• Title/Summary/Keyword: Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycle

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Statistical model for forecasting uranium prices to estimate the nuclear fuel cycle cost

  • Kim, Sungki;Ko, Wonil;Nam, Hyoon;Kim, Chulmin;Chung, Yanghon;Bang, Sungsig
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.49 no.5
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    • pp.1063-1070
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    • 2017
  • This paper presents a method for forecasting future uranium prices that is used as input data to calculate the uranium cost, which is a rational key cost driver of the nuclear fuel cycle cost. In other words, the statistical autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model and existing engineering cost estimation method, the so-called escalation rate model, were subjected to a comparative analysis. When the uranium price was forecasted in 2015, the margin of error of the ARIMA model forecasting was calculated and found to be 5.4%, whereas the escalation rate model was found to have a margin of error of 7.32%. Thus, it was verified that the ARIMA model is more suitable than the escalation rate model at decreasing uncertainty in nuclear fuel cycle cost calculation.

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE ANALYSIS TOOL: A FUTURE CODE

  • Kim, S.K.;Ko, W.I.;Lee, Yoon Hee
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.45 no.5
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    • pp.665-674
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    • 2013
  • This paper presents the development and validation methods of the FUTURE (FUel cycle analysis Tool for nUcleaR Energy) code, which was developed for a dynamic material flow evaluation and economic analysis of the nuclear fuel cycle. This code enables an evaluation of a nuclear material flow and its economy for diverse nuclear fuel cycles based on a predictable scenario. The most notable virtue of this FUTURE code, which was developed using C# and MICROSOFT SQL DBMS, is that a program user can design a nuclear fuel cycle process easily using a standard process on the canvas screen through a drag-and-drop method. From the user's point of view, this code is very easy to use thanks to its high flexibility. In addition, the new code also enables the maintenance of data integrity by constructing a database environment of the results of the nuclear fuel cycle analyses.

REVIEW OF SUPERCRITICAL CO2 POWER CYCLE TECHNOLOGY AND CURRENT STATUS OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

  • AHN, YOONHAN;BAE, SEONG JUN;KIM, MINSEOK;CHO, SEONG KUK;BAIK, SEUNGJOON;LEE, JEONG IK;CHA, JAE EUN
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.47 no.6
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    • pp.647-661
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    • 2015
  • The supercritical $CO_2$ (S-$CO_2$) Brayton cycle has recently been gaining a lot of attention for application to next generation nuclear reactors. The advantages of the S-$CO_2$ cycle are high efficiency in the mild turbine inlet temperature region and a small physical footprint with a simple layout, compact turbomachinery, and heat exchangers. Several heat sources including nuclear, fossil fuel, waste heat, and renewable heat sources such as solar thermal or fuel cells are potential application areas of the S-$CO_2$ cycle. In this paper, the current development progress of the S-$CO_2$ cycle is introduced. Moreover, a quick comparison of various S-$CO_2$ layouts is presented in terms of cycle performance.

DEVELOPMENT OF HOT CELL FACILITIES FOR DEMONSTRATION OF ACP

  • You, Gil-Sung;Choung, Won-Myung;Ku, Jeong-Hoe;Cho, Il-Je;Kook, Dong-Hak;Park, Seong-Won
    • Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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    • 2004.02a
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    • pp.191-204
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    • 2004
  • The research and development of effective management technologies of the spent fuels discharged from power reactors are an important and essential task of KAERI. In resent several years KAERI has focused on a project named "development and demonstration of the Advanced spent fuel Conditioning Process (ACP) in a laboratory scale." The Facility for ACP demonstration consists of two Hot Cells and auxiliary facilities. It is now in the final design stage and will be constructed in 2004. After construction of the facility the ACP equipments will be installed in Hot Cells. The ACP will be demonstrated by some simulated spent fuels first and then by spent fuels.

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SAFETY ASSESSMENT APPROACH AND ITS IMPLICATION ON THE ADVANCED NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE

  • Hwang, Yong-Soo;Kang, Chul-Hyung
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.42 no.1
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    • pp.37-46
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    • 2010
  • The development of advanced nuclear fuel cycle(ANFC) technology is essential to meet the national mission for energy independence via a nuclear option in Korea. The action target is to develop environmentally friendly, cost-effective measures to reduce the burden of long term disposal. The proper scenarios regarding potential radionuclide release from a repository have been developed in this study based on the advanced korean Reference Disposal System(A-KRS). To predict safety for the various scenarios, a new assessment code based on the GoldSim software has also been developed. Deterministic analysis indicates an environmental benefit from the ANFC as long as the solid waster from the ANFC act as a proper barrier.

