2016. SPRING Vol(E).
6
Neutron Science and Technology
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute I Newsletter
Creating Future Innovation
Periodic Safety Review (PSR) of HANARO
1. Background
In 1996, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
recommended the implementation of a comprehensive and
systematic PSR (Periodic Safety Review) to its member countries
at the Convention on Nuclear Safety. In 1999, the 11th Nuclear
Safety and Security Commission in Korea finalized directions to
implement PSR with respect to nuclear plants. Thus, a PSR has
been implemented in Korea since May 2000. The amendment
of the Nuclear Safety Act in May 2014 legalized a PSR for
nuclear research reactors that have been operated for 10 years
or more, and the specific Enforcement Decree and Regulations
regarding the Nuclear Safety Act began to be implemented in
November 2014. The amended Nuclear Safety Act expanded the
number of safety factors from 11 to 14. Since its first operation
in February 1995, HANARO has served as the only 30MW
multipurpose nuclear research reactor and played an important
role in developing research on neutrons. Through PSR, HANARO
will ensure its safety. By implementing the recommendations
for safety improvement from PSR and being granted legal
justification, HANARO will continue to provide services to its
constituents for the next ten years.
2. Legal Processes
- Publication of PSR guidelines by the IAEA (1994 and 2005)
- IAEA recommendation of a comprehensive and systemic PSR to
its member countries in the Convention on Nuclear Safety (1996)
- The government finalizes directions to implement PSR regarding
nuclear reactors being operated (December 1999): 11th Nuclear
Safety and Security Commission
- Enactment of the Atomic Energy Act as well as its enforcement
decree and regulations with respect to a PSR (January 2001)
- Legalization of continuous operation: enforcement decree and
regulations with respect to legalization (September 2005)
- IAEA General Conference approves the Code of Conduct,
which recommended the implementation of PSR regarding
nuclear research reactors (September 2004)
- The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety conducts a “Study
to Improve Regulations of Nuclear Research Reactors” and
suggests the introduction of PSR to ensure the safety of the long-
term operation of nuclear research reactors based on cases in
foreign countries (February 2007)
- Following the amendment of the Nuclear Safety Act and its
Article 34, a PSR of nuclear research reactors becomes subject
to Article 23 of the Act (May 2014)
- Article 2 and 37 of the Enforcement Decree and Article 20
of Enforcement Regulations regarding the Nuclear Safety Act
expands the number of safety factors (November 2014)
- Supplementary Provision 3 of the Enforcement Decree of the
Nuclear Safety Act specifying the completion of the first PSR of
nuclear research reactors that have been operated for 10 years
st
or more by 31 December, 2018
3. PSR’s Safety Factors
Reflecting the PSR guidelines by the IAEA in 2013, Korea has
expanded the number of safety factors from 11 to 14, adding
three to the existing 11: plant design, probabilistic safety
assessment, and hazard analysis (Article 37 of the Enforcement
Decree of the Nuclear Safety Act). Safety factors being subject to
a PSR are as follows.
