveguide type for high-temperature thickness monitoring system were successfully installed to the test section of the FAC proof test facility. The overall measurement error can be estimated as ${\pm}10{\mu}m$ during a cycle from room temperature to $200^{\circ}C$.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.355-364
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• 2009

Circular plates with holes are extensively used in mechanical components. The existence of a hole in a circular plate results in a significant change in the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the structure. Especially if the hole is located eccentrically, the vibration behavior of these structures is expected to deviate significantly from that of a plate with a concentric hole. In addition, if the plate is in contact with or submerged in fluid, the situation is more complex. Therefore, in this study, an analytical method to determine the modal characteristics of a plate submerged in fluid is developed based on the finite Fourier-Bessel series expansion and Rayleigh-Ritz method and is verified by the finite element analysis using a commercial program. Also, the relationship between parameter variations and vibration modes is investigated. These results can be used as guidance for the modal analysis and damage detection of a circular plate with a hole.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1998 no.11
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• pp.257-258
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• 1998

To reveal the interconnected brain regions involved in human working memory, their functional connectivity was analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). rCBF PET scans were peformed on 5 normal volunteers during the verbal and visual working memory tasks and PCA was applied. PCA produced the first principal components related with the increase of the difficulty and the second one which demonstrate the dissociation of verbal and visual memory system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.05d
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• pp.283-288
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• 1996

Core support barrel (CSB) assembly is one of the most important reactor internals structures supporting and protecting the nuclear core during normal operation and faulted events. For Yonggwang 3 and 4 (YGN 3&4), the adequacy of the analytical response prediction of reactor internals for flow induced vibration was demonstrated through the comprehensive vibration assessment program (CVAP) performed during hot functional test. Besides, the vibration characteristics of the CSB of operating nuclear power plant can be examined via the excore neutron noise monitoring signal. In this paper data from YGN 4 analyses, CVAP, and neutron noise monitoring system are compared and evaluated. In general, the results are comparable each other and conservative enough to ensure sufficient design margin and structural integrity. Further investigations on the modelling and analyses procedure are recommended to utilize the experimental results to the maximum extent. And collection of the neutron noise data is desired to serve as a baseline information.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.433-443
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• 1997

In this work, an analytic approach to the dependability of software in the operational phase is suggested with special attention to the hardware fault effects on the software behavior : The hardware faults considered are memory faults and the dependability measure in question is the reliability. The model is based on the simple reliability theory and the graph theory which represents the software with graph composed of nodes and arcs. Through proper transformation, the graph can be reduced to a simple two-node graph and the software reliability is derived from this graph. Using this model, we predict the reliability of an application software in the digital system (ILS) in the nuclear power plant and show the sensitivity of the software reliability to the major physical parameters which affect the software failure in the normal operation phase. We also found that the effects of the hardware faults on the software failure should be considered for predicting the software dependability accurately in operation phase, especially for the software which is executed frequently. This modeling method is particularly attractive for the medium size programs such as the microprocessor-based nuclear safety logic program.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.28-36
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• 1993

Much effort is being done to standardize the PWR-type nuclear power plant in Korea. This paper presents the development of seismic design criteria for the reactor internals as a part of the standardization program for nuclear power plant. The seismic design loads of the reactor internals are calculated using the reference input motions of reactor vessel taken from Yong-gwang Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4. An overview of analysis related to the basic parameters and methodologies is presented. Also, the response of internal components for the reactor vessel motions is carefully investigated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.239-250
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• 2008

If there is a water flow with a range of temperature inside a pipe, the wanner water tends to float on top of the cooler water because it is lighter, resulting in the upper portion of the pipe being hotter than the lower portion. Under these conditions, such thermal stratification can play an important role in the aging of nuclear power plant piping because of the stress caused by the temperature difference and the cyclic temperature changes. This stress can limit the lifetime of the piping, even leading to penetrating cracks. Investigated in this study is the effect of thermal stratification on the structural integrity of the pressurizer surge line, which is reported to be one of the pipes most severely affected. Finite element models of the surge line are developed using several element types available in a general purpose structural analysis program and stress analyses are performed to determine the response characteristics for the various types of top-to-bottom temperature differentials due to thermal stratification. Fatigue analyses are also performed and an allowable environmental correction factor is suggested.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.784-791
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• 2019

In the present study, a series of tungsten austenitic stainless steel alloys have been developed by interchanging the molybdenum in standard SS316 by tungsten. This was done to minimize the long-life residual activation occurred in molybdenum and nickel after decommissioning of the power plant. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the prepared alloys are determined. For the sake of increasing multifunction property of such series of tungsten-based austenitic stainless steel alloys, gamma shielding properties were studied experimentally by means of NaI(Tl) detector and theoretically calculated by using the XCOM program. Moreover, fast neutrons macroscopic removal cross-section been calculated. The obtained combined mechanical, structural and shielding properties indicated that the modified austenitic stainless steel sample containing 1.79% tungsten and 0.64% molybdenum has preferable properties among all other investigated samples in comparison with the standard SS316. These properties nominate this new composition in several nuclear application domains such as, nuclear shielding domain.