• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.1959-1974
• /
• 2024

Nuclear energy plays a crucial role in energy supply in the 21st century, and more and more Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) will be in operation to contribute to the development of human society. However, as a typical complex system engineering, the operation and development of NPPs require efficient and stable control methods to ensure the safety and efficiency of nuclear power generation. Reinforcement learning (RL) aims at learning optimal control policies via maximizing discounted long-term rewards. The reward-oriented learning paradigm has witnessed remarkable success in many complex systems, such as wind power systems, electric power systems, coal fire power plants, robotics, etc. In this work, we try to present a systematic review of the applications of RL on these complex systems, from which we believe NPPs can borrow experience and insights. We then conduct a block-by-block investigation on the application scenarios of specific tasks in NPPs and carried out algorithmic research for different situations such as power startup, collaborative control, and emergency handling. Moreover, we discuss the possibilities of further application of RL methods on NPPs and detail the challenges when applying RL methods on NPPs. We hope this work can boost the realization of intelligent NPPs, and contribute to more and more research on how to better integrate RL algorithms into NPPs.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.169-178
• /
• 2009

An equation for calculating confining reinforcement amount of RC bridge columns, specified in the current bridge design codes, has been made to provide additional load-carrying strength for concentrically loaded columns. The additional load-carrying strength will be equal to or slightly greater than the resistant strength of a column against axial load, which is lost because the cover concrete spalls off. The equation considers concrete compressive strength, yield strength of transverse reinforcement, and the section area ratio as major variables. Among those variables, the section area ratio between the gross section and the core section, varying by cover thickness, is a variable which considers the strength in the compression-controlled region. Therefore, the cross section ratio does not have a large effect in the aspect of ductile behavior of the tension-controlled region, which is governed by bending moment rather than axial force. However, the equation of the design codes for calculating confining reinforcement amount does not directly consider ductile behavior, which is an important factor for the seismic behavior of bridge columns. Consequently, if the size of section is relatively small or if the section area ratio becomes excessively large due to the cover thickness increased for durability, too large an amount of confining reinforcement will be required possibly deteriorating the constructability and economy. Against this backdrop, in this study, comparison and analysis were performed to understand how the cover thickness influences the equation for calculating the amount of confining reinforcement. An equation for calculating the amount of confining reinforcement was also modified for reasonable seismic design and the safety. In addition, appropriateness of the modified equation was examined based on the results of various test results performed at home and abroad.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.172-178
• /
• 2021

In the ship repair market, interest in maintenance and repair is steadily increasing due to the reinforcement of prevention of environmental pollution caused by ships and the reinforcement of safety standards for ship structures. By reflecting this effect, the number of requests for repairs by foreign shipping companies increases to repair shipbuilders in the Southwest Sea. However, because most of the repair shipbuilders in the southwestern area are small and medium-sized companies, it is difficult to lead to the integrated synergy effect of the repair shipbuilding companies. Moreover, the infrastructure is not integrated; hence, using the infrastructure jointly is a challenge, which acts as an obstacle to the activation of the repair shipbuilding industry. Floating docks are indispensable to operating the repair shipbuilding business; in addition, most of them are operated through renovation/repair after importing aging caisson docks from overseas. However, their service life is more than 30 years; additionally, there is no structure inspection standard. Therefore, it is vulnerable to the safety field. In this study, the finite element analysis program of ANSYS was used to evaluate the structural safety of the modified caisson dock and obtain additional structural reinforcement schemes to solve the derived problems. For the floating docks, there are classification regulations; however, concerning structural strength, the regulations are insufficient, and the applicability is inferior. These insufficient evaluation areas were supplemented through a detailed structural FE-analysis. The reinforcement plan was decided by reinforcing the pontoon deck and reinforcement of the side tank, considering the characteristics of the repair shipyard condition. The final plan was selected to reinforce the side wing tank through the structural analysis of the decision; in addition, the actual structure was fabricated to reflect the reinforcement plan. Our results can be used as reference data for improving the structural strength of similar facilities; we believe that the optimal solution can be found quickly if this method is used during renovation/repair.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.131-140
• /
• 2023

This paper proposes an algorithm for the Unrelated Parallel Machine Scheduling Problem(UPMSP) without setup times, aiming to minimize total tardiness. As an NP-hard problem, the UPMSP is hard to get an optimal solution. Consequently, practical scenarios are solved by relying on operator's experiences or simple heuristic approaches. The proposed algorithm has adapted two methods: a policy network method, based on Transformer to compute the correlation between individual jobs and machines, and another method to train the network with a reinforcement learning algorithm based on the REINFORCE with Baseline algorithm. The proposed algorithm was evaluated on randomly generated problems and the results were compared with those obtained using CPLEX, as well as three scheduling algorithms. This paper confirms that the proposed algorithm outperforms the comparison algorithms, as evidenced by the test results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.10
• /
• pp.3631-3640
• /
• 2022

