• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.311-312
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• 2005

The precipitation of U(VI) in the presence of phosphate and carbonate was investigated in the pH range of 4 to 13 and the following was obtained as a result of this experimental condition. U(VI) precipitates as a $NaUO_{2}PO_{4}$ at pH<9 but as mixtures of phosphate, hydroxides and/or carbonate at pH>9. The portion of the phosphate in the precipitate decreases almost linearly to near zero with an increasing pH in the range of 9 to 13. The U(VI) phosphate is dissolved by the carbonate complex formation at pH<10.5. The ternary complex of a carbonate and phosphate is not found.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.231-242
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• 2012

The performance of a nanofiltration membrane for treatment of a low-level radioactive liquid waste was investigated through static and dynamic tests. The liquid waste ("carbonated water") was obtained during conversion of $UF_6$ to $UO_2$. In the static tests membrane samples were immersed in the waste for 24, 48 or 72 h. The transport properties of the samples (hydraulic permeability, permeate flow, selectivity) were evaluated before and after immersion in the waste. In the dynamic tests the waste was permeated in a permeation flow front system under 0.5 MPa, to determine the selectivity of NF membranes to uranium. The surface layer of the membrane was characterized by zeta potential, field emission microscopy, atomic force spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy. The static test showed that the pore size distribution of the selective layer was altered, but the membrane surface charge was not significantly changed. 99% of uranium was rejected after the dynamic tests.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1909-1913
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• 2022

This work shows the technical feasibility to obtain uranium tetrafluoride through an electrochemical mercury cell. This technique represents a custom scaling-up methodology from our previous studies to obtain UF₄ using the dropping mercury electrode cell. The UF₄ products were obtained from natural UF₆ gas, which was hydrolyzed to obtain a 50 g/L UO₂F₂ solution. The electrolysis cell was made using a mercury reservoir, to reach UF₄ production rates of 1 Kg UF₄/day. This custom design allowed a stable UF₄ production thanks to the mercury cathode, which do not permit the accumulation of solid products in its surface. The cell was tested using current densities from 5.000 to 17.500 A/m² and temperatures from 25 to 65 ℃. The maximum current efficiency achieved under these conditions was 80%. The UF₄ powders possessed spherical morphology, with diameters between 20 and 80 ㎛. Compared to the SnCl₂ precipitation, this process did not allow preferential growth of the precipitates. This improved the compaction of the UF₄ - Mg powders mixtures, with densities between 3.0 and 3.5 g/cm³. The purity of the UF₄ products was over 98%.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.317-323
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• 2001

Dissolution procedures of Monsanto catalyst which has been used to produce acrylronitrile by ammoxidation of propylene have been studied. Optimum dissolution condition of the catalyst supported on silica was obtained by microwave digestion system with mixed of HCl, HF and $H_2O_2$. When a safety device was activated by increased pressure in microwave vessel, Bi, Fe, Mo, Sb and U were not volatilized even though silica was volatilized as $SiF_4$. Quantification results by this method were $SiO_2$ $50.5{\pm}0.4%$, $Sb_2O_3$ $29.6{\pm}0.6%$, $UO_2$ $10.2{\pm}0.1%$, $Fe_2O_3$ $6.1{\pm}0.1%$, $MoO_3$ $0.73{\pm}0.01%$ and $Bi_2O_3$ $0.49{\pm}0.01%$ by ICP-AES and the relative error was within ${\pm}10%$ except bismuth.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.231-240
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• 2002

Microbial metal reduction influences the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and metals as well as plays an important role in the bioremediation of metals, radionuclides, and organic contaminants. The use of bacteria to facilitate the production of magnetite nanoparticles and the formation of carbonate minerals may provide new biotechnological processes for material synthesis and carbon sequestration. Metal-reducing bacteria were isolated from a variety of extreme environments, such as deep terrestrial subsurface, deep marine sediments, water near Hydrothemal vents, and alkaline ponds. Metal-reducing bacteria isolated from diverse extreme environments were able to reduce Fe(III), Mn(IV), Cr(VI), Co(III), and U(VI) using short chain fatty acids and/or hydrogen as the electron donors. These bacteria exhibited diverse mineral precipitation capabilities including the formation of magnetite ($Fe_3$$O_4$), siderite ($FeCO_3$), calcite ($CaCO_3$), rhodochrosite ($MnCO_3$), vivianite [$Fe_3$($PO_4$)$_2$ .$8H_2$O], and uraninite ($UO_2$). Geochemical and environmental factors such as atmospheres, chemical milieu, and species of bacteria affected the extent of Fe(III)-reduction as well as the mineralogy and morphology of the crystalline iron mineral phases. Thermophilic bacteria use amorphous Fe(III)-oxyhydroxide plus metals (Co, Cr, Ni) as an electron acceptor and organic carbon as an electron donor to synthesize metal-substituted magnetite. Metal reducing bacteria were capable of $CO_2$conversion Into sparingly soluble carbonate minerals, such as siderite and calcite using amorphous Fe(III)-oxyhydroxide or metal-rich fly ash. These results indicate that microbial Fe(III)-reduction may not only play important roles in iron and carbon biogeochemistry in natural environments, but also be potentially useful f3r the synthesis of submicron-sized ferromagnetic materials.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.242-258
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• 2004