1. Plant design
2. Actual condition of SSCs important to safety
3. Equipment qualification
4. Ageing
5. Deterministic safety analysis
6. Probabilistic safety assessment
7. Hazard analysis
8. Safety performance
9. Use of experience from other plants and research findings
10. Organization, the management system and safety culture
11. Procedures
12. Human factors
13. Emergency planning
14. Radiological impact on the environment
2016 newsletter Spring Vol. 6 1

4. PSR Implementation
1. Composition of the members of PSR, preparation for a
detailed plan for a PSR and budgetary/personnel resources, and
beginning of the implementation of PSR tasks
2. Explanation of PSR to the regulatory body (schedule and
cutoff dates for technical standards and PSR materials)
3. Writing specifications for PSR contract and making a purchase
agreement (plant design and their aging management)
4. Writing specifications for PSR contract and making a
purchase agreement (other safety factors)
5. Evaluation of 14 safety factors (internal investigation,
contracting out, management, and review of evaluation report)
6. Writing a comprehensive PSR report and a comprehensive
safety improvement plan
7. Submission of the PSR report and its summary report to the
regulatory body
8. Assessment of PSR report submitted and preparation of
assessment reports by the regulatory body, exchange of
questions and answers with the regulatory body, and reflecting
recommendations made by the regulatory body
9. Securing approval from the regulatory body (completion of
PSR)
10. Implementation of the integrated safety improvement plan
5. HANARO’s PSR Implementation Strategies
Initially, HANARO considered the implementation of a PSR
with its internal experts alone. However, since a PSR of
nuclear research reactors is to be done for the first time, it was
considered better for HANARO to contract out the PSR to an
organization that has had experience in performing a PSR for
the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corporation. In this way,
HANARO can gain experience of the implementing of a PSR for
nuclear research reactors and use it for the next PSR through
strengthening its technical personnel and trainings. These
matters were reported to the top executives of HANARO. The
PSR implementation began in 2015 and HANARO contracted out
the implementation to KEPCO E&C, which would be responsible
for evaluating seven safety factors including aging management,
plant design, and PSA. In 2016, the safety factors of emergency
planning and radiological impact on the environment will be
reviewed by the radiological protection and safeguard division
of KAERI, which, following the same schedule of KEPCO E&C,
will evaluate the 13th and 14th safety factors specified by Article
37 of the Enforcement Decree of the Nuclear Safety Act and
prepare for a report based on this evaluation. The evaluation of
the remaining five safety factors including a deterministic safety
analysis (emergency operation procedure), safety performance,
human factors, organization and procedures along with
operation experience will be contracted out to an organization
in April 2016. Once the contracting out and evaluation of the
14 safety factors is completed, HANARO will prepare for the
2 2016
submission of a comprehensive PSR report by the end of 2018.
6. Future Plan
In 2016, HANARO will work with its contractors including
KEPCO E&C to develop programs with respect to the system
and equipment training and an understanding of a PSR
implementation in order to facilitate such implementation.
Additionally, with its contractors, HANARO is planning the
hosting of a seminar by inviting foreign experts and collecting
information on PSR cases and experiences. In 2017, HANARO
will examine a mid-PSR report prepared by its contractors as
well as its radiological protection and safeguard division. Once
the examination is completed, HANARO will review a preliminary
comprehensive repor t containing all the materials and
evaluations with respect to a PSR and submit it to the regulatory
body. In May 2018, HANARO will obtain and review a PSR report
and its summary report from its contractors and radiological
protection and safeguard division and submit a final PSR report
and the integrated implementation plan of safety improvements
to the regulatory body by the end of December 2018, which is
the legal deadline for the submission of the PSR report. Starting
in January 2019, the regulatory body will review and inspect the
PSR report. Modifying the report with an exchange of questions
and answers with suggestions by the regulatory body, HANARO
will secure the approval from the regulatory body with respect
to the completed PSR by the end of 2019, and starting in 2020,
HANARO will implement matters specified in the integrated
implementation plan of safety improvements derived from the
PSR report.
HANARO Issue & Focus
Development of a high-performance cathode
electrode for Na ion batteries
The energy storage systems (EESs) industry is growing
explosively. Li ion batteries (LIBs) have been considered as a
promising candidate for large-scale applications such as electric
vehicles (EVs) because of their high energy density. However,
there are growing concerns about the accessibility of secure Li
resources to satisfy the rapidly rising global demand for LIBs.
Na ion batteries (NIBs) are an attractive alternative to LIBs
because the underlying electrochemical reaction is similar to
that of LIBs but is based on the nearly unlimited resources of Na.
+
However, the redox potential of Na /Na (-2.71 V vs. SHE) is lower
than that of Li+/Li (-3.04 V vs. SHE), and the larger radius of
Na+ ions (r=1.02 Å) compared with Li+ ions (r=0.59 Å) causes a
considerable change in the host structure upon (de)intercalation,
which often results in a poor cycle life and low energy density.
