• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.243-251
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• 1992

소형 냉각재 상실사고시 루프밀봉 형성 및 제거에 대하여 LSTF에서 수행된 실험 SB-CL-18의 결과를 RELAP5/MOD2와 /MOD3를 이용하여 예측하였다. 본 연구는 증기발생기 상향 및 하향 유동에서의 비대칭 냉각재수용에 따른 마노메트릭 유동에 의해 노심노출의 조기발생을 야기시키는 열수력학적 현상을 예측하기 위하여 수행되었다. RELAP5/MOD2를 이용한 해석결과는 루프밀봉 형성 및 제거를 포함하여 감압사고시의 주요 현상을 전반적으로 잘 예측하고 있으나 기초 계산외 결과를 볼 때 현상 및 시간적 순서에 관련하여 몇 가지의 차이가 있었다. RELAP5/MOD3는 RELAP5/MOD2보다 전반적인 현상, 특히 증기발생기 액체수용을 보다 잘 예측하고 있으며, 또 한 RELAP5/MOD3를 이용하여 증기발생기 U자관과 펌프 흡입관의 nodalization수를 늘린 경우는 루프 밀봉제거현상과 시간적 순서를 잘 예측할 수 있었다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권1호
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• pp.54-70
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• 2017

The accumulator is a passive safety injection device for emergency core cooling systems. As an important safety feature for providing a high-speed injection flow to the core by compressed nitrogen gas pressure during a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), the accumulator injects its precharged nitrogen into the system after its coolant has been emptied. Attention has been drawn to the possible negative effects caused by such a nitrogen injection in passive safety nuclear power plants. Although some experimental work on the nitrogen injection has been done, there have been no comparative tests in which the effects on the system responses and the core safety have been clearly assessed. In this study, a new thermal hydraulic integral test facility-the advanced core-cooling mechanism experiment (ACME)-was designed and constructed to support the CAP1400 safety review. The ACME test facility was used to study the nitrogen injection effects on the system responses to the small break loss-of-coolant accident LOCA (SBLOCA) transient. Two comparison test groups-a 2-inch cold leg break and a double-ended direct-vessel-injection (DEDVI) line break-were conducted. Each group consists of a nitrogen injection test and a nitrogen isolation comparison test with the same break conditions. To assess the nitrogen injection effects, the experimental data that are representative of the system responses and the core safety were compared and analyzed. The results of the comparison show that the effects of nitrogen injection on system responses and core safety are significantly different between the 2-inch and DEDVI breaks. The mechanisms of the different effects on the transient were also investigated. The amount of nitrogen injected, along with its heat absorption, was likewise evaluated in order to assess its effect on the system depressurization process. The results of the comparison and analyses in this study are important for recognizing and understanding the potential negative effects on the passive core cooling performance caused by nitrogen injection during the SBLOCA transient.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.63-77
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• 1994

이 연구는 가압경수로의 원자로 다운커머내에서 과도냉각시 직접용기주입에 따른 유체혼합현상을 가압열충격의 견지에서 시험모델을 사용하여 조사한 것이다. 시험모델은 ABB-CE System80＋ 원자로 구조에 근거하여 설계되었다. 이 원자로에 대한 가능성 있는 가압열충격 사고로서 콜드레그 소형파단 냉각재 상실사고와 주중기관 판단 사고가 선정되었다. 시험은 두 부분으로 구성되는데 첫째 부분은 원자로 다운커머에서 직접용기 주입수와 기존냉각재간의 유체혼합을 가시화법에 의하여 시험한 것이고, 둘째 부분은 별도의 시험모델에서 직접용기주입에 따른 열적혼합을 시험한 것이다. 가시화 시험에서는 과도적 냉각기간중 직접용기 주입수와 1차 냉각재간의 물리적 상호작용이 밝혀졌다. 열적혼합시험에서는 소형파단 냉각재 상실사고시 직접용기주입에 의한 심한 냉각현상이 다운커머내서 관찰되었다. 측정된 온도곡선은 소형파단 냉각재 상실사고에 대하여 REMIX 로드, 증기관 파단사고에 대하여는 COM-MIX-1B 코드에 의한 계산과 비교되었다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제41권6호
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• pp.775-784
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• 2009

