• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제45권1호
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• pp.29-40
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• 2013

Two different kinds of nuclear power plants produce a substantial amount of spent fuel annually in Korea. According to the current projection, it is expected that around 60,000 MtU of spent fuel will be produced from 36 PWR and APR reactors and 4 CANDU reactors by the end of 2089. In 2006, KAERI proposed a conceptual design of a geological disposal system (called KRS, Korean Reference disposal System for spent fuel) for PWR and CANDU spent fuel, as a product of a 4-year research project from 2003 to 2006. The major result of the research was that it was feasible to construct a direct disposal system for 20,000 MtU of PWR spent fuels and 16,000 MtU of CANDU spent fuel in the Korean peninsula. Recently, KAERI and MEST launched a project to develop an advanced fuel cycle based on the pyroprocessing of PWR spent fuel to reduce the amount of HLW and reuse the valuable fissile material in PWR spent fuel. Thus, KAERI has developed a geological disposal system for high-level waste from the pyroprocessing of PWR spent fuel since 2007. However, since no decision was made for the CANDU spent fuel, KAERI improved the disposal density of KRS by introducing several improved concepts for the disposal canister. In this paper, the geological disposal systems developed so far are briefly outlined. The amount and characteristics of spent fuel and HLW, 4 kinds of disposal canisters, the characteristics of a buffer with domestic Ca-bentonite, and the results of a thermal design of deposition holes and disposal tunnels are described. The different disposal systems are compared in terms of their disposal density.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권2호
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• pp.764-769
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• 2022

The United Arab Emirates is currently building and operating four units of the APR-1400 developed by a South Korean vendor, Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). This paper attempts to perform APR-1400 reactor core analysis by using the well-known two-step method. The two-step method was applied to the APR-1400 first cycle using the open-source nodal diffusion code, KOMODO. In this study, the group constants were generated using CASMO-4 fuel transport lattice code. The simulation was performed in Hot Zero Power (HZP) at steady-state and transient conditions. Some typical parameters necessary for the Nuclear Design Report (NDR) were evaluated in this paper, such as effective neutron multiplication factor, control rod worth, and critical boron concentration for steady-state analysis. Other parameters such as reactivity insertion, power, and fuel temperature changes during the Reactivity Insertion Accident (RIA) simulation were evaluated as well. The results from KOMODO were verified using PARCS and SIMULATE-3 nodal core simulators. It was found that KOMODO gives an excellent agreement.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제11권6호
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• pp.213-217
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• 2012

1) 선진 핵연료주기시설 관련 규제기술과 관련하여 인허가 안전심사의 경험이 없으며, 선진 핵연료주기시설 인허가를 위한 규제체계 및 안전성 평가방법 등의 개발이 필요한 단계이며 관련기기와 제반 공정에서 재료의 내식성을 평가하는 기준마련이 시급하다. 2) 선진 핵주기시설 관련 국내 기술수준을 분석하였고 그 핵심 공정인 전해환원, 전해정련, 전해제련공정의 실험변수를 조사하고 평가 필요항목을 정리하였다. 3) 전해환원과 전해정련공정의 경우 Hot-cell 내에 수분 및 산소가 일정 수준 이하로 유지되는 경우, 재료의 부식은 고려하지 않아도 되나 우라늄 잉곳 제조 공정에서 수냉 코일을 사용하게 되는 경우 물에 의한 부식을 고려해야 한다. 4) 전해 제련공정의 경우 LCC, RAR, Cd 증류공정에서 플랜지의 O-ring을 보호하기 위해 수냉 코일을 사용하게 되는 경우 물에 의한 부식을 고려해야 한다.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.90-96
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• 1984

