• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.301-307
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• 2005

The morphology of the high burnup $UO_2$ spent fuel, which was oxidized and annealed in a PIA (Post Irradiation Annealing) apparatus, has been observed. The high burnup fuel irradiated in Ulchin Unit 2, average rod burnup 57,000 MWd/tU, was transported to the KAERI's PIEF. The test specimen was used with about 200 mg of the spent $UO_2$ fuel fragment of the local burnup 65,000 MWd/tU. This specimen was annealed at $1400^{\circ}C$ for 4hrs after the oxidation for 3hrs to grain boundary using the PIA apparatus in a hot-cell. In order to oxidize the grain boundary, the oxidation temperature increased up to $500^{\circ}C$ and held for 3hrs in the mixed gas (60 ml He and 100 ml STD-air) atmosphere. The amount of 85Kr during the whole test process was measured to know the fission gas release behavior using the online system of a beta counter and a gamma counter. The detailed micro-structure was observed by a SEM to confirm the change of the fuel morphology after this test. As the annealing temperature increased, the fission products were observed to move to the grain surface and grain boundary of the $UO_2$ matrix. This specimen was re-structured through the reduction process, and the grain sizes were distributed from 5 to $10\;{\mu}m$.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.484-492
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• 1994

Microstructures of Nb$_2$O$_{5}$-doped UO$_2$ pellets have been investigated during sintering under H$_2$ and $CO_2$ atmospheres. Pellets are sintered at 1$700^{\circ}C$ in H$_2$ atmosphere and at 130$0^{\circ}C$ in $CO_2$ atmosphere for 1 to 41 hr. The addison of Nb$_2$O$_{5}$ causes the formation of large pores, which shrink to some extent in H$_2$ atmosphere but very little in $CO_2$. Fine pores in the Nb$_2$O$_{5}$-doped UO$_2$ pellet are almost annihilated when sintered under H$_2$ atmosphere but little changed under $CO_2$ atmosphere. The increase in grain size due to Nb$_2$O$_{5}$ addition is much larger in H$_2$ atmosphere than in $CO_2$. Thus the enhancement of uranium diffusion in UO$_2$ due to the Nb$_2$O$_{5}$ addition is thought to be more significant in H$_2$ atmosphere. Microstructures of Nb$_2$O$_{5}$-doped UO$_2$ pellets sintered in H$_2$ atmosphere are discussed from the viewpoint of in-reactor performance. Possible defects formation due to Nb$_2$O$_{5}$ addition is discussed to explain the enhancement of uranium diffusion in H$_2$ and $CO_2$ atmospheres.> atmospheres.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.338-345
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• 2004

This study examines the sensitivity of several fabrication parameters for dry process fuel, using a random sampling technique. The in-pile performance of dry process fuel with irradiation was calculated by a modified ELESTRES code, which is the CANDU fuel performance code system. The performance of the fuel rod was then analyzed using a Monte Carlo simulation to obtain the uncertainty of the major outputs, such as the fuel centerline temperature, the fission gas pressure, and the plastic strain. It was proved by statistical analysis that for both the dry process fuel and the $UO_2$ fuel, pellet density is one of the most sensitive parameters, but as for the fission gas pressure, the density of the $UO_2$ fuel exhibits insensitive behavior compared to that of the dry process fuel. The grain size of the dry process fuel is insensitive to the fission gas pressure, while the grain size of the $UO_2$ fuel is correlative to the fission gas pressure. From the calculation with a typical CANDU reactor power envelop, the centerline temperature, fission gas pressure, and plastic strain of the dry process fuel are higher than those of the $UO_2$ fuel.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.196-200
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• 1997

The variation of sintered density and fain size in ex-AUC, ex-ADU and granulated ex-ADU UO$_2$ pellets in which 0.1~1.0wt% Nb$_2$O$_{5}$ were doped were examined. Pellets were sintered in an atmosphere of H$_2$ at 1$700^{\circ}C$ for 4h. All the specimens tested shooed more than 94% T.D.(Theoretical Density). Sintered density decreased with increasing the amount of Nb$_2$O$_{5}$. Powder types had little influence on the sintered density. Pore size distribution was shifted to the larger ones as Nb$_2$O$_{5}$ was added. The increase of total pore volume and grain growth due to the addition of Nb$_2$O$_{5}$ were thought to be the cause of the sintered density decrease. The largest grain size was seen in the 1. 0wt% Nb$_2$O$_{5}$ doped ex-AUC UO$_2$ pellets. Their average size was 13.9 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$.m}$.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2022

In this research, curium oxide (CmO₂) is studied as fuel for VVER-1200 reactor to get an attention to its energy value and possibilities. For this purpose, CmO₂ is used in fuel rods or integrated burnable absorber (IBA) rods with and without UO₂ and then compared with the conventional fuel assembly of VVER-1200 reactor. It is burned to 60 GWd/t by using SRAC-2006 code and JENDL-4.0 data library. From these studies, it is found that CmO₂ is competent like UO₂ as a fuel due to higher fission cross-section of ²⁴³Cm and ²⁴⁵Cm isotopes and neutron capture cross-section of ²⁴⁴Cm and ²⁴⁶Cm isotopes. As a result, when some or all of the UO₂ of fuel rods or IBA rods are replaced by CmO₂, we get a similar k-inf like the reference even with lower enrichment UO₂ fuels. These studies show that the use of CmO₂ as IBA rods is more effective than the fuel rods considering the initially loaded amount, power peaking factor (PPF), fuel temperature and void coefficient, and the quality of spent fuel. From a detailed study, 3% CmO₂ with inert material ZrO₂ in IBA rods are recommended for the VVER-1200 reactor assembly from the once through concept.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 1999

Several new ion exchange resins have been synthesized from chloromethyl styrene-1, 4-di-vinylbenzene with 1%, 2%, 5% and 10%-crosslinking and macrocyclic ligands of cryptand type by interpolymerization method. The adsorption characteristics and the pH, time, solvents and concentration dependence of the adsorption of metal ions by this resin were studied. The correlation between the separation characteristics of uranium and transition metal on the resins and the stability constants of complexes with macrocyclic ligands have been examined. The resins were very stable in both acidic and basic media and had good resistance to heat at $280^{\circ}C$. The $UO_2^{2+}$ aqueous solution was not adsorbed on the resins below pH 3.0, but the power of adsorption of $UO_2^{2+}$ increased rapidly above pH 4.0. The optimum equilibrium time for adsorption of metallic ions was twenty minutes and adsorptive power decreased in proportion to crosslinking size of the resins and order of dielectric constants of solvents used and the selective sequence for metal cations is in the order of $UO_2^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$ and $Ce^{3+}$ .

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2000

Several new ion exchange resins have been synthesized from chloromethyl styrene-l,4-divinylbenzine with 1%, 2%, 10% and 20%-crosslink and macrocyclic ligands of cryptand type by interpolymerization method. The adsorption characteristics and the pH, time, solvents and concentration dependence of the adsorption of metal ions by this resin were studied. The correlation between the separation characteristics of uranium and transition metal on the resins and the stability constants of complexes with macrocyclic ligands have been examined. The resins were very stable in both acidic and basic media and have good resistance to heat. The $UO_2^{2+}$ was not adsorbed on the resins below pH 3.0, but the power of adsorption of $UO_2^{2+}$ increased rapidly above pH 4.0. The optimum equilibrium time for adsorption of metallic ions was two hours and adsorptive power decreased in proportion to crosslink size of the resins and order of dielectric constants of solvents used and the selective sequence for metal cations was in the order of $UO_2^{2+}$, $Ni{2+}$ and $Nd{3+}$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1995.05a
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• pp.656-661
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• 1995

Ex-AUC 공정으로 제조된 $UO_2$ 분말에 대하여 ball-milling 시간 (0-4 시간)에 따른 분말의 특성변화 그리고 성형성(성형압력 구간 : 200~400 MPa)을 조사하였다. ex-AUC $UO_2$ 분말에서는 그 입자크기가 비교적 커서 (평균 입자크기 : 28$\mu\textrm{m}$) ball-milling 의 효과가 크게 나타났다. Ball-mill 에 의한 분말입자의 미세화효과는 1 $\mu\textrm{m}$ 보다 큰 크기를 갖는 분말입자에서 주로 나타났다. 또한 ball-milling 에 의해 최대로 감소될 수 있는 분말입자 크기는 약 0.5$\mu\textrm{m}$로 나타났다. Ball-milling 시간에 따라 분말입자 크기는 감소하였으며, 동일한 성형조건하에서 ball-milling 처리된 분말의 성형밀도는 원료분말의 것에 비하여 증가하였다. 이것은 ball-milling 처리에 의해 미분쇄된 분말입자에 기인되는 것으로 나타났다.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.358-370
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• 1988

Several new ion exchange resins have been synthesized from chloromethyl styrene-1,4-divinylbenzene(DVB) with 1%, 2%, 4%, and 10%-crosslinking and macrocyclic ligands of cryptand type by interpolymerization method. The adsorption characteristics and the pH, time, solvents and concentration dependence of the adsorption of metal ions by this resin were studied. The correlation between the separation characteristics of uranium, rare earths and transition metal on the resins and the stability constants of complexes with macrocyclic ligands have been examined. The resins were very stable in both acidic and basic media and have good resistance to heat at $280^{\circ}C$. The $UO_2^{+2}$ aqueous solution are not adsorbed on the resins below pH 3.0, but the power of adsorption of $UO_2^{2+}$ increased rapidly above pH 4.0. The optimum equilibrium time for adsorption of metallic ions was twenty minutes and adsorptive power decreased in proportion to crosslinking size of the resins and order of dielectric constants of solvents used and the selective sequence for metal cations is in the order of $UO_2^{2+},\;Cu^{2+}\;and\;Nd^{3+}$.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.135-142
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• 2015

In this study, we evaluated the adsorption/desorption of uranium (U) in pure soil environment using continuous column reactor. We additionally investigated the adsorption/desorption mechanism of U on vivianite surface in molecular scale using quantum calculation. We observed that below $0.1{\mu}M$ of U was detected after 20 d from U injection ($1{\mu}M$) in adsorption test. However, all of absorbed U was detached from vivianite surface in 24 h by injection of CARB solution ($1.44{\times}10^{-2}M\;NaHCO_3$ and $2.8{\times}10^{-3}M\;Na_2CO_3$). Based on exchange energy calculation, we found that $UO_2(CO_3)_2{^{2-}}$ and $UO_2(CO_3)_3{^{4-}}$ species have higher repulsive energy than $UO_2(OH)_2$ species. The results obtained from this study could be applied to predict the behavior of uranium in contaminated and remediation sites.