• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.635-641
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• 2016

Because of prohibitive data storage requirements in large-scale simulations, the memory problem is an obstacle for Monte Carlo (MC) codes in accomplishing pin-wise three-dimensional (3D) full-core calculations, particularly for whole-core depletion analyses. Various kinds of data are evaluated and quantificational total memory requirements are analyzed based on the Reactor Monte Carlo (RMC) code, showing that tally data, material data, and isotope densities in depletion are three major parts of memory storage. The domain decomposition method is investigated as a means of saving memory, by dividing spatial geometry into domains that are simulated separately by parallel processors. For the validity of particle tracking during transport simulations, particles need to be communicated between domains. In consideration of efficiency, an asynchronous particle communication algorithm is designed and implemented. Furthermore, we couple the domain decomposition method with MC burnup process, under a strategy of utilizing consistent domain partition in both transport and depletion modules. A numerical test of 3D full-core burnup calculations is carried out, indicating that the RMC code, with the domain decomposition method, is capable of pin-wise full-core burnup calculations with millions of depletion regions.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.spc
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• pp.37-50
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• 2020

In this paper, an overview of the scoping calculation results is provided with respect to criticality and radiation shielding of two KBS-3V type PWR SNF disposal systems and one NWMO-type CANDU SNF disposal system of the improved KAERI reference disposal system for SNFs (KRS⁺). The results confirmed that the calculated effective multiplication factors (k_eff) of each disposal system comply with the design criteria (< 0.95). Based on a sensitivity study, the bounding conditions for criticality assumed a flooded container, actinide-only fuel composition, and a decay time of tens of thousands of years. The necessity of mixed loading for some PWR SNFs with high enrichment and low discharge burnup was identified from the evaluated preliminary possible loading area. Furthermore, the absorbed dose rate in the bentonite region was confirmed to be considerably lower than the design criterion (< 1 Gy·hr^-1). Entire PWR SNFs with various enrichment and discharge burnup can be deposited in the KRS⁺ system without any shielding issues. The container thickness applied to the current KRS⁺ design was clarified as sufficient considering the minimum thickness of the container to satisfy the shielding criterion. In conclusion, the current KRS⁺ design is suitable in terms of nuclear criticality and radiation shielding.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.488-499
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• 1997

The measurements of the moderator temperature coefficient (MTC) are performed to demonstrate that the calculational model produces results that are consistent with the measurements. Since negative MTC is also a technical specification value that may limit the cycle length, it is important to measure it as accurately as possible. In this report, preferred choice of test method depending on the time in cycle, best power indication and temperature definition in MTC calculation were determined based on the MTC test results taken during initial startup testing and at 2/3 cycle burnup in the Yonggwang nuclear power plant. The results show that the ratio and rodded methods provided good agreement with the predictions during initial startup testing. However, near end-of-cycle the depletion method gives better results, and so is suggested to be used in the MTC measurements at 2/3 cycle burnup. The use of primary Delta T power as a power indicator in the MTC calculations is highly advisable since it responds with good consistent results very quickly to changes unlike secondary calorimetric power. For the appropriate temperature definitions used in the MTC calculations, it is considered that the arithmetic average temperature measured simply by inlet and outlet thermocouples is preferred. Although volumetric average temperature provides better results, the improvement is not sufficient to compensate for the simplicity of calculations by arithmetic average temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1995.10a
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• pp.35-40
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• 1995

Considering the higher discharge burnup, lower channel refuelling rate, lower linear element rating(LER), lower coolant void reactivity and axial power shape, CANFLEX-RU fuel bundle is optimized for CANDU-6 by grading the fissile composition in the ring-wise of the bundle and by applying fuel management scheme appropriately. The fissile composition of the fuel bundle is graded as the recovered uranium (0.9 w/o U-235) in the outer and intermediate elements, depleted Uranium (0.2 w/o U-235) in the center element, natural uranium (0.71 w/o U-235) in the inner elements. Enrichment is not required for these fuel. The fissile composition is optimized by lattice calculation and by time-averaged reactor simulation. CANFLEX-RU optimized for CANDU-6 resulted to be the 15% lower channel refuelling rate, acceptable axial power profile and power envelope, 70% higher discharge burnup, 15% lower LER and not increase coolant void reactivity compared with the 37-element natural uranium bundle for CANDU-6.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.2088-2095
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• 2023

