신뢰성 있는 토양의 이산요소모델을 개발하기 위해서는 토양의 특성을 고려하여 매개변수를 교정해야 한다. 본 연구에서는 이산요소모델을 구성하는 각 매개변수가 토양 입자의 거동에 미치는 영향을 분석하였고, 분석된 결과를 이용하여 토양의 이산요소모델을 개발하였다. 민감도 분석의 대상이 되는 매개변수는 전단 계수, 마찰 계수, 표면 에너지 등으로 선정하였으며, 교정의 기준이 되는 토양의 특성은 가비중, 안식각, 점착력 및 내부마찰각으로 선정하였다. 또한, 토성이 서로 다른 해안가, 논 및 밭을 구성하는 토양을 대상으로 연구를 수행하여 다양한 토성에 대한 적용성을 확인하였다. 결과적으로 본 연구에서 수행한 민감도 분석 결과를 이용하여 각 토양의 거동을 모사할 수 있는 이산요소모델을 교정하였으며, 시험 결과와의 비교를 통해 교정된 이산요소모델을 검증하였다.

In the present study, an innovative electrochemical sensing platform was established for sensitive detection of NO2 —. This sensor was developed using CoFe alloy encapsulated in nitrogen-doped carbon nanocubes (named as CoFe@NC-NCS), synthesized through the calcination of polydopamine-coated CoFe Prussian-blue analogues (CoFe-PBA@PDA). The morphological and electrochemical characterization reveals that the CoFe@NC-NCS possesses high electrocatalytic activity for electrochemical quantitation of NO2 —, ascribed to the huge surface area and plentiful active positions, benefiting from the porous, hollow, and core–shell structure of CoFe@NC-NCS. Under the optimal conditions, CoFe@NC-NCS/GCE possessed remarkable sensing performance for NO2 — with wide liner ranges and a detection limit of 0.015 μM. NO2 — recovery experiments in real samples exhibited recoveries in the range of 98.8–103.5%. Hence, the CoFe@NC-NCS shows great promise for the construction of electrochemical sensor with more potential application.

Bellows expansion joints enhance the displacement performance of piping systems owing to their unique geometrical features. However, structural uncertainties such as wall thinning in convolutions, a byproduct of the manufacturing process, can impair their structural integrity. This study addresses such issues by conducting a global sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of these uncertainties on the performance of bellows expansion joints under monotonic loading. Global sensitivity analysis, which examines main and nth order interaction effects, is computationally expensive. To mitigate this, we employed a surrogate model-based approach using an artificial neural network. This model demonstrated robust prediction capabilities, as evidenced by metrics such as the coefficient of determination. The sensitivity indices of the main effect for the 2-ply and 3-ply bellows at the sixth convolution were 0.3340 and 0.3233, respectively. The sensitivity index of the sixth convolution was larger than that of other convolutions because the maximum deformation of the bellows expansion joint under monotonic bending load occurs around it. Interestingly, the sensitivity index for the interaction effect was negligible (0.01%) compared to the main effect, suggesting minimal activity between uncertainty factors across convolutions. Notably, bellows expansion joints under repetitive loading exhibit more complex behaviors, with the initial leakage typically occurring at the convolution. Therefore, future studies should focus on the structural uncertainties of bellows expansion joints under cyclic loading and employ a surrogate model for comprehensive global sensitivity analysis.

To achieve permanent disposal of radioactive waste drums, the radionuclides analysis process is essential. A variety of waste types are generated through the operation of nuclear facilities, with dry active waste (DAW) being the most abundant. To perform radionuclides analysis, sample pretreatment technology is required to transform solid samples into solutions. In this study, we developed a dry ashing-microwave digestion method and secured the reliability of the analysis results through a validity evaluation. Additionally, we conducted a comparative analysis of the radioactivity of 94Nb nuclides with and without the chemical separation process, which reduced the minimum detectable activity (MDA) level by more than 65-fold for a certain sample.

