• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.259-267
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• 2018

Focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope and electron backscattered diffraction examinations were conducted in the center of a $73\;GWd/t_U\;UO_2$ fuel. They showed the formation of subdomains within the initial grains. The local crystal orientations in these domains were close to that of the original grain. Most of the fission gas bubbles were located on the boundaries. Their shapes were far from spherical and far from lenticular. No interlinked bubble network was found. These observations shed light on previous unexplained observations. They plead for a revision of the classical description of fission gas release mechanisms for the center of high burn-up $UO_2$. Yet, complementary detailed observations are needed to better understand the mechanisms involved.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.309-316
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• 2011

Molybdenum is the most abundant fission product since its fission yield is equivalent to that of xenon, and it has a very special role in the chemistry of nuclear fuel because it influences the oxygen potential of $UO_2$ fuel. In this study, the distribution of molybdenum in spent $UO_2$ fuel specimens with 33.3, 41.0 and 57.6 GWd/tU burnup was measured by a LA-ICP-MS system and the reproducibility of the measured data was obtained. The Mo distribution was almost constant along the radius of a fuel except an increase at the periphery of the fuel. It showed a drop in reproducibility with relatively high deviation of measured values for the highest burnup fuel. To explain this, the state of molybdenum in a $UO_2$ matrix and its effect on the oxidation behavior of $UO_2$ were investigated. The low reproducibility was explained by the segregation of molybdenum, and the inhibition of oxidation by the molybdenum was also observed.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.410-414
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• 2003

Characteristics of $UO_{2+x}$ powders oxidized at different temperatures were examined. Pellets were fabricated by adding these oxidation powders and their properties were also investigated. Particle size of the $UO_{2+x}$ powders decreased with increasing oxidation temperature while surface area increased. Only the powders oxidized at 35$0^{\circ}C$ enhanced the strength of green pellet. However, 35$0^{\circ}C$ oxidized powders added pellet had many surface defects. The difference of shrinkage rate between the oxidized and UO$_2$ powders was thought to be the cause of them.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.660-664
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• 2000

Effect of various kinds of additive such as AlOOH, Al(OH)3, Al2Si2O5(OH)4, Nb2O5, TiO2 and MgO on the properties and microstructures of UO2 pellet has been examined. All the tested dopants had played a role to reduce sintered density and open porosity. It was revealed that the addition of TiO2 made pellet more stable thermally. UO2 pellet doped with 0.2wt% TiO2 was swelled rather than densified after annealing for 24 hrs at 1$700^{\circ}C$. It was attributed to large pore with spherical shape. Titinia and silicon coexisted with Al element were more effective to increase grain size than other additives. It could be also revealed that the formation of liquid phase was the main cause of grain growth.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.1756-1763
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• 2020

The paper studies spark plasma sintering (SPS) of industrially used UO₂-based fuel containing integral fuel burnable absorber (IFBA) of neutrons Gd₂O₃. Densification dynamics of pristine UO₂ powder and the one added with 2 and 8 wt% of Gd₂O₃ under ultrasonication in liquid has been studied under SPS conditions at 1050, 1250, and 1450 ℃. Effect of sintering temperature on phase composition as well as on O/U stoichiometry has been investigated for UO₂ SPS ceramics. Sintering of uranium dioxide added with Gd₂O₃ yields solid solution (U,Gd)O₂, which is isostructural to UO₂. SEM with EDX and metallography were implemented to analyze the microstructure of the obtained UO₂ ceramics and composite UO₂-Gd₂O₃ one, particularly, open porosity, defects, and Gd₂O₃ distribution were studied. Microhardness, compressive strength and density were shown to reduce after addition of Gd₂O₃. Obtained results prove the hypothesis on formation of stable pores in the system of UO₂-Gd₂O₃ due to Kirkendall effect that reduces sintering efficiency. The paper expands fundamental knowledge on pros and cons of fuel fabrication with IFBA using SPS technology.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.337-344
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• 2020

Plant growth-promoting microorganisms promote plant growth by supplying nutrients to roots and interacting with the intrinsic factors in plants through volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this study, we evaluated the effect of UOS, plant growth-promoting fungi (PGPF) isolated from previous study, on the growth of Nicotiana tabacum L. var Xanthi nc. Phylogenetic analysis and GC-MS were used to identify the fungal species and the VOCs emitted by the UOS, respectively. The fresh weight of UOS-treated Nicotiana tabacum L. was 3.8 and 4.2-fold higher than that of the control groups grown in vertical and I-plates, respectively. Moreover, in the UOS-treated plants, the length of the primary root was half and the number of lateral roots were twice compared to those in control plants. The UOS was identified as Phoma sp. by studying spore and mycelial morphology and using phylogenetic analysis. GC-MS revealed that the VOC emitted by the UOS was hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane (D3). These results suggest that the UOS of Phoma sp. influences plant growth and root development through D3. We expect this UOS and its VOC, D3 to be utilized in the future to increase growth and enhance yield for other plants.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.867-874
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• 2009

Solubility of a radionuclide is important for defining the release source term of a radioactive waste in the safety and performance assessments of a radioactive waste repository. When the pH and redox potential of the KURT groundwater were changed by an electrical method, the concentrations of uranium and thorium released from $UO_2$(cr) and $ThO_2$(cr) at alkali pH(8.1 ${\sim}$ 11.4) and reducing potential (Eh < -0.2 V) conditions were less than $10^{-7}mole/L$. Unexpectedly, the concentration of tetravalent thorium is slightly higher than that of uranium at pH = 8.1 and Eh= -0.2 V conditions, and this difference may be due to the formation of hydroxide-carbonate complex ions. When $UO_2$(s) and $UO_2$(am, hyd.), and $ThO_2$(s) and $Th(OH)_4(am)$ were assumed as solubility limiting solid phases, the concentrations of uranium and thorium in the KURT groundwater calculated by the PHREEQC code were comparable to the experimental results. The dominating aqueous species of uranium and thorium were presumed as $UO_2(CO_3)_3^{4-}$ and $Th(OH)_3CO_3^-$ at pH = 8.1 ${\sim}$ 9.8, and $UO_2(OH)_3^-$ and $Th(OH)_4(aq)$ at pH = 11.4.

• 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 the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.574-582
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• 2009

$UO_2$ microsphere particles, core material of HTGR(High Temperature Gas Reactor) nuclear fuel, were prepared using by the GSP(Gel Supported Precipitation) method which is a modified-method of the wet sol-gel process. The spherical shape of initial liquid ADU droplets from the vibration nozzle system was continuously kept till the conversion to the final $UO_2$ microsphere. But the size of a final $UO_2$ microsphere was shrunken to about 25% of an initial ADU droplet size. Also, we found that the composition of dried-ADU gel particles was constituted of the very complicated phases, coexisted the U=O, C-H, N-H, N-O, and O-H functional groups by FT-IR. The important factors for obtain the no-crack $UO_2$ microsphere during the thermal treatment processes must perfectly wash out the remained-$NH_4NO_3$ within the ADU gel particle in washing process and the selections of an appropriate heating rate at a suitable gas atmosphere, during the calcining of ADU gel particles, the reducing of $UO_3$ particles, and the sintering of $UO_2$ particles, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.224.1-224.1
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• 2003