Search

As small modular reactors are gaining attention as the future of nuclear energy, it has become increasingly imperative to minimize the number of required operators in order to improve economic competitiveness. Although the tasks of operators have changed and their workloads have been relatively reduced as digital technologies have been applied to advanced main control rooms (MCRs), no change in the number of operators has been made when compared to conventional MCRs in the Republic of Korea. As a solution, the introduction of natural language processing (NLP) technology to replace certain operator tasks in advanced MCRs can be a valuable means of reducing MCR staff. In this paper, we suggest a novel communication framework utilizing NLP technology to minimize the number of operators in advanced MCRs. To do this, we analyze operator tasks in advanced MCRs and select those that can be replaced by NLP technology. We then develop a prototype NLP-based system and analyze the process and characteristics of the suggested communication framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystal violet (CV) is an organic chloride salt and a triphenylmethane dye commonly used in the textile processing industry, also being used as a disinfectant and a biomedical stain. Although CV is widely used, it is carcinogenic to humans and is retained by industrial-produced effluent for an extended period. The different types of metal oxide (MOx) have impressive photocatalytic properties, allowing them to be utilized for pollutant degradation. The role of the photocatalyst is to facilitate oxidation and reduction processes by trapping light energy. In this study, we investigated different types of metal oxides, such as titanium dioxide (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), iron (III) oxide (Fe2O3), copper (II) oxide (CuO), copper (I) oxide (Cu2O), and niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) for the CV decomposition reaction at ambient conditions. For characterization, BET and Raman spectroscopy were applied, providing findings showing that the surface area of the anatase TiO2 and ZnO were 5 m2/g and 12.1 m2/g, respectively. The activity tests over TiO2 and ZnO catalysts revealed that up to ~98% of the dye could be decomposed under UV irradiation in <2 h. The decomposition of CV is directly influenced by various factors, such as the types of MOx, the band gap–water splitting relationship, and the recombination rate of electron holes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]