Uranium mill tailing ponds (UMTPs) are risk source of debris flow and a critical source of environmental U and Rn pollution. The technology of microbial induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) has been extensively studied on reinforcement of UMTs, while little attention has been paid to the effects of MICP on U & Rn release, especially when incorporation of metakaolin and bacillus subtilis (MBS). In this study, the reinforcement and U & Rn immobilization role of MBS -MICP solidification in different grouting cycle for uranium mill tailings (UMTs) was comprehensively investigated. The results showed that under the action of about 166.7 g/L metakaolin and ~50% bacillus subtilis, the solidification cycle of MICP was shortened by 50%, the solidified bodies became brittle, and the axial stress increased by up to 7.9%, and U immobilization rates and Rn exhalation rates decrease by 12.6% and 0.8%, respectively. Therefore, the incorporation of MBS can enhance the triaxial compressive strength and improve the immobilization capacity of U and Rn of the UMTs bodies solidified during MICP, due to the reduction of pore volume and surface area, the formation of more crystals general gypsum and gismondine, as well as the enhancing of coprecipitation and encapsulation capacity.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.275-286
• /
• 2004

It is studied to select the reinforcement method of an abandoned tunnel which are intersected under the new roadway line. In the various decision makings, the reasonability for the reinforcement method of an abandoned tunnel was estimated using the pair-wise comparison and the fuzzy approximate reasoning to simplify the process of survey research. And there is reflected all the qualitative and quantitative characterizations by investigation items. In order to select the reinforcement method of an abandoned tunnel, 4 characteristic factors of construction, economical efficiency, safety and maintenance were used. Using the simple survey research and pair-wise comparison matrix, the weight of 4 factors was decided. The fuzzy approximate reasoning was used to calculate the quantitative value of each factor And then reflecting each weight to these results, the final reinforcement method of an abandoned tunnel could be determined.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
• /
• 1992.04a
• /
• pp.131-136
• /
• 1992

Eight singly reinforced high strength concrete beams without web reinforcement were tested to investigate their behavior and to determine their ultimate shear capacities. In this study, the main variable was the ration of longitudinal reinforcement. Test results were compared with strength predicted by using ACI code, Zsutty's dquation and Bazant & Kim's equation. As the result, for the beams of low steel ratio, the margin of safety in ACI code may be disappeared. It was shown that Zsutty.s equation well predict the trend of the test data.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.321-332
• /
• 2021

Though development of reinforced earth wall is on the rise recently, safety verification for various methods remains behind which has caused the problems including collapse after installation. This study aims to evaluate the field applicability of the shape of flexible strip reinforcement according to pullout resistance test and field damage test. The test specimens were 3 shape of reinforcement, the typical flexible band reinforcement, developed luged band reinforcement, and band type reinforcement made by cutting geogrid. It was found that reinforcement of type have strengths and weaknesses, respectively. The best type of flexible strip reinforcements can be selected, if the conditions are considered with the installation conditions of the reinforcing earth retaining wall and the particle size of the backfill materials.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.53 no.2
• /
• pp.27-33
• /
• 2011

This study is a preliminary investigation into the development of a construction method that will protect a reservoir even during over flows caused by severe flooding. Through hydraulic modeling tests, the destructive phenomena caused by spillway-junction scour during reservoir overflow were modeled, and the effects on the embankment during such an overflow and the spillway-junction movements are discussed. The reservoir destruction model used the Tanbu reservoir, located in Gangwondo Chuncheon-si Namsanmyeon (H＝22 m, L＝115 m), as the model reservoir and created an embankment with a 1/60 ratio. We review the spillway-junction safety factor during overflow and embankment movement following reinforcement measures for three different cases: no reinforcement, cemented sand and gravel (CSG) reinforcement and water-blocking sheet reinforcement. The results of this study confirmed that when the spillway-junction is exposed to soil, it is very vulnerable to overflow and that a water-blocking sheet or CSG reinforcement are very effective measures in preventing embankment destruction in the long-term period.

• Journal of Korean Society of societal Security
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.67-72
• /
• 2008

To confirm the stability of a cut slope in the road extension construction site, several investigations were carried out and countermeasures of slope was studied. This paper describes a study of design case of extra reinforcement on existing cut slope reinforced by preloading and piles in roads. To investigate the effect of stabilizing piles installed in a cut slope, an instrumentation system also designed, was. As a result that the stabilizing file and earth anchor are considered as the extra reinforcement, both stabilizing pile and earth anchor guarantee the stability of cut slope. However, stabilizing pile is selected in aspects of economy and continuity to the existing cut slop reinforcement including counterweight fill and stabilizing piles.