Systematic Approach to Training for Design of Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning Training in South Korea

Abstract

In 1979, unavailability of Main Feedwater System (MFWS) in Three Mile Island (TMI) Unit-2 happened in the United States. To make it worse, due to malfunction of Isolation Control Valves in Auxiliary Feedwater System (AFWS), the supply of cooling water to Steam Generators (SGs) was delayed approximately 8 minutes compared to Abnormal Operating Procedure (AOP). In the long run, on account of deferred heat sink provision to SGs, the reactor core was melted partially. It was the first critical accident in the US commercial Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) history. Hence, after TMI Accident, US Nuclear Regulatory Committee (NRC) suggested more than one hundred alternatives to improve safety and reliability of NPP. Among these counteimeasures, one proposal was related to training area. It was Systematic Approach to Training (SAT) methodology. Therefore, the goal of SAT is enhancement of NPP stability through training point of view. Since the appearance of SAT in the nuclear industry, it has acquired the unwavering position in the US NPP training field. Meanwhile, significance of NPP decommissioning has been soared up in South Korea since the announcement of Kori Unit-1 decommissioning decision. According to the proclaimed plan from Korean government, Kori Unit-1 is scheduled to be decommissioned from June, 2017. Under this circumstance, nurturing sufficient number of NPP decommissioning engineers is one of the most urgent issues in South Korean nuclear industry. Hence, to elevate efficiency and consistency of training quality, SAT methodology can be a reliable solution for the training of decommissioning engineers. For this reason, the present study aims to design SAT based NPP decommissioning training in South Korea.