• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.26-39
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• 1998

The containment pressure and temperature transient analysis computer code CONTEMPT4/MOD5 is modified to incorporate the passive containment cooling models. The correlations are selected from the existing experimental heat transfer correlations to model the natural and mixed convection in annular space between the containment shell and the shield building. The evaporative heat transfer of the water film on the outer shell of the containment is modeled using the correlations derived from the analogy between the heat and mass transfer. The modified code is applied to the Ap600 containment transient analysis for the model verification and the results are compared to the results of GOTHIC calculation done by Westinghouse. Also, d series of parametric sensitivity studies of heat transfer correlations, water film ratio and delay time of the wet cooling on the containment peak pressure and temperature following LOCA are performed for the containment of 1000MWe passive plant, KP1000.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.291-298
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• 2003

The KN-12 transport cask has been designed to transport 12 PWR spent nuclear fuel assemblies and to comply with the regulatory requirements for a Type B(U) package. The containment boundary of the cask is defined by a cask body, a cask lid, lid bolts with nuts, O-ring seals and a bolted closure lid. The containment vessel for the cask consists of a forged thick-walled carbon steel cylindrical body with an integrally-welded carbon steel bottom and is closed by a lid made of stainless steel, which is fastened to the cask body by lid bolts with nuts and sealed by double elastomer O-rings. In the cask lid an opening is closed by a plug with an O-ring seal and covered by the bolted closure lid sealed with an O-ring. The cask must maintain a radioactivity release rate of not more than the regulatory limit for normal transport conditions and for hypothetical accident conditions, as required by the related regulations. The containment requirements of the cask are satisfied by maintaining a maximum air reference leak rate of $2.7{\times}10^{-4}ref.cm^3s^{-1}$ or a helium leak rate of $3.3{\times}10^{-4}cm^3s^{-1}$ for normal transport conditions and for hypothetical accident conditions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.11
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• pp.4159-4169
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• 2022

Hydrogen mitigation using Passive Autocatalytic Recombiners (PARs) has been widely accepted methodology inside reactor containment of accident struck Nuclear Power Plants. They reduce hydrogen concentration inside reactor containment by recombining it with oxygen from containment air on catalyst surfaces at ambient temperatures. Exothermic heat of reaction drives the product steam upwards, establishing natural convection around PAR, thus invoking homogenisation inside containment. CFD models resolving individual catalyst plate channels of PAR provide good insight about temperature and hydrogen recombination. But very thin catalyst plates compared to large dimensions of the enclosures involved result in intensive calculations. Hence, empirical correlations specific to PARs being modelled are often used in integral containment studies. In this work, an experimentally validated CFD model of PAR has been employed for developing an empirical correlation for Indian PAR. For this purpose, detailed parametric study involving different gas mixture variables at PAR inlet has been performed. For each case, respective values of gas mixture variables at recombiner outlet have been tabulated. The obtained data matrix has then been processed using regression analysis to obtain a set of correlations between inlet and outlet variables. The empirical correlation thus developed, can be easily plugged into commercially available CFD software.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1513-1525
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• 2024

An improved mitigation system for thermally-induced steam generator tube rupture accidents was introduced to prevent direct environmental release of fission products bypassing the containment in the OPR1000. This involves injecting bypassed steam into the containment, cooling, and decontaminating it using a water coolant tank. To evaluate its performance, a severe accident analysis was performed using the MELCOR 2.2 code for OPR1000. Simulation results show that the proposed system sufficiently prevented the release of radioactive nuclides (RNs) into the environment via containment injection. The pool scrubbing system effectively decontaminated the injected RN and consequently reduced the aerosol mass in the containment atmosphere. However, the decay heat of the collected RNs causes re-vaporization. To restrict the re-vaporization, an external water source was considered, where the decontamination performance was significantly improved, and the RNs were effectively isolated. However, due to the continuous evaporation of the feed water caused by decay heat, a substantial amount of steam is released into the containment. Despite the slight pressurization inside the containment by the injected and evaporated steam, the steam decreased the hydrogen mole fraction, thereby reducing the possibility of ignition.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2004.11c
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• pp.635-637
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• 2004

The containment of the nuclear power plant is the last barrier of radiation release when the reactor coolant pipe rupture is occurred. Each plant has to be tested every 5 years whether the containment leak rate meets its technical specifications. We have developed the leak rate test system and in this paper, we describe the results of the uncertainty analysis on the measurement channels and its propagation to the calculation results.