Dr. Jongsoon Kim at the Neutron Instrumentation Division, and
his collaborators, Prof. Kisuk Kang’s group in Seoul National
University, introduced a new 4V-class cathode material in NIBs,
Na 7V 3(P 2O 7) 4 for the first time. The structure of Na 7V 3(P 2O 7) 4
Schematic of Na7V3(P2O7)4 structure
HANARO Outer Wall Reinforcement well in Progress
The safety of the HANARO building will be further reinforced with
the additional installation of an outer wall that will surround the
Reactor Concrete Island (RCI). Installation began in February
2016 and is expected to be completed by August 2016. The
reactor, pool, and other major reactor systems are housed in the
RCI. The outer wall reinforcement project is being carried out
as a part of the Korean government's strong recommendations
regarding post-Fukushima measurements. After the government’s
checkup, the RCI can sufficiently withstand certain conditions.
Jongsoon Kim
Senior Researcher,
Neutron Instrumentation
Division
jongsoonkim@kaeri.re.kr
was successfully analyzed using Rietveld refinement. It has
the highest redox voltage among vanadium-based cathodes
reported thus far for NIBs; this property results from the close
connectivity between vanadium ions and phosphorus. Its ~4.13
V redox potential was clearly identified through a combination of
first-principles calculations and experiments. Additionally, these
analyses revealed that the volume of change during sodium
de/intercalation is as low as 1% during a charge process; this
finding contrasts with the belief that a large volume change
typically accompanies Na ion de/intercalation in NIB electrodes
because of the large ionic size of Na ions. This unexpectedly
small volume change is attributed to the open crystal framework
of Na7V3(P2O7)4 and leads to an outstanding cycle stability of
Na 7V 3(P 2O 7) 4 (75% retention of the initial capacity after 600
cycles). These results were published in Advanced Energy
Materials on 18th January 2016. The title of this paper is “Tailoring
a new 4V-class cathode material for Na ion batteries.”
Refined XRD pattern and electrochemical performance of Na7V3(P2O7)4
Byung-hun Hwang
Researcher,
HANARO Management
Divison
hbh@kaeri.re.kr
But some part of the reactor building wall can only withstand 0.2g,
which is equivalent to a Richter scale of 6.5. The safety authority
of the Korean government, therefore, recommended HANARO
to reinforce the safety of the reactor building wall to meet the
seismic criteria of HANARO.
Following the NSSC's (Korean Nuclear Safety and Security
Commission) recommendation, HANARO immediately formed
a special task force team to study the most feasible ways to
reinforce the reactor building. Emphasis was placed particularly
newsletter Spring Vol. 6 3
 on identifying the possible interference between the RCI and the
reactor systems. Moreover, considerations were also placed to
satisfy not only the seismic performances of the reactor building
but also the site conditions.
An installation using steel H-beams that will support the reactor
building from both the inside and outside was planned. Structural
steel is used to reinforce the flexural performance, which has
been identified at some parts of the rector building. In addition,
a PS (Pre-Stressed) Steel tendon is used to reinforce the tensile
strength.
HANARO has been temporarily shut down during the
reinforcement period. To supply locally needed medical and
industrial radioisotopes in time, KAERI plans to import some
radioisotopes such as I-131 and Ir-192 source materials from
abroad and produce end products. Meanwhile, in order to carry
HANARO News
Mr. Hoan-Sung Jung as Vice-President for “Department of Research Reactor
Utilization” and Mr. Myong-Seop Kim as “Director of Neutron Utilization
Technology Division”
Mr. Hoan-Sung Jung was named the Vice-President for the
Department of Research Reactor Utilization of KAERI on 1 st
January 2016. He joined KAERI in 1987 and was primarily
associated with the Research Reactor Division and KMRR
Engineering Management Division. Later, he was appointed as
Director of HANARO Management Division, Director of Nuclear
Control & Safety Division, and Vice-President of Department of
Nuclear Safety and Security, respectively. In addition, Mr. Myong-
Seop Kim was nominated as Director of Neutron Utilization
Technology Division. He joined KAERI in 2000 and previously
The 15th Japan-Korea Meeting on Neutron Science,
Busan, Korea, from 6th to 8th January 2016
The 15th Japan-Korea Meeting on Neutron Science was held
during 6 th-8 th January 2016 at the Hotel Nongshim in Busan.
