• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.271-272
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• 2010

Sensitivity analysis by TSUNAMI clarifies the complex effects of key nuclides on the criticality probability quantitatively. As discussed above, the $K_{eff}$ of $UO_2$ fuel reaches the maximum value with 42w% concentration of intrusion water. The concentration of hydrogen affects the complexity of reaching criticality by its competition between the concentrations of $^{235}U$. Approximately if the weight percent of $H_2O$ in the mixture is less than 42%, the moderation effect of hydrogen surpasses its dilution effect on $^{235}U$. However, the importance of $^{235}U$ increases dramatically when the weight percent of water is bigger than 42%. In the sensitivity evaluation of $UO_2$ fuel employing TSUMAMI, there is a similar crosspoint of the sensitivity of $^{235}U$ and the sensitivity of $^1H$ where the criticality reaches summit. And the optimal water weight percent is determined to be 50%.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.133-141
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• 2009

Study on the chemical speciation of uranium(VI) species, ${UO_2}^{2+}$, $UO_2(OH)^+$, ${(UO_2)}_2{(OH)_2}^{2+}$, ${(UO_2)}_3{(OH)_5}^+$, has been peformed by using time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. Speciation sensitivity which depends on the excitation wavelength was investigated. We obtained the speciation sensitivity in the order of $10^{-9}$ M concentration of U(VI) compounds at the excitation wavelength of 266 nm. The fluorescence spectrum and lifetime of ${UO_2}^{2+}$ were carefully measured at pH 1 and ion strength of 0.1 M. The spectrum showed the four characteristic peaks located around 488, 509, 533, 559nm and the fluorescence lifetime of $1.92{\pm}0.17{\mu}s$. The wavelength shifts of fluorescence peaks and the change of lifetimes for uranium hydrolysis compounds were compared with those of ${UO_2}^{2+}$. We report on the characteristic features, the shifts of peaks to the longer wavelength direction and the prolonged lifetimes, in the fluorescence of the U(VI) hydrolysis compounds.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2454-2463
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• 2021

The objective of this research is to the use of americium (AmO₂) as a burnable absorber effectively instead of conventional gadolinium (Gd₂O₃) for VVER-1200 reactor by analyzing its impacts on reactivity, power peaking factor (PPF), safety factor, and quality of the spent fuel. The assembly is burned to 60 GWd/t by using SRAC-2006 code and JENDL-4.0 data library for finding the optimum amount and effective way of using AmO₂ as a burnable absorber. From these studies, it is found that AmO₂ can decrease the excess reactivity like Gd₂O₃ without changing the criticality life span and enrichment of ²³⁵U. A homogeneous mixture of the 0.20% AmO₂+ 4.95% enriched UO₂ fuel rod (model MF-4) decreases the PPF than the reference assembly. The use of AmO₂+UO₂ in the integral burnable absorber (IBA) rod or the outer layer could also decrease the PPF up to 10 GWd/t but increases rapidly after 30 GWd/t, which could be a safety threat. The fuel temperature coefficient and void coefficient of the model MF-4 are the same as the reference assembly. In addition, 22% of initially loaded Am are burning effectively and contributing to the power production.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.1300-1309
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• 2023

Simulated debris was synthesized using UO₂, Zr, and stainless steel and a heat treatment method under inert or oxidizing conditions. The primary U solid phase of the debris synthesized at 1473 K under inert conditions was UO₂, whereas a (U, Zr)O₂ solid solution formed at 1873 K. Under oxidizing conditions, a mixture of U₃O₈ and (Fe, Cr)UO₄ phases formed at 1473 K, whereas a (U, Zr)O_2+x solid solution formed at 1873 K. The leaching behavior of the fission products from the simulated debris was evaluated using two methods: the irradiation method, for which fission products were produced via neutron irradiation, and the doping method, for which trace amounts of non-radioactive elements were doped into the debris. The dissolution behavior of U depended on the properties of the debris and aqueous solution for immersion. Cs, Sr, and Ba leached out regardless of the primary solid phases. The leaching of high-valence Eu and Ru ions was suppressed, possibly owing to their solid-solution reaction with or incorporation into the uranium compounds of the simulated debris.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.363-374
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• 2005

