• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.105-112
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• 2006

The main function of a reactor protection system is to maintain the reactor core integrity and the reactor coolant system pressure boundary. Generally, the reactor protection system adopts the 2-out-of-m redundant architecture to assure a reliable operation. This paper describes the safety assessment of a digital reactor protection system using the fault tree analysis technique. The fault tree technique can be expressed in terms of combinations of the basic event failures such as the random hardware failures, common cause failures, operator errors, and the fault tolerance mechanisms implemented in the reactor protection system. In this paper, a prediction method of the hardware failure rate is suggested for a digital reactor protection system, and applied to the reactor protection system being developed in Korea to identify design weak points from a safety point of view.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.240-252
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• 2015

In the original licensing application for the prototype fast-breeder reactor, MONJU, the event progression during an unprotected loss of flow (ULOF), which is one of the technically inconceivable events postulated beyond design basis, was evaluated. Through this evaluation, it was confirmed that radiological consequences could be suitably limited even if mechanical energy was released. Following the Fukushima-Daiichi accident, a new nuclear safety regulation has become effective in Japan. The conformity of MONJU to this new regulation should hence be investigated. The objectives of the present study are to conduct a preliminary evaluation of ULOF for MONJU, reflecting the knowledge obtained after the original licensing application through CABRI experiments and EAGLE projects, and to gain the prospect of in-vessel retention for the conformity of MONJU to the new regulation. The preliminary evaluation in the present study showed that no significant mechanical energy release would take place, and that thermal failure of the reactor vessel could be avoided by the stable cooling of disrupted-core materials. This result suggests that the prospect of in-vessel retention against ULOF, which lies within the bounds of the original licensing evaluation and conforms to the new nuclear safety regulation, will be gained.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권10호
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• pp.3595-3603
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• 2022

Nuclear safety-class DCS is used for nuclear reactor protection function, which is one of the key facilities to ensure nuclear power plant safety, the maintenance for DCS to keep system in a high reliability is significant. In this paper, Nuclear safety-class DCS system developed by the Nuclear Power Institute of China is investigated, the model of reliability estimation considering nuclear power plant emergency trip control process is carried out using Markov transfer process. According to the System-Subgroup-Module hierarchical iteration calculation, the evolution curve of failure probability is established, and the preventive maintenance optimization strategy is constructed combining reliability numerical calculation and periodic overhaul interval of nuclear power plant, which could provide a quantitative basis for the maintenance decision of DCS system.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제23권6호
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• pp.91-99
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• 2008

The identification of thermal hazards associated with a process such as heats of reaction and understanding of thermodynamics before any large scale operations are undertaken. The evaluation of thermal behavior with operating conditions such as a reaction temperature, stirrer speed and reactants concentration in neutralization process of pigment plant are described. The experiments were performed by a sort of calorimetry with multimax reactor system The aim of the study was to evaluate the results of heat of reaction in terms of safety reliability to be practical applications. It suggested that we be proposed safe operating conditions and securities for accident prevention on reactor explosion through this study.

• 산업공학
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.68-77
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• 2010

Digital reactor protection system which consists of many identical modules, is fault- tolerant to provide high safety. The modules themselves including DSP(digital signal processing) card are also fault-tolerant in nature. This paper assesses the safety for being-designed digital reactor protection system of 2-out-of-4 G structure with lockout. Some interesting design alternatives are compared. Fault tree analysis for assessing system safety is performed by Relex software. The selected reactor protection system fully satisfies EPRIURD stipulation of mean failure time of 50 years.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권4호
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• pp.764-775
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• 2020

Periodic safety reviews (PSRs) are conducted on operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) and have been mandated also for research reactors in Korea, in response to the Fukushima accident. One safety review tool, the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), aims to identify weaknesses in the design and operation of the research reactor, and to evaluate and compare possible safety improvements. However, the PSA for research reactors is difficult due to scarce data availability. An important element in the analysis of research reactors is the reactor protection system (RPS), with its functionality and importance. In this view, we consider that of the AGN-201K, a zero-power reactor without forced decay heat removal systems, to demonstrate a risk-informed safety improvement study. By incorporating risk- and safety-significance importance measures, and sensitivity and uncertainty analyses, the proposed method identifies critical components in the RPS reliability model, systematically proposes potential safety improvements and ranks them to assist in the decision-making process.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권2호
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• pp.498-508
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• 2021

Micro reactors are increasingly being considered for utilization as distributed power sources. Hence, the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) of a direct supercritical-CO₂-cooled fast reactor, called micro modular reactor (MMR), was performed in this study; this reactor was developed using innovative design concepts. It adopted a modular design and passive safety systems to minimize site constraints. As the MMR is in its conceptual design phase, design weaknesses and valuable safety insights could be identified during PSA. Level 1 internal event PSA was carried out involving literature survey, system characterization, identification of initiating events, transient analyses, development of event trees and fault trees, and quantification. The initiating events and scenarios significantly contributing to core damage frequency (CDF) were determined to identify design weaknesses in MMR. The most significant initiating event category contributing to CDF was the transients with the power conversion system initially available category, owing to its relatively high occurrence frequency. Further, an importance analysis revealed that the safety of MMR can be significantly improved by improving the reliability of reactor trip and passive decay heat removal system operation. The findings presented in this paper are expected to contribute toward future applications of PSA for assessing unconventional nuclear reactors in their conceptual design phases.

• International Journal of Safety
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.53-58
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• 2004

SMART-P is a promising advanced small and medium category nuclear power reactor. It is an integral type reactor with a sensible mixture of new innovative design features and proven technologies aimed at achieving a highly enhanced safety and improved economics. The enhancement of the safety and reliability is realized by incorporating inherent safety improving features and reliable passive safety systems. The improvement in the economics is achieved through a system simplification, and component modularization. Preliminary safety analyses on selected limiting accidents confirm that the inherent safety improving design characteristics and the safety system of SMART-P ensure the reactor's safety. SMART-P is an advanced integral pressurized water reactor. The purpose of this study is for the safety analysis of the steam generator module pipe break for the SMART-P. The integrity of the fuel rod is the major criteria of this analysis. As a result of this analysis, the safety of the RCS and the secondary system is guaranteed against the module pipe break of a steam generator of the SMART-P.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권12호
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• pp.4329-4334
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• 2023

In this research, a prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) system is designed and constructed based on the use of a low power research reactor. For this purpose, despite the fact that this reactor did not include beam tubes, a thermal neutron beam line is installed inside the reactor tank. The extraction of the beam line from inside the tank made it possible to provide the neutron flux from the order of 106 n.cm^-2.s^-1. Also, because the beam line is installed in a tangential position to the reactor core, its gamma level has been minimized. Also, a suitable radiation shield is considered for the detector to minimize the background radiation and prevent radiation damage to the detector. Calculations and measurements are done in order to characterize this system, as well as spectrometry of several samples. The results of evaluations and experiments show that this system is suitable for performing PGNAA.

• 대한전기학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한전기학회 2005년도 심포지엄 논문집 정보 및 제어부문
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• pp.81-83
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• 2005

The Reactor Protection System (RPS) is a very important system in a nuclear power plant because the system shuts down the reactor to maintain the reactor core integrity and the reactor coolant system pressure boundary if the plant conditions approach the specified safety limits. This paper describes the unavailability assessment of a digital reactor protection system using the fault tree analysis technique. The fault tree technique can be expressed in terms of combinations of the basic event failures. In this paper, a prediction method of the hardware failure rate is suggested for a digital reactor protection system. and applied to the reactor protection system being developed in Korea.