Seventy-six experts (twenty-six from Japan, fifty from Korea)
participated in this meeting, which has been held in both
countries every other year. There were thirty oral presentations
(sixteen from Japan, fourteen from Korea) and twenty-six
poster presentations (seven from Japan, nineteen from Korea).
Recognition should go to Dr. Kenji Nakajima of J-PARC, and
4 2016
out HANARO-related research projects during the construction
period without difficulty, KAERI plans to rearrange project plans
such as the project duration, and even plans to conduct some
necessary experiments at foreign research reactors. Through the
HANARO reinforcement project, KAERI wishes to demonstrate
again that the nation's sole research reactor is a safety-
guaranteed large-scale research facility that is wholly used for
the people.
Conceptual diagram of the HANARO reinforcement scheme
worked at HANARO Management Division and Neutron Utilization
Technology Division.
Mr. Hoan-Sung Jung Mr. Myong-Seop Kim
Jaseung Koo
Senior Researcher,
Neutron Science Division
jkoo@kaeri.re.kr
Prof. Sungkyun Park of Busan Nat. Univ. as the local organizers.
The next meeting will be held in Japan in 2018 because the
International Conference on Neutron Science (ICNS) will be
arranged in Korea. Prof. Sung-Min Choi from KAIST, who is
the President of the Korean Neutron Beam Users Association,
made the welcoming remarks. Dr. Kenji Nakajima from J-PARC
reported on the recent Japan-Korea collaborative activities on
neutron research. Dr. Toshiji Kanaya from J-PARC, Dr. Shuich
Wakimot from JAEA and Dr. Chang-Hee Lee from KAERI made
special presentations on the current status of J-PARC, JRR-3 and
HANARO.
This year's meeting has six sessions, i.e., (1) Bio, Soft Matter &
Liquids, (2) Hard Matter, (3) Mini-workshop on Inelastic Neutron
Scattering of Strongly Correlated Systems of J-PARC and other
Neutron Sources, (4) Industrial Applications, (5) Young Neutron
Scientists, and (6) Instruments, Software & Advanced Data
Analysis.
The highlights at the Bio, Soft Matter & Liquids Session included
discussions on ionomoer by Prof. Moon Jeong Park from
POSTECH, block copolymer blends by Prof. Du Yeol Ryu from
Yonsei Univ., amphiphilic co-network gels by Prof. Mitsuhiro
Shibayama from Tokyo Univ., and kinetics in protein by Prof.
Masaaki Sugiyama from Kyoto Univ.. At the Industrial Applications
Session, valuable presentations were also made on deformation
The participants of the 15th Japan-Korea Meeting on Neutron Science
KAERI-KRISS Joint Research Center for
Production of Certified Reference Materials
Tape cutting of the KAERI-KRISS Joint Research Center at RIPF Building
of KAERI
The mutual agreement to produce cer tified reference
materials using a research reactor will soon be fulfilled with
the establishment of a Joint Research Center by KAERI and
research by Prof. Soo Yeol Lee from Chungnam Nat. Univ., by
Dr. Stefanus Harjo from J-PARC, and alloys using SANS by Dr.
Eunjoo Shin from KAERI and Prof. Yojiro Oba from Kyoto Univ.
