• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제50권7호
• /
• pp.1148-1153
• /
• 2018

The Leaking Fuel Experiment test facility was designed to simulate the activity release from spent leaking fuel rods under steady state and transient conditions in the spent fuel pool. The experimental rig included an electrically heated fuel rod with different defects and a cooling system. The fission product transport was simulated by potassium-chloride. The conductivity changes of the water in the cooling system were measured to provide information about the amount of released solution. Defects of different sizes and positions were applied, together with a wide range of rod powers to simulate decay heat. The produced data can be used for predicting the activity release from leaking fuel under storage conditions and for the interpretation of fuel examination procedures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제54권7호
• /
• pp.2395-2407
• /
• 2022

The sodium-cooled fast reactor is among the innovative nuclear technologies selected in the framework of the development of Generation IV concepts, allowing the irradiation of uranium-plutonium mixed oxide fuels (MOX). A fundamental step for the safety assessment of MOX-fuelled pins for fast reactor applications is the evaluation, by means of fuel performance codes, of the integral thermal-mechanical behaviour under irradiation, involving the fission gas behaviour and release in the fuel-cladding gap. This work is dedicated to the performance analysis of an inner-core fuel pin representative of the ASTRID sodium-cooled concept design, selected as case study for the benchmark between the GERMINAL and TRANSURANUS fuel performance codes. The focus is on fission gas-related mechanisms and integral outcomes as predicted by means of the SCIANTIX module (allowing the physics-based treatment of inert gas behaviour and release) coupled to both fuel performance codes. The benchmark activity involves the application of both GERMINAL and TRANSURANUS in their "pre-INSPYRE" versions, i.e., adopting the state-of-the-art recommended correlations available in the codes, compared with the "post-INSPYRE" code results, obtained by implementing novel models for MOX fuel properties and phenomena (SCIANTIX included) developed in the framework of the INSPYRE H2020 Project. The SCIANTIX modelling includes the consideration of burst releases of the fission gas stored at the grain boundaries occurring during power transients of shutdown and start-up, whose effect on a fast reactor fuel concept is analysed. A clear need to further extend and validate the SCIANTIX module for application to fast reactor MOX emerges from this work; nevertheless, the GERMINAL-TRANSURANUS benchmark on the ASTRID case study highlights the achieved code capabilities for fast reactor conditions and paves the way towards the proper application of fuel performance codes to safety evaluations on Generation IV reactor concepts.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제21권10호
• /
• pp.1522-1528
• /
• 2008

The objective of this study was to develop a model for simulating gastric digestion in the pig. The model was constructed to include the chemical and physical changes associated with gastric digestion such as enzyme release, digestion product removal and gastric emptying. Digesta was collected from the stomach cannula of pigs to establish system parameters and to document the ability of the model to simulate gastric digestion. The results showed that the average pH of gastric digesta increased significantly from 2.47 to 4.97 after feed consumption and then decreased 140 min postprandial. The model described the decrease in pH within the pigs' stomach as $pH_t=5.182e^{-0.0014t}$, where t represents the postprandial time in minutes. The cumulative distribution function of liquid digesta was $V_t=64.509e^{0.0109t}$. The average pepsin activity in the liquid digesta was 317Anson units/mL. There was significant gastric emptying 220 min after feed consumption. The cybernetic dynamic system of gastric digestion was set according to the above data in order to compare with in vivo changes. The time course of crude protein digestion predicted by the model was highly correlated with observed in vivo digestion (r = 0.97; p = 0.0001), Model prediction for protein digestion was higher than that observed for a traditional static in vitro method (r = 0.89; p = 0.0001).

• 보건교육건강증진학회지
• /
• 제22권2호
• /
• pp.195-213
• /
• 2005

Objectives: This study aims to determine fostering stress and mental health state that mothers of handicapped children perceive as primary care givers and to analyze their demand for information assistance in order to release their stress so that it can provide materials that contribute to establishment of assistance system for families with handicapped children. Methods: The research subjects were 340 mothers whose children went to a nursery for special children, 3 general nurseries and 6 special schools in Daegu, and the data were collected using structures questionnaires. The survey analyzed mothers' fostering stress, their demand for fostering information assistance, children's daily activity abilities. Component concepts of each scale was validated by adopting confirmatory factor analysis, and factors affecting demand for fostering information assistance were analyzed by adopting covariance structural analysis. Results: Younger mothers tend to have higher demand for information, and mothers with younger children or children with double handicaps also have higher demand. Mothers under 30 have the lowest demand for public health and medical care assistance and for home and community life assistance, while mothers with children with physical handicaps have the highest. The validity of component concepts was verified by categorizing as cognitive structure models fostering stress, information demand, children's daily activity abilities, and their appropriateness was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modelling. And then, GFI (more than 0.9), CFI (more than 0.9), TLI (more than 0.9) and RMSAE (less than 0.08) were used to evaluate the appropriateness. It was found that all the component concepts are valid, as every item is within appropriate range. The result of analyzing information demand demonstrated that children's handicap levels significantly affect their mothers' mental health, while fostering stress significantly affect mothers' metal health, information demand. As well, it was confirmed that mothers' mental health has a significant effect on information demand. Conclusions: Therefore, to reduce special children's mothers' uncertainty, helplessness and fostering burden, it is necessary to provide them with information on children's challenges, development and fostering and to offer them quality public health, medical care and welfare assistance along with family and local community life assistance.