장주기핵연료(長週期核燃料) 노심기법(爐心技法)에 의한 사용후핵연료(使用後核燃料)가 기존(旣存) 사용후핵연료저장시설(使用後核燃料貯藏施設)의 설계변경(設計變更)없이 동(同) 시설(施設)에 수용(受容) 가능(可能)한지를 결정(決定)하기 위하여 저장시설(貯藏施設)에서의 예상(豫想) 방사선피폭선량률(放射線被曝線量率) DLC-23/CASK (22n, 18g) 단면적(斷面積)자료(資料)와 ANISN-W 전산(電算)코드로 계산(計算)하여 설계기준치(設計基準値)와 비교(比較) 검토(檢討)하였다. 사용후핵연료내(使用後核燃料內)의 방사능량(放射能量) 및 감마선스펙트럼은 핵연료교체(核燃料交替)모델에 따라 ORIGEN 전산(電算)코드로 계산(計算)하였다. 방사선량률(放射線量率)의 계산(計算)에 있어서 저장조(貯藏槽)의 기하학적(幾何學的) 모델은 무한평판모형(無限平板模型)이며 저장(貯藏)된 사용후핵연료(使用後核燃料)의 구성물질(構成物質)과 방사선원(放射線源)은 핵연료집합체내(核燃料集合體內)에 균일(均一)하게 분포(分布)되었다고 가정(假定)하였다. 사용후핵연료저장조(使用後核燃料貯藏槽)에 저장(貯藏)된 핵연료집합체(核燃料集合體) 및 저장용수중(貯藏用水中) 방사성핵종(放射性核種)에 의한 방사선량률(放射線量率)의 계산(計算) 결과(結果)는 정상(正常) 및 사고수면시(事故水面時) 계산(計算)된 방사선량률(放射線量率)이 설계기준치(設計基準値)를 만족(滿足)시켜주는 것으로 나타났다.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제20권3호
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• pp.297-306
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• 2022

The acoustic emission (AE) is proposed as a feasible method for the real-time monitoring of the structural damage evolution in concrete materials that are typically used in the storage of nuclear wastes. However, the characteristics of AE signals emitted from concrete structures subjected to various environmental conditions are poorly identified. Therefore, this study examines the AE characteristics of the concrete structures during uniaxial compression, where the storage temperature and immersion conditions of the concrete specimens varied from 15℃ to 75℃ and from completely dry to water-immersion, respectively. Compared with the dry specimens, the water-immersed specimens exhibited significantly reduced uniaxial compressive strengths by approximately 26%, total AE energy by approximately 90%, and max RA value by approximately 70%. As the treatment temperature increased, the strength and AE parameters, such as AE count, AE energy, and RA value, of the dry specimens increased; however, the temperature effect was only minimal for the immersed specimens. This study suggests that the AE technique can capture the mechanical damage evolution of concrete materials, but their AE characteristics can vary with respect to the storage conditions.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 1997년도 추계학술발표회논문집(1)
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• pp.152-157
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• 1997

To test the viability of CANFLEX-SEU bundles in an existing CANDU 6 reactor, core follow-up simulation has been carried out using the reactor fueling simulation program of the CANDU 6, RFSP computer code, and a lattice physics code, WIMS-AECL. During the core follow-up, bundle and channel powers and zone levels have been checked against their operating limits at each simulation. It is observed from the simulation results that an equilibrium core loaded with 0.9 w/o CANFLEX-SEU bundles could be refueled ,and maintained for 550 FPD without any significant violations in the channel and bundle power limits and the permissible operating range of the liquid zone controllers.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권6호
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• pp.2230-2245
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• 2023

KANT (KAIST Advanced Nuclear Tachygraphy) is a PWR core simulator recently developed at Korea Advance Institute of Science and Technology, which solves three-dimensional steady-state and transient multigroup neutron diffusion equations under Cartesian geometries alongside the incorporation of thermal-hydraulics feedback effect for multi-physics calculation. It utilizes the standard Nodal Expansion Method (NEM) accelerated with various Coarse Mesh Finite Difference (CMFD) methods for neutronics calculation. For thermal-hydraulics (TH) calculation, a single-phase flow model and a one-dimensional cylindrical fuel rod heat conduction model are employed. The time-dependent neutronics and TH calculations are numerically solved through an implicit Euler scheme, where a detailed coupling strategy is presented in this paper alongside a description of nodal equivalence, macroscopic depletion, and pin power reconstruction. For validation of the steady, transient, and depletion calculation with pin power reconstruction capacity of KANT, solutions for various benchmark problems are presented. The IAEA 3-D PWR and 4-group KOEBERG problems were considered for the steady-state reactor benchmark problem. For transient calculations, LMW (Lagenbuch, Maurer and Werner) LWR and NEACRP 3-D PWR benchmarks were solved, where the latter problem includes thermal-hydraulics feedback. For macroscopic depletion with pin power reconstruction, a small PWR problem modified with KAIST benchmark model was solved. For validation of the multi-physics analysis capability of KANT concerning large-sized PWRs, the BEAVRS Cycle1 benchmark has been considered. It was found that KANT solutions are accurate and consistent compared to other published works.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.127-135
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• 2003

