• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.951-960
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• 2013

Energy group structure has a significant effect on the results of multigroup transport calculations. It is known that $UO_2-PuO_2$ (MOX) is a recently developed fuel which consumes recycled plutonium. For such fuel which contains various resonant nuclides, the selection of energy group structure is more crucial comparing to the $UO_2$ fuels. In this paper, in order to improve the accuracy of the integral results in MOX thermal lattices calculated by WIMSD-5B code, a swarm intelligence method is employed to optimize the energy group structure of WIMS library. In this process, the NJOY code system is used to generate the 69 group cross sections of WIMS code for the specified energy structure. In addition, the multiplication factor and spectral indices are compared against the results of continuous energy MCNP-4C code for evaluating the energy group structure. Calculations performed in four different types of $H_2O$ moderated $UO_2-PuO_2$ (MOX) lattices show that the optimized energy structure obtains more accurate results in comparison with the WIMS original structure.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.1013-1021
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• 2020

A combination of simultaneous thermal analysis, evolved gas analysis and non-ambient XRD techniques was used to characterise and investigate the conversion reactions of ammonium uranates into uranium oxides. Two solid phases of the ternary system NH₃ - UO₃ - H₂O were synthesised under specified conditions. Microspheres prepared by the sol-gel method via internal gelation were identified as 3UO₃·2NH₃·4H₂O, whereas the product of a typical ammonium diuranate precipitation reaction was associated to the composition 3UO₃·NH₃·5H₂O. The thermal decomposition profile of both compounds in air feature distinct reaction steps towards the conversion to U₃O₈, owing to the successive release of water and ammonia molecules. Both compounds are converted into α-U₃O₈ above 550 ℃, but the crystallographic transition occurs differently. In compound 3UO₃·NH₃·5H₂O (ADU) the transformation occurs via the crystalline β-UO₃ phase, whereas in compound 3UO₃·2NH₃·4H₂O (microspheres) an amorphous UO₃ intermediate was observed. The new insights obtained on these uranate systems improve the information base for designing and synthesising minor actinide-containing target materials in future applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.2578-2590
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• 2023

In this work, a 24-month two-batch fuel management strategy for the APR1400 using LEU + has been investigated, where enrichments of 5.9 and 5.2 w/o are utilized in lieu of the conventional 4-5 w/o UO₂ fuel. In addition, an Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) clad based on the swaging technology is applied to APR1400 fuel assemblies. In this special ATF clad design, both outer and inner SS316 layers protect the conventional zircaloy clad. Erbia (Er₂O₃) is introduced as a burnable absorber with two-fold goals to lower the critical boron concentration in the long-cycle LEU + loaded core as well as to handle the LEU + fuel in the existing front-end fuel facilities without renewing the license. Two types of fuel assemblies with different loading of gadolinia (Gd₂O₃) are considered to control both the reactivity and the core radial power distribution. The erbia burnable absorber is uniformly admixed with UO₂ in all fuel pins except for the gadolinia-bearing ones. In this study, two core designs were devised with different erbia loading, and core performance and safety parameters were evaluated for each case in comparison with a core design without any burnable absorbers. The core analysis was done using the two-step method. First, cross-sections are generated by the SERPENT 2 Monte Carlo code, and the 3-D neutronic analysis is performed with an in-house multi-physics nodal code KANT.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2013

Temperature-dependent hydrolysis behaviors of aqueous U(VI) species were investigated with time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) in the temperature range from 15 to $75^{\circ}C$. The formation of four different U(VI) hydrolysis species was measured at pHs from 1 to 7. The predominant presence of $UO{_2}^{2+}$, $(UO_2)_2(OH){_2}^{2+}$, $(UO_2)_3(OH){_5}^+$, and $(UO_2)_3(OH){_7}^-$ species were identified based on the spectroscopic properties such as fluorescence wavelengths and fluorescence lifetimes. With an increasing temperature, a remarkable decrement in the fluorescence lifetime for all U(VI) hydrolysis species was observed, representing the dynamic quenching behavior. Furthermore, the increase in the fluorescence intensity of the further hydrolyzed U(VI) species was clearly observed at an elevated temperature, showing stronger hydrolysis reactions with increasing temperatures. The formation constants of the U(VI) hydrolysis species were calculated to be $log\;K{^0}_{2,2}=-4.0{\pm}0.6$ for $(UO_2)_2(OH){_2}^{2+}$, $log\;K{^0}_{3,5}=-15.0{\pm}0.3$ for $(UO_2)_3(OH){_5}^+$, and $log\;K{^0}_{3,7}=-27.7{\pm}0.7$ for $(UO_2)_3(OH){_7}^-$ at $25^{\circ}C$ and I = 0 M. The specific ion interaction theory (SIT) was applied for the extrapolation of the formation constants to infinitely diluted solution. The results of temperature-dependent hydrolysis behavior in terms of the U(VI) fluorescence were compared and validated with those obtained using computational methods (DQUANT and constant enthalpy equation). Both results matched well with each other. The reaction enthalpies and entropies that are vital for the computational methods were determined by a combination of the van't Hoff equation and the Gibbs free energy equation. The temperature-dependent hydrolysis reaction of the U(VI) species indicates the transition of a major U(VI) species by means of geothermal gradient and decay heat from the radioactive isotopes, representing the necessity of deeper consideration in the safety assessment of geologic repository.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.138-147
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• 1982