This paper summarizes the tests performed in the ATLAS facility during its first two years of operation (2007${\sim}$2008). Two categories of tests have been performed successfully: (a) the reflood phase of the large-break loss-of-coolant accidents in a cold leg, and (b) the breaks in one of four direct vessel injection lines. Those tests contributed to understanding the unique thermal-hydraulic behavior, resolving the safety-related concerns and providing an evaluation of the safety analysis codes and methodology for the advanced pressurized water reactor, APR1400. Several important and interesting phenomena have been observed during the tests. In most cases, the ATLAS shows reasonable accident characteristics and conservative results compared with those predicted by one-dimensional safety analysis codes. A wide variety of small-break LOCA tests will be performed in 2009.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.13-19
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• 2008

In order to predict a remaining life of a plant, it is necessary to select the components that are critical to the plant life. The remaining life of those components shall be evaluated by considering the aging effect of materials used as well as numerous factors. However, when evaluating reliability of nuclear structural components, some problems are quite formidable because of lack of information such as operating history, material property change and uncertainty in damage models. Accordingly, if structural integrity and safety are evaluated by the deterministic fracture mechanics approach, it is expected that the results obtained are too conservative to perform a rational evaluation of plant life. The probabilistic fracture mechanics approaches are regarded as appropriate methods to rationally evaluate the plant life since they can consider various uncertainties such as sizes and shapes of cracks and degradation of material strength due to the aging effects. The objective of this study is to evaluate the structural integrity for a reactor pressure vessel under the small break loss of coolant accident by applying the deterministic and probabilistic fracture mechanics. The deterministic fracture mechanics analysis was performed using the three dimensional finite element model. The probabilistic integrity analysis was based on the Monte Carlo simulation. The selected random variables are the neutron fluence on the vessel inside surface, the content of copper, nickel, and phosphorus in the reactor pressure vessel material, and initial RTNDT.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제45권5호
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• pp.573-580
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• 2013

The combined effects of reactivity coefficients, along with other core nuclear characteristics, determine reactor core behavior in normal operation and accident conditions. The Power Coefficient of Reactivity (PCR) is an aggregate indicator representing the change in reactor core reactivity per unit change in reactor power. It is an integral quantity which captures the contributions of the fuel temperature, coolant void, and coolant temperature reactivity feedbacks. All nuclear reactor designs provide a balance between their inherent nuclear characteristics and the engineered reactivity control features, to ensure that changes in reactivity under all operating conditions are maintained within a safe range. The $CANDU^{(R)}$ reactor design takes advantage of its inherent nuclear characteristics, namely a small magnitude of reactivity coefficients, minimal excess reactivity, and very long prompt neutron lifetime, to mitigate the demand on the engineered systems for controlling reactivity and responding to accidents. In particular, CANDU reactors have always taken advantage of the small value of the PCR associated with their design characteristics, such that the overall design and safety characteristics of the reactor are not sensitive to the value of the PCR. For other reactor design concepts a PCR which is both large and negative is an important aspect in the design of their engineered systems for controlling reactivity. It will be demonstrated that during Loss of Regulation Control (LORC) and Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LBLOCA) events, the impact of variations in power coefficient, including a hypothesized larger than estimated PCR, has no safety-significance for CANDU reactor design. Since the CANDU 6 PCR is small, variations in the range of values for PCR on the performance or safety of the reactor are not significant.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권6호
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• pp.2002-2010
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• 2024