• Journal of KIBIM
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2016

This paper provides a method for generating flight path of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that is intended to be used in visual inspection of dome-type nuclear containment building. The method basically employs 3-D model to extract accurate location coordinates. Two basic route patterns that provide guide lines in defining moving locations were defined for each side wall and dome section of the containment. The route patterns support sequential capturing of images as well. In addition, several simple equations and an algorithm for calculation of the moving location on the route were developed on the basis of 3-D geometric characteristics of the containment building. A prototype computer program has been implemented to validate the proposed method, and a case study shows the method can visualize covering area in 3-D model as well.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.268-273
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• 2016

An innovative safety concept for a light water reactor has been developed at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. It is a unique concept that adopts both a fast heat transfer mechanism for a small containment and a changing mechanism of the cooling geometry to take advantage of the potential, thermal, and dynamic energies of the cold water in the containment. It can bring about rapid cooling of the containment and long-term cooling of the decay heat. By virtue of this innovative concept, nuclear fuel damage events can be prevented. The ultimate heat transfer mechanism contributes to minimization of the heat exchanger size and containment volume. A small containment can ensure the underground construction, which can use river or seawater as an ultimate heat sink. The changing mechanism of the cooling geometry simplifies several safety systems and unifies diverse functions. Simplicity of the present safety system does not require any operator actions during events or accidents. Therefore, the unique safety concept of PX can realize both economic competitiveness and inherent safety.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.989-998
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• 2023

Under nuclear reactor severe accidents, the resuspension of radioactive aerosol may occur in the containment due to the disturbing airflow generated by hydrogen combustion, hydrogen explosion and containment depressurization resulting in the increase of radioactive source term in the containment. In this paper, for containment conditions, by considering the contact between particle and rough deposition surface, the distribution of the distance between two contact points of particle and deposition surface, rolling and lifting separation mechanism, resuspension model based on random contact with rough surface (RRCR) is established. Subsequently, the detailed torque and force analysis is carried out, which indicates that particles are more easily resuspended by rolling under low disturbing airflow velocity. The simulation result is compared with the experimental result and the prediction of different simulation methods, the RRCR model shows equivalent and better predictive ability, which can be applicable for simulation of aerosol resuspension in containment during severe accident.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.2069-2087
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• 2023

In nuclear power plant (NPP) accidents, the containment is subject to high temperatures and high internal pressures, which may further trigger serious chain accidents such as core meltdown and hydrogen explosion, resulting in a significantly higher accident level. Therefore, studying the mechanical performance of a containment under high temperature and high internal pressure is relevant to the safety of NPPs. Based on similarity principles, the 1:3.2 scale model of a prestressed concrete containment vessel (PCCV) of a NPP was designed. The loading method, which considers the thermal-pressure coupling conditions, was used. The mechanical response of the PCCV was investigated with a simultaneous increase in internal pressure and temperature, and the failure mechanism of the PCCV under thermal-pressure coupling conditions was revealed.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.245-255
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• 2013

According to natural frequency of soil, characteristics of earthquake responses of an isolated containment building in nuclear power plants are examined. For this, earthquake response analysis of seismically isolated containment buildings in nuclear power plants is carried out by strictly considering soil-structure interactions. The structure and near-field soil are modeled by the finite element method while far-field soil by consistent transmitting boundary. The equation of motion of a soil-structure interaction system under incident seismic wave is derived. The derived equations of motion are solved to carry out earthquake analysis of a seismically isolated soil-structure system. Generally, the results of this analysis show that seismic isolation significantly reduces the responses of the soil-structure system. However, if the natural frequency of the soil is similar to that of the soil-structure system, the responses of the containment buildings in nuclear power plants rather increases due to interactions in the system.