The primary contributors to the total occupational radiation exposure in operating nuclear power plants are operation and maintenance activities doting refueling outages. The Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400) includes a number of design improvements and plans to utilize advanced maintenance methods and robotics to minimize the annual collective dose. The major radiation exposure reduction features implemented in APR1400 are a permanent refueling pool seal, quick opening transfer tube blind flange, improved hydrogen peroxide injection at shutdown, improved permanent steam generator work platforms, and more effective temporary shielding. The estimated average annual occupational radiation exposure for APR1400 based on the reference plant experience and an engineering judgment is determined to be in the order of 0.4 man-Sv, which is well within the design goal of 1 man-Sv. The basis of this average annual occupational radiation exposure estimation is an eighteen (18) month fuel cycle with maintenance performed to steam generators and reactor coolant pumps during refueling outage. The outage duration is assumed to be 28 days. The outage work is to be performed on a 24 hour per day basis, seven (7) days a week with overlapping twelve (12) hour work shifts. The occupational radiation exposure for APR1400 is also determined by an alternate method which consists of estimating radiation exposures expected for the major activities during the refueling outage. The major outage activities that cause the majority of the total radiation exposure during refueling outage such as fuel handling, reactor coolant pump maintenance, steam generator inspection and maintenance, reactor vessel head area maintenance, decontamination, and ICI & instrumentation maintenance activities are evaluated at a task level. The calculated value using this method is in close agreement with the value of 0.4 man-Sv, that has been determined based on the experience aid engineering judgement. Therefore, with the As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) advanced design features incorporated in the design, APR1400 design is to meet its design goal with sufficient margin, that is, more than a factor of two (2), if operated on art eighteen (18) month fuel cycle.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.387-419
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• 2021

The challenges facing companies and institutions surrounding civil nuclear decommissioning are diverse and many, none more so than those faced in the United Kingdom. The UK's Generation I nuclear power plants and early research facilities have left a 'Nuclear Legacy' which is in urgent need of management and clean-up. Sellafield is quite possibly the most ill-famed nuclear site in the UK. This complex and challenging site houses much of what is left from the early days of nuclear research in the UK, including early nuclear reactors (Windscale Piles, Calder Hall, and the Windscale Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor) and the UK's early nuclear weapons programme. Such a legacy now requires careful management and planning to safely deal with it. This task falls on the shoulders of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). Through a mix of prompt and delayed decommissioning strategies, key developments in R&D, and the implementation of site licenced companies to enact decommissioning activities, the NDA aims to safety, and in a timely manner, deal with the UK's nuclear legacy. Such approaches have the potential to influence and shape other such approaches to nuclear decommissioning activities globally, including in Korea.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제45권6호
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• pp.731-744
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• 2013

Energy security is a topic of high importance to many countries throughout the world. Countries with access to vast energy supplies enjoy all of the economic and political benefits that come with controlling a highly sought after commodity. Given the desire to diversify away from fossil fuels due to rising environmental and economic concerns, there are limited technology options available for baseload electricity generation. Further complicating this issue is the desire for energy sources to be sustainable and globally scalable in addition to being economic and environmentally benign. Nuclear energy in its current form meets many but not all of these attributes. In order to address these limitations, TerraPower, LLC has developed the Traveling Wave Reactor (TWR) which is a near-term deployable and truly sustainable energy solution that is globally scalable for the indefinite future. The fast neutron spectrum allows up to a ~30-fold gain in fuel utilization efficiency when compared to conventional light water reactors utilizing enriched fuel. When compared to other fast reactors, TWRs represent the lowest cost alternative to enjoy the energy security benefits of an advanced nuclear fuel cycle without the associated proliferation concerns of chemical reprocessing. On a country level, this represents a significant savings in the energy generation infrastructure for several reasons 1) no reprocessing plants need to be built, 2) a reduced number of enrichment plants need to be built, 3) reduced waste production results in a lower repository capacity requirement and reduced waste transportation costs and 4) less uranium ore needs to be mined or purchased since natural or depleted uranium can be used directly as fuel. With advanced technological development and added cost, TWRs are also capable of reusing both their own used fuel and used fuel from LWRs, thereby eliminating the need for enrichment in the longer term and reducing the overall societal waste burden. This paper describes the origins and current status of the TWR development program at TerraPower, LLC. Some of the areas covered include the key TWR design challenges and brief descriptions of TWR-Prototype (TWR-P) reactor. Selected information on the TWR-P core designs are also provided in the areas of neutronic, thermal hydraulic and fuel performance. The TWR-P plant design is also described in such areas as; system design descriptions, mechanical design, and safety performance.