The duplex burnable poison absorbers concept was suggested by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. This BP rod is composed of inner region of natural U-Gd$_2$O$_3$ and outer shell of enriched UO$_2$-Er$_2$O$_3$. It is expected that this burnable absorber has same reactivity control capability with gadolinia burnable absorber used in extened fuel cycle. In order to evaluate the nuclear feasibility of duplex BPs, the nuclear design characteristics were compared with that of four types of burnable absorbers; gadolinia, erbia, IFBA, dysprosia duplex BP on 24 months fuel cycle for Korean Standard Nuclear Power plants. According to the evaluation results of nuclear characteristics, the duplex BPs were better than other BPs on k-infinitives, reactivity holddown worth (RHW), pin power peaking and moderator temperature coefficient (MTC). The possibility of nuclear core design was also confirmed based on the optimized fuel assemblies which were searched for a sensitivity analysis. Characteristics of core design with duplex BPs was compared with that of reference core with gadolinia BPs for cycle length, power peaking and MTC. The duplex BP core had a little longer cycle length by 4 to 7 days because of increased amount of fissile in enriched uranium at the outer shell of duplex BP In case of power peaking F$\_$Q/ of duplex BP core was reduced from 1.5773 to 1.5335. MTC was also less -0.48 pcm/C than that of reference core. Finally, evaluation of fuel cycle economy was performed for the manufacturing feasibility test and fuel cost evaluation with duplex BPs. Fuel cycle economy of duplex BP core almost was equivalent with that of gadolinia BP core.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.22 no.1 s.63
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• pp.49-56
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• 2007

The effects of pH, time, dielectric constant of solvent and crosslink on adsorption of metal ions by 1-aza-18-crown-6-styrene-DVB(divinylbenzene) resin(resin) adsorbent were investigated. The metal ions were showed fast adsorption on the resins in over pH 3. The equilibrium time for adsorption of metallic ions was about two hours and the adsorption selectivity determined in methanol was in increasing order $UO_2^{2+}>Mg^{2+}>Ho^{3+}$ ions. The adsorption was in the order of 1%, 2% and 4% crosslink resin and adsorption of resin decreased in proportion to the order of dielectric constant of solvents.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.348-352
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• 1999

Barium uranium sulfides, $BaUS_3$ and $BaU_2B_5$, were synthesized in a single phase by the reactin of $(Ba, UO_2)(NO_3)_2$ at Ba/U=1 and 0.5 with carbon disulfide at 1273 K for 6 h. They crystallized in orthorhombic structure with space group, Pnma. The lattice parameters a, b and c are 7.493, 10.38 and 7.238$\AA$ for $BaUS_3$ and 7.525, 8.475 and 11.858$\AA$ for $BaU_2S_5$, respectively. The electrical conductivity of these compunds increased with increasing temperature above 200K, below which however, it was nearly temperature independent. The Hall coefficient suggested that they are n-type semiconductors.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.214-221
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• 1997

The densification and grain growth mechanisms of $UO_{2+x}$ in $H_2$ and in $CO_2$ have been investigated. Uranium dioxide powder compacts were sintered at 1$700^{\circ}C$ in $H_2$ or at 110$0^{\circ}C$ in $CO_2$ for various times from 0.5 h to 16 h. The grain size and density of the specimens were measured. From the measured data, the mechanisms of the densification and grain growth were determined by use of available kinetic equations which express the relations between densification and grain growth. In both atmospheres, it has been found that the densification was controlled by the lattice diffusion and the grain growth by the surface diffusion of atoms around pores. It appears that the surface diffusivity as well as the lattice diffusivity increase considerably with the increase in O/U ratio in the specimen.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2017

Synthetic resins were combined 1-aza-12-crown-4 macrocyclic ligand with styrene divinylbenzene copolymer having 1%, 2%, 8%, and 16% crosslink by a substitution reaction. These synthetic resins were confirmed by chlorine content, elementary analysis, SEM, surface area, and IR-spectrum. As the results of the effects of pH, crosslink of synthetic resin, and dielectric constant of a solvent on metal ion adsorption for resin adsorbent, the metal ions showed high adsorption at pH 3 or over. Adsorption selectivity for the resin in ethanol solvent was the order of uranium ($UO_2{^{2+}}$) > cobalt ($Co^{2+}$) > dysprosium ($Dy^{3+}$) ion, adsorbability of the metal ion was the crosslink in order of 1%, 2%, 8%, and 16% and it was increased with the lower dielectric constant. In addition, theses metal ions could be separated in the column with 1% crosslink resin by using nitric acid (pH 2.0) as an eluent.