The decommissioning of nuclear power plants will generate a lot of low and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LILW), and preliminary radioactive evaluation for these wastes should be carried out before decommissioning work. Mainly, Concrete, Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel-304 (SS304) and Inconel are used in many parts of nuclear power plants and considered as main resource of nuclear wastes. Depending on the material location, the number of neutrons irradiated to material varies, which can range from self-disposal waste to LILW. In this paper, activation analysis was performed to compare the radiation dose according to the presence or absence of impurity elements present in SS304. For the calculation, SS304 composition and impurity elements were used as described in the report of NUREG-3474. This report lists 41 impurity elements for SS304 and other materials. Calculation code is used ORIGEN-S module in SCALE 6.1 code. Neutron flux is used as arbitrary value that around 1E+11 level and irradiation time is set as 30 year with 10-year cooling time. In the ORIGEN-S calculation, 1g of SS304 is used for easy calculation of specific activity. The ORIGEN-S calculation results are as follows. All impurity elements contained case calculated 9.32E+07 Bq activity. In the absence of all impurity elements case and most cases shows that total Becquerel value after 10-year cooling time around 9.11E+07 Bq, and Co impurity case had larger result. The calculation was performed again by increasing the amount of impurity substances by 100 times to perform the sensitivity evaluation more reliably. Representatively, Li, N, Co, and Ba impurity elements cases were calculated to have a particularly high Becquerel. Especially Co impurity element case, a total Becquerel of 3.03E+08 was calculated. Accordingly, evaluation of impurities mixed in SS304 must be considered, and in particular, the inclusion rate for Co must be considered.

본 연구에서는 지역 영역 기상 수치 예보 모델의 여러 수평 영역 및 수평 해상도에 따른 이상적인 열대저기압 의 진로와 베타자이어의 민감도를 조사하였다. 모델의 이상적인 초기 조건은 경험적인 함수로 생성된 3차원 축대칭 모 조 소용돌이와 허리케인 활동 시기의 평균 대기 조건으로 구성된다. 이때 모델 설정에 따른 이상적인 열대저기압의 변 화를 분석하기 위하여 배경 흐름은 제거되었다. 수치 모델의 수평 영역 및 수평 해상도에 따른 이상적인 열대저기압의 민감도 실험을 수행하기 위해, 지역 영역 수치 모델로서 W RF (Weather Research a nd F orecasting) 모델을 사용하였다. 모의된 열대저기압의 바람장으로부터 베타자이어를 추출하기 위해, DFS (Double-Fourier Series) 국지 영역 고차 필터 를 사용하였다. 모델의 수평 영역의 크기가 감소할수록 베타자이어의 구조와 강도가 약해졌으며, 이는 열대저기압 진로 의 차이를 발생시켰다. 수평 영역의 크기를 본 연구의 실험에서 가장 작은 영역인 3,000 km3,000 km로 설정하였을 경 우에 베타자이어 통풍류의 서진 성분이 크게 감소하였으며, 수평 영역을 더 넓게 설정한 실험들에 비해 열대저기압의 진로가 동쪽으로 편향되었다. 본 결과는 열대저기압과 관련된 바람장 전체를 포함하지 못할 정도로 매우 작은 수평 영 역을 사용할 경우, 열대저기압의 진로가 적절히 모의 될 수 없음을 시사한다. 반면, 5,000 km5,000 km와 6,000 km 6,000 km의 수평 영역에서는 그 민감도가 매우 작게 나타났다. 수평 해상도가 감소할수록 이상적인 열대저기압의 진 로는 매우 서쪽으로 편향되었다. 베타자이어의 크기와 강도도 수평 해상도가 감소할수록 크고 더 강하게 나타났다.

PURPOSES : In this study, energy-consuming processes in asphalt plants were evaluated, and the drying and mixing processes were characterized using a thermal equilibrium equation-based model to quantitatively estimate the amount of energy consumed during the production of mixtures in asphalt concrete plants. METHODS : An energy consumption model based on the thermal equilibrium equation was used to estimate the energy consumption of the aggregate drying process that consumes the maximum energy; the energy consumed for material transportation, storage, and operation of other facilities was cited from the literature. The results were compared with the actual results obtained for recycled hot asphalt mixtures and recycled warm mix asphalt mixtures, and a sensitivity analysis was performed by varying the conditions. RESULTS : An analysis of the main processes required to produce asphalt mixtures showed that the water content had the largest impact on energy consumption (approximately 80%). This quantitatively supports the opinion of field practitioners that maximum energy is consumed during aggregate drying. Although some discrepancies were observed, the results were found to be reasonable and within the range of typical measurements. CONCLUSIONS : The thermal energy consumption estimation model provides consistent results that reflect the characteristics of the mixture and can be used to derive the thermal energy consumption rates for individual materials, such as aggregates and binders. This can be used to identify the priorities for process optimization within a plant.