At the Instruments Software & Advanced Data Analysis Session,
Dr. Jeong-Soo Lee and Dr. Ji-Yong So from KAERI presented
on neutron reflectometry and DC-TOF, respectively. Dr. Yajuhiro
Inamura from J-PARC made a presentation on data analysis
software for inelastic instruments at J-PARC, whereas Dr. Tatsuy
Kikichi presented a G(r.t) analysis method. At the mini-workshop
on inelastic neutron scattering, presentations were made on
the latest research activities on inelastic neutron scattering as
well as the recent status of instruments by six experts (three
from Japan and three from Korea). It was mutually agreed to
conduct advanced neutron research through a more elaborate
collaboration
Business Session at the 15th Japan-Korea Meeting on Neutron Science
Young-Sam Chung
Principal Researcher
Neutron Utilization
Technology Division,
yschung@kaeri.re.kr
KRISS (Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science).
To facilitate the Joint Research Center, an agreement was
concluded between the two institutes on 15th December 2015.
The agreement details the joint research endeavors by the two
institutes to produce Certified Reference Materials (CRMs), and
outlines the operational aspect of the center.
At the signing ceremony of the agreement, Dr. Jong Kyung Kim,
President of KAERI, emphasized the importance of establishing
and maximizing the collaborative R&D systems among the
affiliated government. He also expected that the KAERI-KRISS
joint research project would be a model for effective and
successful cooperation among government supported research
institutes. A Certified Reference Material (CRM) is a particular
form of measurement standards. CRMs are very important for
newsletter Spring Vol. 6 5
 analytical chemistry and clinical analysis, and are used for
various purposes, even for determining environmental pollution.
To this end, it is absolutely necessary to produce certified
reference materials. KAERI's NAA (Neutron Activation Analysis)
facilities of HANARO can contribute to this purpose.
The NAA method is widely used in many advanced countries
around the world for developing and producing CRMs and for
quality control and assurance. However, Korea is still a far way
off from applying the method to develop the necessary CRMs.
In this regard, the establishment of the KAERI-KRISS Joint
Research Center will indeed be a good momentum to further
Low-Power Research Reactor Workshop
st
On the 1 of February, 2016, the Low-Power Research Reactor
Workshop sponsored by Advanced Research Center for Nuclear
Excellence (ARCNEX) was held at the International Nuclear
Education and Training Center (INTEC) at KAERI.
The members of the Research Reactor New Technology
Development project (KAERI, UNIST, Pusan National Univ. and
Kyung Hee Univ.) presented the results of their work, which was
carried out jointly.
The participants had an opportunity to share the experience in
low-power research reactor research of domestic and foreign
experts.
The Research Reactor New Technology Development project is
a project receiving financial support for a total research period of
five years from 2011 from the NRF (National Research Foundation
of Korea).
6 2016
enhance the production of reference materials as required. It was Kimyung Song
noted that the NAA together with IDMS (Isotopic Dilution Mass 2016 HANARO Winter School, INTEC, Postdoctoral Researcher,
Neutron Science Division
Spectrometry) can evaluate the accuracy of other analytical
KAERI from 22nd to 26th February 2016 kmsong@kaeri.re.kr
methods. In this connection, the CIPM (Le Comité International
des Poids et Mesures: International Committee for Weights and
The HANARO Winter School for on Advanced Neutron Diffraction excellent research results. For effective practice, thirty-eight
Measurements) fully recognized the NAA as the primary method
Data Analysis using the FullProf Suit was held at INTEC for five students were selected to participate in the HANARO Winter
for a quantitative chemical analysis of the elements.
nd th
days between 22 February and 26 February, 2016. As part School based on their research plans.