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has operated an integral effect test facility, the Advanced Thermal-Hydraulic Test Loop for Accident Simulation (ATLAS), with reference to the APR1400 (Advanced Power Reactor 1400) for tests for transient and design basis accidents simulation. A test for a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) at the top of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) had been conducted at ATLAS to address the impact of the loss of safety injections (LSI) and to evaluate accident management (AM) actions during the postulated accident. The experimental data has been utilized to validate system analysis codes within a framework of the domestic standard problem program organized by KAERI in collaboration with Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety. In this study, the test has been analyzed by using thermal-hydraulic system analysis codes, MARS-KS 1.5 and TRACE 5.0 Patch 6, and a comparative analysis with experimental and calculation results has been performed. The main objective of this study is the investigation of the thermal-hydraulic phenomena during a small break LOCA at the RPV upper head with the LSI as well as the predictability of the system analysis codes after the AM actions during the test. The results from both codes reveal that overall physical behaviors during the accident are predicted by the codes, appropriately, including the excursion of the peak cladding temperature because of the LSI. It is also confirmed that the core integrity is maintained with the proposed AM action. Considering the break location, a sensitivity analysis for the nodalization of the upper head has been conducted. The sensitivity analysis indicates that the nodalization gave a significant impact on the analysis result. The result emphasizes the importance of the nodalization which should be performed with a consideration of the physical phenomena occurs during the transient.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권2호
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• pp.402-409
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• 2019

When a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) occurs in a nuclear power plant, accident scenarios which can prevent core damage are defined based on break size. Current probabilistic safety assessment evaluates that core damage can be prevented under small-break LOCA (SBLOCA) and steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) with rapid cool down (RCD) strategy when all safety injection systems are unavailable. However, previous research has pointed out a limitation of RCD in terms of initiation time. Therefore, RCD success criteria estimation based on allowable coping time under a SBLOCA or SGTR when all safety injection systems are unavailable was performed based on time-line and thermal-hydraulic analyses. The time line analysis assumed a single emergency operating procedure flow, and the thermal hydraulic analysis utilized MARS-KS code with variables of break size, cooling rate, and operator allowable time. Results show while RCD is possible under SGTR, it is impossible under SBLOCA at the APR1400's current cooling rate limitation of 55 K/hr. A success criteria map for RCD under SBLOCA is suggested without cooling rate limitation.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.29-38
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• 2001

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the structural integrity of a reactor pressure vessel subjected to the pressurized thermal shock(PTS) during the transient events, such as main steam line break(MSLB) and small break loss of coolant accident(SBLOCA). For postulated surface or subsurface cracks, variation curves of stress intensity factor are obtained by using the three different methods, including ASME section XI code anlysis, the finite element alternating method and the finite element method. From the stress intensity factor curves, the maximum allowable nil-ductility transition temperatures(RT/NDT/) are determined by the tangent criterion and the maximum criterion for various crack configurations and two initial transient events. As a result of the analysis, it is noted that axial cracks have smaller maximum allowable RT$_{NDT}$ values than same-sized circumferential cracks for both the transient events in the case of the tangent criterion. Axial cracks have smaller RT$_{NDT}$ values than same-sized circumferential cracks for MSLB and circumferential cracks have smaller values than axial cracks for SBLOCA in the case of the maximum criterion.

• 대한인간공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한인간공학회 1993년도 추계학술대회논문집
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• pp.21-30
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• 1993

This paper describes the development of a simulation model of nuclear power plant operators including cognitive aspects by using a network modeling soft ware, Micro-SAINT (System Analysis of Integrated Networks of Tasks) for the analysis of operator performance. Network model description based on Micro-SAINT includes tasks, resources, precedence relations among tasks, flow of information and PSFs (Performance Shaping Factors) on task performance. We have tried to evaluate the performance with several performance measures such as the number of tasks allocated, relative time presure among operators within a shift, for the selected test accident scenarior; small-break LOCA (Loss of Coolant Accident) in a PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) type nuclear power plant.