The thermal integrity of spent nuclear fuels has to be maintained during their long-term dry storage. The detailed temperature distributions of spent fuel assemblies are essential for evaluating the integrity of their dry storage systems. In this study, a subchannel analysis model was developed for a canister of a single fuel assembly using the COBRA-SFS code. The thermal parameters affecting the peak cladding temperature (PCT) of the spent fuel assembly were identified, and sensitivity analyses were performed based on these parameters. The subchannel analysis results indicated the presence of a recirculation flow, based on natural convection, between the fuel assembly and downcomer region. The sensitivity analysis of the thermal parameters indicated that the PCT was affected by the emissivity of the fuel cladding and basket, convective heat transfer coefficient, and thermal conductivity of the fluid. However, the effects of the wall friction factor of the canister, form loss coefficient of the grid spacers, and thermal conductivities of the solid materials, on the PCT were predominantly ignored.

IPCC에서 발표한 제6차 기후변화 보고서에 따르면 지구온난화에 따른 해수면 상승이 가속화되고 있으며, 2100년 예상 해수면 상승은 저탄소 시나리오(SSP 1~2.6)에서는 47cm, 고탄소 시나리오(SSP 5~8.5)에서는 82cm로 분석되었다. 해수면 상승은 항만 인프라에 심각 한 피해를 입히고, 항만 내에 정박 중인 선박의 계류안전성을 저하시킬 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 해수면 상승시 부두에 계류한 선박의 계류 안전성 향상 방안을 도출하기 위해 만조시 침수 피해가 잦은 목포항을 선정하여 해수면 상승 시나리오에 따른 실제 접안 선박에 대한 계 류 평가 요소의 민감도를 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 해수면이 상승함에 따라 동일한 환경조건에서 계류라인 장력, 계선주 하중, 계류라인 수 직각도, 선체 6자유도 운동값이 대체로 증가하는 것으로 분석되었다. 또한, 마루높이가 상향되면 모든 계류 평가 요소의 값이 대체로 감소 하여 선박 및 부두의 안전성 향상에 유리한 것으로 분석되었다. 본 연구 결과는 목포항 해수면 상승에 따른 항만 및 선박의 안전성 향상 방안을 확보하기 위한 기초자료로 활용될 수 있을 것이다.

Purpose: This study was conducted to understand the ethical climate, nursing practice environment, and ethical sensitivity of hospital nurses, and to investigate the influence of the ethical environment and nursing practice environment on ethical sensitivity. Methods: The subjects of the study were 137 nurses with at least one year of work experience. Date collection was conducted from July to August 2021, using the IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0 for Windows program(IBM Corp. Armont, NY, USA), the frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviation and Independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation, Multiple regression analysis. Results: As a result of the study, the ethical sensitivity of hospital nurses showed statistically significant differences according to age, marital status, position, and ethical educational experience. Ethical sensitivity was found to have a significant positive correlation between all sub-factors of the ethical environment and all sub-factors of the nursing practice environment. Among the sub-factors of the ethical environment, the factor influencing ethical sensitivity in this study is ‘relationship with peers (β=.20, p=.034) ’ and ‘relationship with manager (β=.24, p=.023) and the explanatory power was 42.0%, which was statistically significant (F=8.26, p<.001). Conclusion: This study confirmed that ‘relationship with peers’ and ‘relationship with managers’ influence ethical sensitivity among ethical environments. Therefore, it will be necessary to form a positive relationship between peers and managers to improve the ethical sensitivity of hospital nurses.

PURPOSES : This study aims to conduct a sensitivity analysis to determine the major factors affecting traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians. METHODS : In this study, a regression tree model was built based on a non-parametric statistical model using data on traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians. Using this model, we analyzed the degree of change in the probability of pedestrian fatalities. RESULTS : Results of the model analysis show that the first major factor combination affecting traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians is speeding, night time, and road markers. The second combination is night time and arterial roads (national and local highways). The last combination that may lead to such accidents is heavy vehicles and federally funded local highways. CONCLUSIONS : Preventive measures, such as speed control, proper lighting, median strips, designation of pedestrian protection zones, and guidance of detours, are necessary to manage high-risk combinations causing accidents of the elderly.