KAERI and KRISS plan to jointly develop advanced technologies
of the training courses for the HANARO Winter School, the A survey conducted among students at the end of the HANARO
for a state-of-the art measurement and analysis through
Neutron Science Division invited Dr. Juan Rodriguez Carvajal of Winter School showed that they were greatly satisfied with the
amalgamating inherent technologies that the two institutes have
the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in France, who is the author of analysis instruction and methods, lectures, and instructors. Still,
established in the past.
the FullProf Suite. Dr. Carvajal is a globally recognized expert students found certain details of the lectures to be somewhat
in neutron diffraction who served as the Head of the Diffraction difficult. As for the lecture and practice hours, the students
Group in ILL between March 2006 and October 2013. He is overall were relatively satisfied with the format through which
currently participating in the project of developing the European lectures took place in the morning with practice taking place in
Spallation Source (ESS), a new neutron facility in Europe. the afternoon and at night for the five days of the training period.
The HANARO Winter School, led by Dr. Seongsu Lee and Some students advocated for the expansion of practice hours.
Dr. Kimyung Song of the Neutron Science Division under the All students indicated that they were willing to recommend
Sung-Taek Hong
Senior Researcher, guidance of Dr. Juan Rodriguez Carvajal, offered insightful the HANARO course to their colleagues. As for other needs
HANARO Management
lectures on how to analyze and conduct research on neutron or suggestions, many students proposed that the course add
Division
hong79@kaeri.re.kr diffraction using the FullProf Suite, and provided students with an training on an analysis of the magnetic structure.
opportunity to practice the analysis of neutron diffraction results. The 2016 HANARO Winter School is expected to offer great
The HANARO Winter School aimed at providing the users of help to researchers from academia, industry, and government
In this workshop, Dr. In-Cheol Lim (KAERI) presented "Conceptual
HANARO tools to analyze neutron powder diffraction: obtaining institutes in conducting research on energy materials using
design of a hybrid low power RR". Prof. Dongseong Sohn (UNIST),
fundamental knowledge including peak indexing and improving neutron powder diffraction as well as analyzing neutron
Prof. Gyun-Young Heo (Kyung Hee Univ.) and Prof. Ji-Hwan
the ability to analyze neutron diffraction results through practice. diffraction data. In the future, the Neutron Science Division plans
Jeong (Pusan National Univ.) also presented the performance
The HANARO Winter School was also intended to introduce to invite Korean and international experts in neutron scattering
results of the Research Reactor New Technology Development
advanced neutron diffraction analysis methods such as rigid- and expand training opportunities for neutron utilization and
project.
body constraints/AMPLIMODES so that users can apply them analysis, helping stimulate the use of HANARO.
In particular, Dr. Danas Ridikas, who is Research Reactor Officer
to an actual analysis of neutron diffraction results and produce
of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), presented "Needs
on Low Power Research Reactor in view of characteristics and
utilization" at this workshop. Prof. Cheol-Ho Pyeon (Kyoto Univ.
Research Reactor Institute, Japan), Dr. Sang-Yong Shim (Bechtel
Corporation, USA) and Prof. Myeong-Hyeon Kim (Kyunghee
Univ.) shared their operation and regulatory experiences with
international and domestic research reactor facilities.
Many researchers who worked on the ARCNEX project were
interested in other institution’s project results. The Kijang and
Jordan research reactor project members were also interested in
this workshop.
Through the workshop, the participants learned that many
countries have considered the introduction of a low-power
The 2016 HANARO Winter School Dr. Juan Rodriguez Carvajal Lecturing on the FullProf Suite
research reactor, but actual on-going projects were found to be
limited.
In addition, a variety of applications including education and
training, taking advantage of a variety of secure, safe and optimal
models through the "Graded Approach," confirmed the direction
of low-power research reactors.
newsletter Spring Vol. 6 7
 Publishing Organization_ Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute Publisher_ Jong-Kyung Kim Editor_ Hoan-Sung Jung
8 Editorial Board_ Jong-Sub Woo, Yong-Sam Chung, Hyon-Soo Han, Jeong-Soo Lee, In-Hwan Oh, Pyung-Hoon Choi Published Date _ May 9, 2016