[en] The effect of alloying elements on the creep resistance of Zr alloys was investigated using thermal creep tests that were performed as a part of advanced fuel cladding development. The creep tests were conducted at 400 degs. C and 150 MPa for 240 hrs.. A statistical model was derived from the relationship between the steady-state creep rate and the content of individual alloying elements. The creep shortening effect decreased in the following sequence : Nb, Sn, Mn, Cr, Mo, Fe and Cu. The high creep resistance of Sn and the opposite effect of Fe on Zirconium alloys seem to be associated with their lowering and enhancing, respectively, the self-diffusivity of the zirconium matrix. (author)

[en] The national long-term R and D program, updated in 1977, requires Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) to complete by the year 2006 the basic design of Korea Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor (KALIMER), along with supporting R and D work, with the capability of resolving the issue of spent fuel storage as well as with significantly enhanced safety. KALIMER is a 150 Mwe pool-type sodium cooled prototype reactor that uses metallic fuel. The conceptual design is currently under way to establish a self-consistent design meeting a set of major safety design requirements for accident prevention. Some of the current emphasis includes those for inherent and passive means of negative reactivity insertion and decay heat removal, high shutdown reliability, prevention of and protection from sodium chemical reaction, and high seismic margin, among others. All of these requirements affect the reactor design significantly and involve extensive supporting R and D programs. This paper summarizes some of the results of conceptual engineering and design analyses performed for the safety of KALIMER in the area of inherent safety, passive decay heat removal, sodium water reaction, and seismic isolation. (author)

[en] A mechanistic model based on wall-attached bubble coalescence, previously developed by the authors, was extended to predict a very high heat flux (CHF) in highly subcooled flow boiling, especially for high mass flux and small tube diameter conditions. In order to take into account the enhanced condensation due to high subcooling and high mass velocity in small diameter tubes, a mechanistic approach was adopted to evaluate the non-equilibrium flow quality and void fraction in the subcooled water flow boiling, with preserving the structure of the previous CHF model. Comparison of the model predictions against highly subcooled water CHF data showed relatively good agreement over a wide range of parameters. The significance of the proposed CHF model lines in its generality in applying over the entire subcooled flow boiling regime including the operating conditions of fission and fusion reactors. (author)

[en] Numerical results are presented for the 2-dimensional turbulent transient heat transfer of the shell/tube heat exchanger with a step change of the inlet temperature in the primary side. Heat transfer boundary conditions outside the pipe are given partially by the convection heat transfer conditions and partially by insulated conditions. Calculation results were obtained by solving the unsteady two-dimensional elliptic forms for the Reynolds-averaged governing equations for the mass, momentum and energy. Finite-difference method was used to obtain discretization equations and the SIMPLER solution algorithm was employed for the calculation procedure. Turbulent model used is the algebraic model proposed by Cebeci-Smith. Results presented include the time variant Nusselt number distribution, average temperature distribution and outlet temperatures for the various inlet temperatures and flow rate. (author)

[en] A Simple Large Model (SLM), which can be used to make thermal calculation for a deep geological repository finite number of HLW canisters, was developed. In order to develop the SLM, a Simple Basic Model (SBM), which will be a unit of the SLM, was optimized first. The SBM was optimized to achieve the same maximum buffer temperature as that of the Detailed Basic Model (DBM) representing the real geometric aspects of the repository. In contrast to the models with the assumption of infinite number of canisters which cannot consider boundary effect, the SLM can model the real repository with finite number of canisters and thus consider the boundary effect. Thermal results from the SLM can be used to evaluate the reliability of the models, which do not consider boundary effect. This model can also be used to simulate the thermal layout design and to analyze the thermal safety of a deep geological repository as well as an underground laboratory. (author)

[en] The local heat transfer coefficient is experimentally investigated for the reflux condensation in a countercurrent flow between the steam-air mixture and the condensate. A single vertical tube has a geometry which is a length of 2.4 m, inner diameter of 16.56 mm and outer diameter of 19.05 mm and is made of stainless steel. Air is used as a noncondensable gas. The secondary side has a shape of annulus around vertical tube and the lost heat by primary condensation is transferred to the coolant water. The local temperatures are measured at 11 locations in the vertical direction and each location has 3 measurement points in the radial direction, which are installed at the tube center, at the outer wall and at the coolant side. In three different pressures, the 27 sets of data are obtained in the range of inlet steam flow rate 1.348∼3.282 kg/hr, of inlet air mass fraction 11.8∼55.0 percent. The investigation of the flooding is preceded to find the upper limit of the reflux condensation. Onset of flooding is lower than that of Wallis' correlation. The local heat transfer coefficient increases as the increase of inlet steam flow rate and decreases as the increase of inlet air mass fraction. As an increase of the system pressure, the active condensing region is contracted and the heat transfer capability in this region is magnified. The empirical correlation is developed by 165 data of the local heat transfer. As a result, the Jacob number and film Reynolds number are dominant parameters to govern the local heat transfer coefficient. The rms error is 17.7 percent between the results by the experiment and by the correlation. (author)

[en] Many studies for the perforated plates have been done, especially on the subject of static behavior and stress distribution in the plate. Equivalent elastic properties are one of the successive concepts for this problem. However, little effort was taken to get their dynamic characteristics. In this paper finite element modal analysis was performed for the perforated plates having square and triangular hole patterns. An attempt to use existing equivalent elastic properties into the modal analysis of the plate was carried out. To verify feasibility of the finite element models, modal test was also performed on one typical perforated plate. System parameters such as natural frequencies and mode shapes were extracted and compared with the analysis results. (author)

[en] RELAP5/Mod3.1 code was assessed with the semiscale experiment S-NC-3, and S-NC-4, which simulated the two-phase natural circulation and reflux condensation for the SBLOCA of PWR, respectively. Test S-NC-3 and S-NC-4 calculation results showed that RELAP5/Mod3.1 quite well describes the influence of steam generator secondary side heat transfer degradation on both two-phase natural circulation and reflux condensation. A comparison between the calculated and measured two-phase mass flow rate in test S-NC-3 shows good agreement for primary mass inventory more than 92 percent. And RELAP5/Mod3.1 have a good mass flow rate prediction capability for the transient such as S-NC-4 except some flow oscillations. The reflux flow rate for S-NC-4 test is under predicted, and the overall results verify that the correct prediction of the reduced liquid level appears to be required for the correct calculation of the overall phenomena. (author)

[en] A computer code COSMOS has been developed based on the CARO-D5 for the thermal analysis of LWR UO₂ and MOX fuel rod under steady-state and transient operating conditions. The main purpose of the COSMOS, which considers high burnup characteristics such as thermal conductivity degradation with burnup and rim formation at the outer part of fuel pellet, is to calculate temperature profile across fuel pellet and fission gas release up to high burnup. A new mechanistic fission gas release model developed based on physical processes has been incorporated into the code. In addition, the features of MOX fuel such as change in thermo-mechanical properties and the effect of microscopic heterogeneity on fission gas release have been also taken into account so that it can be applied to MOX fuel. Another important feature of the COSMOS is that it can analyze fuel segment refabricated from base irradiated fuel rods in commercial reactors. This feature makes it possible to analyze database obtained from international projects such as the HALDEN an RISO, many of which were collected from refabricated fuel segments. The capacity of the COSMOS has been tested with some number of experimental results obtained from the HALDEN, RISO and FIGARO programs. Comparison with the measured data indicates that, although the COSMOS gives reasonable agreement, the current models need to be improved. This work is being performed using database available from the OECD/NEA. (author)

[en] In contrast with conventional fieldbus researches which are focused merely on real-time performance, this study aims to evaluate the real-time performance of the communication system including fault-tolerant mechanisms. Maintaining performance in presence of recoverable faults is very important in case that the communication network is applied to a highly reliable system such as next generation Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). If the time characteristics meet the requirements of the system, the faults will be recovered by fieldbus recovery mechanisms and the system will be safe. If the time characteristics can not meet the requirements, the faults in the fieldbus can propagate to the system failure. In this study, for the purpose of investigating the time characteristics of fieldbus, the recoverable faults are classified and then the formulas that represent delays including recovery mechanisms are developed. In order to validate the proposed approach, we have developed a simulation model that represents the Korea Next Generation Reactor (KNGR) NSSS Process Control System (NPCS). The results of the simulation show us the reasonable delay characteristics of the fault cases with recovery mechanisms. Using the simulation results and the system requirements, we also can calculate the failure propagation probability from fieldbus to outer system. (author)