A theoretical basis for analysis of plutonium-hearing fuel in a thermal nuclear power reactor has been established. The analysis of UO$_2$-PuO$_2$ fueled, light water moderated uniform lattice experiments has been performed. A unit cell program, KARATE, which is based on the theoretical models of GAM and THERMOS with some modifications, has been developed to generate a few-group cross-sections. These cross-sections are subsequently used in the diffusion theory code, KIDD, to compare the calculated values of the effective multiplication factor with the measured. The average value of the effective multiplication factor for 41 selected critical experiments is estimated to be 0.9997 with standard deviation of 0.43%. This illustrates the fact that KARATE/KIDD system can be effectively used for the analysis of uniform lattices of UO$_2$-PuO$_2$fuels.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.229-233
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• 2015

Developing novel anode materials to replace the Pt anode currently used in electrolytic reduction is an important issue on pyroprocessing. In this study, the electrochemical behavior of TiN was investigated as the conductive ceramic anode which evolves O₂ gas during the reaction. The feasibility and stability of the TiN anode was examined during the electrolytic reduction of UO₂. The TiN anode could electrochemically convert UO₂ to metallic U in a LiCl–Li₂O molten salt electrolyte. No oxidation of TiN was observed during the reaction; however, the formation of voids in the bulk section appeared to limit the lifetime of the TiN anode.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.335-344
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• 2006

In this paper a computer program was developed, which simulates the Li reduction process of PWR spent fuel, and the amount of a produced metal or chloride compound was calculated at the various amount of Li with the program. It establishes a database, which is composed of some characteristics related to a chemical reaction equation and thermodynamic data, and it calculates the transformed rate of PWR spent fuel oxide at the certain amount of Li by using the database as input data. As the results of the performance test of the program, it was validated that the transformed values of oxides, except for $Eu_2O_3$ and $Sm_2O_3$, were almost the same to within about a 6 % error with those calculated by the previous code and that the calculated amount of Li was also exactly consistent with the theoretical one, which is used for a complete reaction of each oxide in a single chemical reaction. A relationship between Li and the transformed metal of each oxide was analyzed on the basis of the quantities calculated with the verified development program. Of the results, when the amount of Li was given to be 250 mole, the 83.73 percentage of $UO_2$ was transformed into U while the remainder was still to be $UO_2$. In addition, it was appeared that the 297 mole of Li was needed to completely convert $UO_2$ into U.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Resources Recycling Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.206-210
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• 2003

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.273-282
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• 2012

A new effective methodology for optimizing the enrichment of low-enriched zones as well as gadolinia fuel ($UO_2/Gd_2O_3$) rod designs in PLUS7 fuel assemblies was developed to minimize the maximum peak power in the core and to maximize the cycle lifetime. An automated link code was developed to integrate the genetic algorithm (GA) and the core design code package of ALPHA/PHOENIX-P/ANC and to generate and evaluate the candidates to be optimized efficiently through the integrated code package. This study introduces an optimization technique for the optimization of gadolinia fuel rod designs in order to effectively reduce the peak powers for a few hot assemblies simultaneously during the cycle. Coupled with the gadolinia optimization, the optimum enrichments were determined using the same automated code package. Applying this technique to the reference core of Ulchin Unit 4 Cycle 11, the gadolinia fuel rods in each hot assembly were optimized to different numbers and positions from their original designs, and the maximum peak power was decreased by 2.5%, while the independent optimization technique showed a decrease of 1.6% for the same fuel assembly. The lower enrichments at the fuel rods adjacent to the corner gap (CG), guide tube (GT), and instrumentation tube (IT) were optimized from the current 4.1, 4.1, 4.1 w/o to 4.65, 4.2, 4.2 w/o. The increase in the cycle lifetime achieved through this methodology was 5 effective full-power days (EFPD) on an ideal equilibrium cycle basis while keeping the peak power as low as 2.3% compared with the original design.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.35.1-35.1
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• 2006