The effects of an individual effective dose from radioactive contamination that will remain during site reuse after the decommissioning of nuclear facilities is generally assessed using the RESRAD code. The calculated results should meet the site reuse criteria presented by regulators, 0.25 mSv/yr in the United States and 0.1 mSv/yr in Korea. After completion of decommissioning, the dose is not subject to measurement, resulting in Derived Concentration Guideline Level (DCGL) remaining at the site that is practically consistent with the dose criteria. In order to assess dose using the RESRAD code, various requirements will need to be considered and determined, where the selection of input parameters is one of the important factors in the dose assessment. In addition, appropriate selection of site-specific parameters is important to reflect the site characteristics of each decommissioned Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Therefore, this study intends to analyze the impact of site-specific parameters by referring to the cases of overseas decommissioned NPPs. In order to evaluate doses using RESRAD code, a site reuse scenario must first be selected. In general, in the case of unrestricted reuse, the resident farmer scenario can be applied, so the resident farmer scenario was also selected in this study. In addition, once a resident farmer scenario is selected, input parameters are selected according to the scenario, and the input parameter inputs a single value or distribution according to the deterministic or probabilistic evaluation method. Therefore, since this study is to evaluate the effect on site-specific parameters, a single value was applied as a deterministic evaluation method. For the 10 site-specific parameters considered in overseas cases, the difference was set twice using the F9 function key in the RESRAD code and the results were analyzed. In this study, we used prior research data targeting domestic nuclear facility for sensitivity analysis. Related parameters include the category of contamination layer, soil, water transport, ingestion, and occupancy. The parameters that appeared as the greatest influence among the 10 parameters were different in radionuclide on the contaminated zone. We showed the changes according to the difference in input parameters was presented using the graph provided by the RESRAD code. As a result, in the evaluation for Co-60 in this study, no significant change was observed. However, in case of H-3, several parameters values were changed, indicating that the effect on dose will be different depending on the site characteristics of the nuclear facilities.

LILW disposal repository in Gyeongju, South Korea is considered with a concrete mixture that uses Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) partially substituted with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The degradation of cementitious materials that result from chemical and physical attacks is a major concern in the safety of radioactive waste disposal. We present a reactive transport model utilized as one of the geochemical simulation approaches for the timescales of concern that range from hundreds to thousands of years. The purpose of this study is to investigate the sensitivity of parameters in concrete disposal systems and to evaluate the influence of various assumptions on the chemical degradation of the systems using a reactive transport model. A reactive transport model in the concrete disposal vault was developed to evaluate the behavior of engineered barriers composed of cementitious materials. The sensitivity analysis was performed using reactive transport models through the coupling between COMSOL and PHREEQC. The databases selected for the analysis are the Thermochimie database presented by ANDRA. Among many variables considered, two variables that can highly affect chemical degradation were selected for detailed sensitivity analysis for dealing with uncertainties. This is important because the chemical degradation mechanism is generally sensitive to precipitation and diffusion coefficient. The first factor is precipitation, which might be the most important factor in chemical degradation because it acts as a calcium leaching of cementitious materials in a disposal system in a highly alkaline environment, increasing the porosity of the system. To predict the change in annual precipitation, the measurement of the precipitation observatory station in the nearest area of Gyeongju for the past 80 years was collected. The second factor is the diffusion coefficient, which plays an essential role in the durability of the concrete disposal system, promoting the decalcification of cementitious minerals, accelerating system degradation, and increasing the porosity of its system, thereby facilitating the migration of radionuclides. The diffusion coefficient values used in studies similar to this work were calculated and evaluated using the box-and-whisker method. The results of the sensitivity analyses for the reactive transport model in the concrete disposal system will be presented. The sensitivity cases show that the results obtained are much more sensitive to changes in transport parameters.

Geologic disposal at deep depth is an acceptable way to dispose of high-level radioactive waste and isolate it from the biosphere. The geological repository system comprises an engineered barrier system (EBS) and the host rock. The system aims to delay radionuclide migration through groundwater flow, and also, the flow affects the saturation of the bentonite in the EBS. The thermal conductivity of bentonite is a function of saturation, so the temperature in the EBS is directly related to the flow system. High-temperature results in the two-phase flow, and the two-phase flow system also affects the flow system. Therefore, comprehending the influencing parameters on the flow system is critical to ensure the safety of the disposal system. Various studies have been performed to figure out the complex two-phase flow characteristics, and numerical simulation is considered an effective way to predict the coupled behavior. DECOVALEX (DEvelopment of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiments) is one of the most famous international cooperating projects to develop numerical methods for thermo-hydro-mechanicalchemical interaction, and Task C in the DECOVALEX-2023 has the purpose of simulating the Fullscale Emplacement (FE) experiment at the Mont-Terri underground research laboratory. We used OGS-FLAC, a self-developed numerical simulator combining OpenGeoSys and FLAC3D, for the simulation and targeted to analyze the effecting parameters on the two-phase flow system. We focused on the parameters of bentonite, a key component of the disposal system, and analyzed the effect of compressibility and air entry pressure on the flow system. Compressibility is a parameter included in the storage term, defining the fluid storage capacity of the medium. While air entry pressure is a crucial value of the water retention curve, defining the relation between saturation and capillary pressure. From a series of sensitivity analyses, low compressibility resulted in faster flow due to low storage term, while low air entry pressure slowed flow inflow into the bentonite. Low air entry pressure means the air easily enters the medium; hence the flow rate becomes lower based on the relativity permeability definition. Based on the sensitivity analysis, we further investigate the effect of shotcrete around the tunnel and excavation damaged zone. Also, long-term analysis considering heat decay of the radioactive waste will be considered in future studies.