Examination of Proliferation Resistance Assessment for Nuclear Fuel Cycles

  • Lee, Yoon-Hee;Lee, Kun-Jai
    • Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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    • 2009.06a
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    • pp.73-73
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    • 2009
  • There are many factors to evaluate nuclear fuel cycle such as safety, public acceptance, economics, etc.. Transparency, proliferation, environment issues, public acceptance and safety are essential to expansion of nuclear industry and proliferation resistance is one of key constraints in the deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems. Proliferation resistance is being considered as one of the most important factors in assessing advanced and innovative nuclear systems. IAEA defmes proliferation resistance as characteristics of nuclear energy system that impedes the diversion or undeclared production of nuclear material [1]. Barriers to proliferation is consist of intrinsic and extrinsic barriers(institutional measures). Intrinsic barriers are characterized in material barriers and technical barriers in general. Material barriers is intrinsic, or inherent, qualities of materials that reduce the inherent desirability or attractiveness of the material as an explosive. Isotopic, chemical, radiological, mass and bulk, detectability barriers are considered as material barriers attributes [2]. Proliferation resistance is examined for several nuclear fuel cycles based on previous study which is focused on the intrinsic barriers [3-4]. Pyroprocessing and DUPIC are considered as reprocessing technologies in Korea and the PWR direct disposal is considered. Comparative assessments of the proliferation attributes and merits of different fuel cycle systems will be performed and the optimal back-end fuel cycle and strategy will be proposed.

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A central facility concept for nuclear microreactor maintenance and fuel cycle management

  • Faris Fakhry;Jacopo Buongiorno;Steve Rhyne;Benjamin Cross;Paul Roege;Bruce Landrey
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.56 no.3
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    • pp.855-865
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    • 2024
  • Commercial deployment of nuclear microreactors presents an opportunity for the industry to rethink its approach to manufacturing, siting, operation and maintenance, and fuel cycle management as certain principles used in grid-scale nuclear projects are not applicable to a decentralized microreactor economy. The success of this nascent industry is dependent on its ability to reduce infrastructure, logistical, regulatory and lifecycle costs. A utility-like 'Central Facility' that consolidates the services required and responsibilities borne by vendors into one or a few centralized locations will be necessary to support the deployment of a fleet of microreactors. This paper discusses the requirements for a Central Facility, its implications on the cost structures of owners and suppliers of microreactors, and the impact of the facility for the broader microreactor industry. In addition, this paper discusses the pre-requisites for eligibility as well as the opportunities for a Central Facility host site. While there are many suitable locations for such a capability across the U.S., this paper considers a facility co-located with the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant and Savannah River Sites to illustrate how a Central Facility can leverage the existing infrastructure and stimulate a local ecosystem.

ECONOMIC VIABILITY TO BeO-UO2 FUEL BURNUP EXTENSION

  • Kim, S.K.;Ko, W.I.;Kim, H.D.;Chung, Yang-Hon;Bang, Sung-Sig;Revankar, Shripad T.
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.43 no.2
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    • pp.141-148
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    • 2011
  • This paper presents the quantitative analysis results of research on the burnup effect on the nuclear fuel cycle cost of BeO-$UO_2$ fuel. As a result of this analysis, if the burnup is 60 MWD/kg, which is the limit under South Korean regulations, the nuclear fuel cycle cost is 4.47 mills/kWh at 4.8wt% of Be content for the BeO-$UO_2$ fuel. It is, however, reduced to 3.70 mills/kWh at 5.4wt% of Be content if the burnup is 75MWD/kg. Therefore, it seems very advantageous, in terms of the economic aspect, to develop BeO-$UO_2$ fuel, which does not have any technical problem with its safety and is a high burnup & long life cycle nuclear fuel.

Evaluation of U-Zr Hydride Fuel for a Thorium Fuel Cycle in an RTR Concept

  • Lee, Kyung-Taek;Cho, Nam-Zin
    • Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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    • 1998.05a
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    • pp.52-57
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    • 1998
  • In this paper, we performed a design study of a thorium fueled reactor according to the design concept of the Radkowsky Thorium Reactor (RTR) and evaluated its overall performance. To enhance its performance and alleviate its problems, we introduced a new metallic uranium fuel, uranium-zirconium hydride (U-Zr $H_{1.6}$), as a seed fuel. For comparison, typical ABB/CE-type PWR based on SYSTBM 80+ and standard RTR-type thorium reactor were also studied. From the results of performance analysis, we could ascertain advantages of RTR-type thorium fueled reactor in proliferation resistance, fuel cycle economics, and back-end fuel cycle. Also, we found that enhancement of proliferation resistance and safer operating conditions may be achieved by using the U-Zr $H_{l.6}$ fuel in the seed region without additional penalties in comparison with the standard RTR's U-Zr fuelr fuelel

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