A heterogeneous thorium-based Kyung Hee Thorium Fuel (KTF) assembly design was assessed for application in the APR-1400 to study the feasibility of using thorium fuel in a conventional pressurized water reactor (PWR). Thermal hydraulic safety was examined for the thorium-based APR-1400 core, focusing on the Departure from Nucleate Boiling Ratio (DNBR) and Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LBLOCA) analysis. To satisfy the minimum DNBR (MDNBR) safety limit condition, MDNBR>1.3, a new grid design was adopted, that enabled grids in the seed and blanket assemblies to have different loss coefficients to the coolant flow. The fuel radius of the blanket was enlarged to increase the mass flow rate in the seed channel. Under transient conditions, the MDNBR values for the Beginning of Cycle (BOC), Middle of Cycle (MOC), and End of Cycle (EOC) were 1.367, 1.465, and 1.554, respectively, despite the high power tilt across the seed and blanket. Anticipated transient for the DNBR analysis were simulated at conditions of $112\%$ over-power, $95\%$ flow rate, and $2^{\circ}C$ higher inlet temperature. The maximum peak cladding temperature (PCT) was 1,173K for the severe accident condition of the LBLOCA, while the limit condition was 1,477K. The proliferation resistance potential of the thorium-based core was found to be much higher than that of the conventional $UO_2$ fuel core, $25\%$ larger in Bare Critical Mass (BCM), $60\%$ larger in Spontaneous Neutron Source (SNS), and $155\%$ larger in Thermal Generation (TG) rate; however, the radio-toxicity of the spent fuel was higher than that of $UO_2$ fuel, making it more environmentally unfriendly due to its high burnup rate.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.572-576
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• 2003

Open/closed porosity, pore size and its distribution and pore type as a funtion of sintered density of UO$_2$-20 wt％CeO$_2$ pellets were investigated. Pore appeared almost closed-type with the density above 96％ of the theoretical density. Bimodal pore size distribution was observed regardless of the sintered density, but the number of pore decreased with increasing the sintered density. The shape of pore was changed from irregular shape to round type with increasing the sintered density.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.411-420
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• 2018

This study presents a revised crackling core model for the description of $UO_2$ sphere oxidation in air atmosphere. For close reproduction of the sigmoid behavior exhibited in $UO_2$ to $U_3O_8$ conversion, the fragmentation effect contributing to the increased reactive surface area and the concept of variable grain conversion time were considered in the model development. Under the assumptions of two-step successive reaction of $UO_2{\rightarrow}U_3O_7{\rightarrow}U_3O_8$ and final grain conversion time equivalent to ten times the initial grain conversion time, the revised model showed good agreement with the experimental data measured at 599 - 674 K and a lowest deviation when compared with Nucleation and Growth model and AutoCatalytic Reaction model. The evaluated activation energy at 100% conversion to $U_3O_8$, $57.6kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$, was found to be closer to the experimentally extrapolated value than to the value determined in AutoCatalytic Reaction model, $48.6kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.63-72
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• 2020

Dissolved hexavalent uranium can exist in the form of several different chemical species. Furthermore, species distributions depend on the pH value of the aqueous solution. Representatively, UO₂²⁺, UO₂OH⁺, (UO₂)₂(OH)₂²⁺, and (UO₂)₃(OH)₅⁺ species coexist in solutions at acidic and circumneutral pH values. When amorphous silica particles are suspended in an aqueous solution, the dissolved chemical species are easily adsorbed onto silica surfaces. In this study, it was examined whether the species distribution of the adsorbed U(VI) on a silica surface followed that of the dissolved U(VI) in an aqueous solution. Time-resolved luminescence spectra of three different dissolved species (UO₂²⁺, UO₂OH⁺, and (UO₂)₃(OH)₅⁺) and two different adsorbed species (≡SiO₂UO₂, ≡SiO₂(UO₂)OH^-, or ≡SiO₂(UO₂)₃(OH)^5-) were measured in the pH range 3.5-7.5. The spectral shapes of these chemical species were compared by changing the pH value; consequently, it was confirmed that the species distribution of the adsorbed U(VI) species was different from that of the dissolved U(VI) species.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.321-322
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• 2009

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.276-276
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• 1999