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute is developing a radionuclide management processes as a conditioning technology to reduce the burden of spent fuel disposal. The radionuclide management process refers to a process managing radionuclides with similar properties by introducing various technology options that can separate and recover radionuclides from spent fuels. In particular, it is a process aimed at increasing disposal efficiency by managing high-heat, high-mobility, and high-toxic radionuclides that can greatly affect the performance of the disposal system. Since the radionuclide management process seeks to consider various technology options for each unit process, it may have several process flows rather than have a single process flow. Describing the various process flows as a single flow network model is called the superstructure model. In this study, we intend to develop a superstructure model for the radionuclide management process and use it as a model to select the optimal process flow. To find the optimal process flow, an objective function must be defined, and at the fuel cycle system level multiple objectives such as effectiveness (disposal area), safety (explosure dose), and economics (cost) can be considered. Before performing the system-level optimization, it is necessary to select candidates of process flow in consideration of waste properties and process efficiency at the process level. In this study, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to analyze changes in waste properties such as decay heat and radioactivity when the separation ratio varies due to the performance change for each unit process of the radionuclide management process. Through this analysis, it is possible to derive a performance range that can have waste properties suitable for following waste treatment, especially waste form manufacturing. It is also possible to analyze the effect of waste properties that vary according to the performance change on waste storage and management approaches.

The damage ratio of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) is a very important intermediate variable for dry storage risk assessment which require an interdisciplinary and comprehensive investigation. It is known that the pinch load applied to the cladding can lead to Mode-3 failure and the cladding becomes more vulnerable to this failure mode with the existence of radial hydrides and other forms of mechanical defects. In this study, a sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the importance of the damage parameters that need to be calibrated for the simulation of zircaloy-4 cladding failure using computational mechanics. The simulation model was generated from a microscopic image of the cladding with hydride. The image segmentation method was used to separate the Zircaloy-4, hydride, and hydride- Zircaloy matrix interfaces to create a pixel-based finite element model. The ring compression test (RCT) was simulated because the resistance of the cladding under pinch load can be evaluated by this test. It was assumed that the damage starts with the formation and growth of voids or small cracks in the material, which grow and combine to form larger cracks, eventually leading to the complete fracture of the material. Therefore, the ductile damage criterion was applied to all materials to simulate crack formation and propagation. The sensitivity analysis was performed based on the design of experiments using L8 orthogonal array. The effects of five factors on the fracture resistance of hydrided cladding were quantified, and they are the fracture strains describing the damage initiation in zircaloy-4 matrix, hydride, and hydride-zirconium matrix, and yield stress and Young’s modulus for hydride-zirconium matrix. Information on those parameters are hardly available in literature and experimental data which enable the estimation of those are also very rare. It is planned to build a computational model which can accurately simulate the fracture behavior of hydrided cladding by calibrating significant fracture parameters using reverse engineering. The results of this study will help to figure out those significant parameters.

Coupled thermo-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) processes are essential for the long-term performance of deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. In this study, a numerical sensitivity analysis was performed to analyze the effect of rock properties on THM responses after the execution of the heater test at the Kamaishi mine in Japan. The TOUGHFLAC simulator was applied for the numerical simulation assuming a continuum model for coupled THM analysis. The rock properties included in the sensitivity study were the Young’s modulus, permeability, thermal conductivity, and thermal expansion coefficients of crystalline rock, rock salt, and clay. The responses, i.e., temperature, water content, displacement, and stress, were measured at monitoring points in the buffer and near-field rock mass during the simulations. The thermal conductivity had an overarching impact on THM responses. The influence of Young’s modulus was evident in the mechanical behavior, whereas that of permeability was noticed through the change in the temperature and water content. The difference in the THM responses of the three rock type models implies the importance of the appropriate characterization of rock mass properties with regard to the performance assessment of the deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste.