• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.29 no.6A
• /
• pp.577-585
• /
• 2009

A 9-node degenerated shell finite element(FE), which has been developed for assessment of ultimate pressure capacity and nonlinear analysis for nuclear containment building is described in this paper. Reissner-Midnlin(RM) assumptions are adopted to develop the shell FE so that transverse shear deformation effects is considered. Material model for concrete prior to cracking is constructed based on the equivalent stress-equivalent strain relationship. Tension stiffening model, shear transfer mechanism and compressive strength reduction model are used to model the material behavior of concrete after cracking. Niwa and Aoyagi-Yamada failure criteria have been adapted to find initial cracking point in compression-tension and tension-tension region, respectively. Finally, the performance of the developed program is tested and demonstrated with several examples. From the numerical tests, the present results show a good agreement with experimental data or other numerical results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.7
• /
• pp.2534-2544
• /
• 2024

This paper proposes a flooding safety system (FSS) and its operation strategy that can provide long-term safety and effective maintenance for modules of small modular reactor (SMR) and metal containment maintained at dried environment during normal operation. During hypothesized accidents, the FSS re-collects the evaporated steam into the common pool by the condenser installed above the common water pool and provides an emergency coolant for the cavities and auxiliary pools. This study suggested that the condensate re-collection strategy using the FSS can effectively delay the depletion of available water in response to the accidents. Without recollection, the achievable grace periods ranged from 44 to 1507 days for six-module and one-module accidents, respectively. However, with a full re-collection (ratio = 1.0), the time to total depletion of emergency coolant was estimated indefinite. Even with a partial re-collection ratio of 0.3, a grace period of 83.5 days could be ensured for a six-module transient. This study reported the effectiveness of condensate re-collection and the FSS as an innovative safety management strategy and system. Employing a condensate re-collection strategy with a high re-collection ratio can enhance the long-term safety and effective convenience of SMR operations and maintenance.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.523-533
• /
• 2015

A reactor containment acts as a final barrier to prevent leakage of radioactive material due to the possible reactor accidents into external environment. Because of the functional importance of the containment building, the SIT(Structural Integrity Test) for containments shall be performed to evaluate the structural acceptability and demonstrate the quality of construction. An initial numerical analysis was performed to simulate the results obtained from the SIT for a prestressed concrete(PSC) structure. But the analysis results by the initial model expected smaller displacements than the measured ones by 30% at some locations. Accordingly, the research and development to improve the initial model to corelate the measured results of the SIT more properly have been performed. In this paper, the effects of the loss of concrete due to duct for tendons and the contact of duct and tendons in un-bonded tendon system are mainly evaluated based on the preliminary analysis results. In addition, the importances of the proper definition of mesh connectivity among structural elements of concrete, liner plates, rebars and tendons are discussed.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.653-660
• /
• 2015

Technologies for reducing construction duration are key factors in nuclear power plant construction projects, as a reduction in construction duration at the construction phase leads to a reduction in construction cost and an increase in profits through the early operation of the nuclear power plant. To analyze the constructability of the height of single-layer placement of formwork for the Reactor Containment Building (RCB) exterior wall through lateral pressure according to the height of concrete placement, the deformation criteria for formwork, and a new form design, 'MIDAS GEN (hereinafter referred to as MIDAS)' is used in this study. The cost and workload of formwork are derived according to the unit of height of the RCB exterior wall. Based on the result, it was found that the higher the RCB exterior wall, the higher the material cost, and the less the construction duration and the less the total number of formwork layers. Based on this result, it is believed that the material cost and the construction duration can be appropriately determined according to the formwork height.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.65-84
• /
• 2013

This paper introduces a systems engineering approach to reliability centered maintenance to address some of the weaknesses. Reliability centered maintenance is a systematic, disciplined process that produces an efficient equipment management strategy to reduce the probability of failure [1]. The study identifies the need for RCM, requirements analysis, design for RCM implementation. Value modeling is used to evaluate the value measures of RCM. The system boundary for the study has been selected as containment spray pump and its motor drive. Failure Mode and Criticality Effects analysis is applied to evaluate the failure modes while the logic tree diagram used to determine the optimum maintenance strategy. It is concluded that condition based maintenance tasks should be enhanced to reduce component degradation and thus improve reliability and availability of the component. It is recommended to apply time directed tasks to age related failures and failure finding tasks to hidden failures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.58-74
• /
• 1998

A PC window-based computer code, CONPAS (CONtainment Performance Analysis System), has been developed to integrate the numerical, graphical, and results-operation aspects of Level 2 probabilistic safety assessments (PSA) for nuclear power plants automatically. As a main logic for accident progression analysis, it employs a concept of the small containment phenomenological event tree (CPET) helpful to trace out visually individual accident progressions and of the detailed supporting event tree (DSET) for its detailed quantification. For the integrated analysis of Level 2 PSA, the code utilizes five distinct, but closely related modules. Its computational feasibility to real PSAs has been assessed through an application to the UCN 3&4 full scope Level 2 PSA. Compared with other existing computer codes for Level 2 PSA, the CONPAS code provides several advanced features: (1) systematic uncertainty analysis / importance analysis / sensitivity analysis, (2) table / graphical display & print, (3) employment of the recent Level 2 PSA technologies, and (4) highly effective user interface. The main purpose of this paper is to introduce the key features of CONPAS code and results of its feasibility study.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.336-347
• /
• 1997

During postulated severe accidents in Light water Reactors, molten corium which was ejected from the reactor vessel bottom, may erode the concrete basemat of the containment and there by threaten the containment integrity. This study experimentally examines the molten core-concrete interaction (MCC) using 20kg of thermite melt (Fe + $Al_2$O$_3$) and the concrete, used in Yonggwang Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4 (YGN 3 & 4) in Korea. The measured data are the downward heat fluxes, concrete erosion rate, gases and particle generation rates during MCCI. Transient results ore compared with those of TURCIT experiment conducted by SNL in USA. The peak downward heat flux to the concrete was measured to be about 2.1㎿/$m^2$. The initial concrete erosion rate was 175cm per hour, decreasing to 30cm per hour. It was shown from the post-test that the erosion was progressed downward up to 18mm in the concrete slug.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.505-517
• /
• 2016

The structural integrity of a dual-purpose metal cask currently under development by the Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) was evaluated, through numerical simulations and a model test, under high-speed missile impact reflecting targeted aircraft crash conditions. The impact conditions were carefully chosen through a survey on accident cases and recommendations from literature. In the impact scenario, a missile flying horizontally hits the top side of the cask, which is freestanding on a concrete pad, with a velocity of 150 m/s. A simplified missile simulating a commercial aircraft engine was designed from an impact loade-time function available in literature. In the analyses, the dynamic behavior of the metal cask and the integrity of the containment boundary were assessed. The simulation results were compared with the test results for a 1:3 scale model. Although the dynamic behavior of the cask in the model test did not match exactly with the prediction from the numerical simulation, other structural responses, such as the acceleration and strain history during the impact, showed very good agreement. Moreover, the containment function of the cask survived the missile impact as expected from the numerical simulation. Thus, the procedure and methodology adopted in the structural numerical analyses were successfully validated.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.587-595
• /
• 2018

Countries that have been banned from building nuclear plants are becoming more tolerant in response to global warming and climate change. Thus, the construction of future nuclear plants will increase, and the competition will also intensify. A nuclear power plant has a long construction period compared with conventional construction projects. In order to gain a competitive advantage in nuclear power plant construction, the construction period must be decreased. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop an exterior wall form for a reactor containment building to reduce the construction time by increasing the height of the form. The structural safety, constructability, and economic feasibility were analyzed to assess the applicability of the proposed form. The proposed form was determined to be structurally safe. Furthermore, the construction period was shortened by reducing the duration of the construction units, and the total construction cost and interest were also reduced. Therefore, the proposed form could contribute to reducing the construction period for nuclear power plants.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.187-201
• /
• 2002

The KN-12 cask is designed to transport 12 PWR spent nuclear fuels and to comply with the requirements of Korea Atomic Energy Act, IAEA Safety Standards Series No.57-1 and US 10 CFR Part 71 for a Type B(U)F package. It provides containment, radiation shielding, structural integrity, criticality control and heat removal for normal transport and hypothetical accident conditions. W.H 14$\times$14, 16$\times$16 and 17$\times$17 fuel assemblies with maximum allowable initial enrichment of 5.0 wt.%, maximum average burn-up of 50,000 MWD/MTU and minimum cooling time of 7 years being used in Korea will be loaded and subsequently transported under dry and wet conditions. A forged cylindrical cask body which constitutes the containment vessel is closed by a cask lid. Polyethylene rods for neutron shielding are arranged in two rows of longitudinal bore holes in the cask body wall. A fuel basket to accommodate up to 12 PWR fuel assemblies provides support of the fuels, control of criticality and a path to dissipate heat. Impact limiters to absorb the impact energy under the hypothetical accident conditions are attacked at the top and at the bottom side of the cask during transport. Handling weight loaded with water is 74.8 tons and transport weight loaded with water with the impact limiters is 84.3 tons. The cask will be licensed in accordance with Korea Atomic Energy Act 3nd fabricated in Korea in accordance with ASME B&PV Code Section 111, Division 3.