• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2010

In the present work, an electrowinning process in the LiCl-KCl/Cd system is considered to model and analyze the electrotransport of the actinide and rare-earth elements. A simple dynamic modeling of this process was performed by taking into account the material balances and diffusion-controlled electrochemical reactions in a diffusion boundary layer at an electrode interface between the molten salt electrolyte and liquid cadmium cathode. The proposed modeling approach was based on the half-cell reduction reactions of metal chloride occurring on the cathode. This model demonstrated a capability for the prediction of the concentration behaviors, a faradic current of each element and an electrochemical potential as function of the time up to the corresponding electrotransport satisfying a given applied current based on a galvanostatic electrolysis. The results of selected case studies including five elements (U, Pu, Am, La, Nd) system are shown, and a preliminary simulation is carried out to show how the model can be used to understand the electrochemical characteristics and provide better information for developing an advanced electrowinner.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.69-69
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• 2019

The distillation of liquid cathode is necessary to separate cadmium from the actinide elements in the pyroprocessing since the actinide deposits are dissolved or precipitated in a liquid cathode. It is very important to avoid a splattering of cadmium during evaporation due to the high vapor pressure. Several methods have been proposed to lower the splattering of cadmium during distillation. One of the important methods is an installation of crucible cover on the distillation crucible. A multi-layer porous round cover was proposed to avoid a cadmium splattering in our previous study. In this study, the effect of crucible cover on the cadmium distillation was examined to develop a splatter shield. Various surrogates were used for the actinides in the cadmium. The surrogates such as bismuth, zirconia, and tungsten don't evaporate at the operational temperature of the Cd distiller due to their low vapor pressures. The distillation experiments were carried out in a crucible equipped with cover and in a crucible without cover. About 40 grams of Cd was distilled at a reduced pressure for two hours at various temperatures. The mixture of the cadmium and the surrogate was heated at $470{\sim}620^{\circ}C$. Most of the bismuth remained in the crucible equipped with cover after distillation under $580^{\circ}C$ for two hours, whereas small amount of bismuth decreased in the crucible without cover above $580^{\circ}C$. The liquid bismuth escaped with liquid cadmium drop from the crucible without cover. It seems that the crucible cover played a role to prevent the splash of the liquid cadmium drop. The effect of the cover was not clear for the tungsten or zirconia surrogate since the surrogates remained as a solid powder at the experimental temperature. From the results of this work, it can be concluded that the crucible cover can be used to minimize the deposit loss by prevention of escape of liquid drop from the crucible during distillation of liquid cathode.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2001

Natural alpha radiation produced a stable defect center to certain minerals. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance(EPR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool f3r quantifying this defect center. EPR method has been applied to trace alpha-radiation effect around the uranium ore deposit. The results show that EPR technique can be used to measure rapidly and nondestructively the defect center produced by natural alpha radiation. In general, a good correlation was achieved between defect center concentration and actinide elements(U, Th). These results imply that the concentration of defect center is dependent on the alpha radiation dose over long time scale.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.05a
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• pp.51-52
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• 2018

Selective oxidation of RE elements from the U/RE metal ingot was studied in this paper using electrochemical process. Constant potential of -1.7V was applied between anode and cathode, where the potential value corresponds to standard potentials between actinide and rare earth materials. When the current values approached to nearly 0 mA, the reaction was finished. It is confirmed from the EPMA analysis that only U part of the U/RE ingot was remained. The metal recovered to the zinc cathode was obtained through the distillation process and it is being chemically analyzed in the KAERI analytical laboratory.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2009

Absorption spectra for a quantitative analysis of actinide elements such as U(VI) and Pu(V) were measured by using a liquid waveguide capillary cell (LWCC) which has an optical path length of 1.0 meter. In order to investigate radioactive elements, a LWCC is installed in a glove box and is coupled to a spectrophotometer with optical fibers. Limits of detection (LOD) for the system were determined as 0.74 and 0.35 M with molar absorption coefficients of 8.14${\pm}$0.07 (414 nm) and 17.00${\pm}$0.16 (569 nm) $M^{-1}cm^{-1}$ for U(VI) and Pu(V) ions, respectively. The measured LOD values are about 30 times more sensitive when compared to those achievable by using a conventional quartz cell with an optical path length of 1.0 cm. As an application with an enhanced sensitivity, a quantitative analysis for micromolar concentrations of Pu(V) has been performed to decrease the uncertainty in the formation constant of the Pu(VI)-OH complex.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.163-174
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• 2006

The $Ph{\acute{e}}bus$ FP project is an international reactor safety project. Its main objective is to study the release, transport and retention of fission products in a severe accident of a light water reactor (LWR). The FPT4 test was performed with a fuel debris bed geometry, to look at late phase core degradation and the releases of low volatile fission products and actinides. Post Test Analyses results indicate that releases of noble gases (Xe, Kr) and high-volatile fission products (Cs, I) were nearly complete and comparable to those obtained during $Ph{\acute{e}}bus$ tests performed with a fuel bundle geometry (FPT1, FPT2). Volatile fission products such as Mo, Te, Rb, Sb were released significantly as in previous tests. Ba integral release was greater than that observed during FPT1. Release of Ru was comparable to that observed during FPT1 and FPT2. As in other $Ph{\acute{e}}bus$ tests, the Ru distribution suggests Ru volatilization followed by fast redeposition in the fuelled section. The similar release fraction for all lanthanides and fuel elements suggests the released fuel particles deposited onto the plenum surfaces. A blockage by molten material induced a steam by-pass which may explain some of the low releases. The revaporisation testing under different atmospheres (pure steam, $H_2/N_2$ and steam /$H_2$) and up to $1000^{\circ}C$ was performed on samples from the first upper plenum. These showed high releases of Cs for all the atmospheres tested. However, different kinetics of revaporisation were observed depending on the gas composition and temperature. Besides Cs, significant revaporisations of other elements were observed: e.g. Ag under reducing conditions, Cd and Sn in steam-containing atmospheres. Revaporisation of small amounts of fuel was also observed in pure steam atmosphere.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.67-83
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• 2012

In order to evaluate die geochemical characteristics of sediment in a semi-enclosed bay used as shellfish and fish farming area, the concentrations of metallic(V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co. Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, Cd, Hg, Ph, As) and non-metallic(P, Se) elements and uranium were measured in the surface sediment samples collected from 19 stations of Gamak Bay in April 2010. Metal contamination status in the sediments were also evaluated using the sediment quality guidelines(SQGs) proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) and the enrichment factor(EF). The concentrations of elements in sediment were mainly controlled by quartz-dilution effect(V, Cr, Fe, Co and Ni), the dilution effect of organic matter(Cd and U), and metal redistribution by the decomposition of organic matter(Mn, Ag, As, and Se). The concentrations of metals, except As and Ni, in sediments from all sampling stations were lower than ERL values of NOAA. Conclusively, the surface sediment of Gamak Bay was slightly polluted with Ni, Ag, Cd, and Cd but was not polluted with other elements on the basis of EF results. Our results suggest that the surface sediment in Gamak Bay is not polluted by metallic elements.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2007

This study was performed to evaluate the co- and mutual separation for Am, Cm and RE elements from the simulated multi-component solution equivalent to real HLW level by a Zr-DEHPA(di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid containing Zirconium)/$NDD(n-dodecane)-HNO_3$ extraction system. Zr-DEHPA was self-synthesized and the optimal condition of (15g/L Zr-1M DEHPA)/NDD-1M $HNO_3$ was selected taking into consideration of prevention of the third phase, and effects of concentration of DEHPA, nitric acid and impregnant amount of Zr on the co-extraction of Am, Cm and RE. In that condition, the extraction yields were 81% (Am), 85% (Cm), more than 80% (RE elements), 98% (Mo), 85% (Fe), 98% (U), 73% (Np), and less than 5% (other elements) so that the system developed for the co-extraction of Am-Cm/RE was proved to be available. For that, however, U, Np, Mo and Fe was elucidated to have to be removed in advance, and Zr inducing the third phase formation was found to be practically excluded. The co-extracted Am-Cm/RE were sequentially separated in an order of Am-Cm (stripping agent : 0.05 M DTPA-1M Lactic acid of pH 3.6)${\rightarrow}RE$ (stripping agent : 5M $HNO_3$), and then their separation factors were evaluated. At above conditions, Am of 65.4%, Cm of 63.9%, RE (except for Y) of more than 85% were stripped.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.307-320
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• 2003

Garnet has been considered as a possible matrix for the immobilization of radioactive actinides. It is expected that Fe­based garnet be able to have the high substitution ability of actinide elements because ionic radius of Fe in tetrahedral site is larger than that of Si of Si­based garnet. Accordingly, we synthesized Fe­garnet with the batch composition of $Ca_{2,5}$C $e_{0.5}$Z $r_2$F $e_3$ $O_{12}$ and $Ca_2$CeZrFeF $e_3$ $O_{12}$ and studied their phase relations and properties. Mixed samples were fabricated in pellet forms under the pressure of 400 kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ and were sintered in the temperature range of 1100∼140$0^{\circ}C$ in atmospheric conditions. Phase identification and chemical composition of synthesized samples were analyzed by XRD and SEM/EDS. In results, where the compounds were sintered at 130$0^{\circ}C$, we optimally obtained Fe­garnets as the main phase, even though some minor phases like perovskite were included. The compositions of Fe­garnets synthesized from the batch compositions of $Ca_{2,5}$C $e_{0.5}$Z $r_2$F $e_3$ $O_{12}$ and $Ca_2$CeZrFeF $e_3$ $O_{12}$, are $Ca_{2.5­3.2}$C $e_{0.3­0.7}$Z $r_{1.8­2.8}$F $e_{1.9­3.2}$ $O_{12}$ and $Ca_{2.2­2.5}$C $e_{0.8­1.0}$Z $r_{1.3­1.6}$ F $e_{0.4­.07}$ F $e_{3­3.2}$ $O_{12}$, respectively. Ca contents were exceeded and Ce contents were exceeded or depleted in 8­coodinated site, comparing to the initial batch composition. These results were caused by the compensation of the difference of ionic radius between Ca and Ce.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.213-218
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• 2009

Electrowinning process recovers uranium with actinide elements from spent fuels and is a key step in the Pyroprocessing because of proliferation resistance. An analysis of heat transfer of the Electrowinning cell was conducted to develop basic tool for designing engineering-scale Electrowinner. For the calculation of the heat transfer, ANSYS CFX commercial code was adapted. As a result of the calculation, the vertical Heating Zone length had great effect upon temperature of LiCl-KCl eutectic salt. To maintain constant temperature in the salt, the Heating Zone length should be three times longer than the height of the salt. However, the argon and salt temperatures were barely affected by the Cooling Zone length. The temperature under the Cell cover was mainly influenced by the number of the cooling plates. When the cooling plates were installed more than the number of 5, temperature under the cover was maintained below $250^{\circ}C$. These temperature properties had similar tendency toward the temperature of the Cell which was measured from experiments, Simulated heat transfer information from this study could be used to design engineering-scale Electrowinner.