The safety of nuclear installations is largely determined by the tightness of fuel elements cladding. As the Fukushima nuclear accident showed, the main task in case of loss of power supply is to ensure reliable removal of residual heat release from spent fuel pool (SFP) with irradiated fuel assemblies (IFAs). The paper presents the results of calculated-experimental studies and thermal-hydraulic modeling of temperature storage modes of IFAs in SFP. Experimental studies of SFP's temperature regime and calculated evaluation of residual heat removal due to the thermal conductivity of building structures surrounding the SFP were performed. To ensure the safe operation of research reactors, it's necessary to know the IFA's residual heat power (RHP) in the reactor and SFP, which is determined depending on the operating time of fuel assemblies (FAs) and the IFAs calculated holding time. The FAs operating time depends on the reactor energy output. The IFAs calculated holding time is determined by the fuel burnup, U-235 mass in the fuel, and reactor utilization factor. The IFAs fuel burnup was calculated using the MCU-PTR program. Also presented are the RHP's calculation results using some of the empirical dependencies. The concept of a passive heat removal system (PHRS) based on thermosyphon's operating principle was proposed.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.237-241
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• 2001

The uncertainties associated with fluence calculation at the pressure vessel have been evaluated for the Korean Next Generation Reactor, APR1400. To obtain uncertainties, sensitivity analyses were performed for each of the parameters important to calculated fast neutron fluence. Among the important parameters to the overall uncertainties, reactor modeling and core neutron source were examined. Mechanical tolerances, composition and density variations in the reactor materials as well as application of $r-{\theta}$ geometry in rectilinear region contribute to uncertainty in the reactor modeling. Depletion and buildup of fissile nuclides, instrument error related to core power level, uncertainty of fuel pin burnup, and variation of long-term axial peaking factors are main contributors to the core neutron source uncertainty. The sensitivity analyses have shown that the uncertainty in the fluence calculation at the reactor pressure vessel is +12%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.70-75
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• 1997

A CASMO/ORIGEN coupling utility program was developed to predict the composition of all the fission products in spent PWR fuels. The coupling program reads the CASMO output file, modifies the ORIGEN cross section library and reconstructs the ORIGEN input file at each depletion step. In ORIGEN, the burnup equation is solved for actinides and fission products based on the fission reaction rates and depletion flux of CASMO. A sample calculation has been performed using a 14$\times$14 PWR fuel assembly and the results are given in this paper.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.3653-3664
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• 2021

In PWR three-dimensional transient coupling calculation software CORCA-K, the nodal Green's function method and diagonal implicit Runge Kutta method are used to solve the spatiotemporal neutron dynamic diffusion equation, and the single-phase closed channel model and one-dimensional cylindrical heat conduction transient model are used to calculate the coolant temperature and fuel temperature. The LMW, NEACRP and PWR MOX/UO₂ benchmarks and FangJiaShan (FJS) nuclear power plant (NPP) transient control rod move cases are used to verify the CORCA-K. The effects of burnup, fuel effective temperature and ejection rate on the control rod ejection process of PWR are analyzed. The conclusions are as follows: (1) core relative power and fuel Doppler temperature are in good agreement with the results of benchmark and ADPRES, and the deviation between with the reference results is within 3.0% in LMW and NEACRP benchmarks; 2) the variation trend of FJS NPP core transient parameters is consistent with the results of SMART and ADPRES. And the core relative power is in better agreement with the SMART when weighting coefficient is 0.7. Compared with SMART, the maximum deviation is -5.08% in the rod ejection condition and while -5.09% in the control rod complex movement condition.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.44-60
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• 2021

In this paper, we validate the decay heat calculation capability via a two-step method to analyze spent nuclear fuel (SNF) discharged from pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The calculation method is implemented with a lattice code STREAM and a nodal diffusion code RAST-K. One of the features of this method is the direct consideration of three-dimensional (3D) core simulation conditions with the advantage of a short simulation time. Other features include the prediction of the isotope inventory by Lagrange non-linear interpolation and the use of power history correction factors. The validation is performed with 58 decay heat measurements of 48 fuel assemblies (FAs) discharged from five PWRs operated in Sweden and the United States. These realistic benchmarks cover the discharge burnup range up to 51 GWd/MTU, 23.2 years of cooling time, and spanning an initial uranium enrichment range of 2.100-4.005 wt percent. The SNF analysis capability of STREAM is also employed in the code-to-code comparison. Compared to the measurements, the validation results of the FA calculation with RAST-K are within ±4%, and the pin-wise results are within ±4.3%. This paper successfully demonstrates that the developed decay heat calculation method can perform SNF back-end cycle analyses.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.53-63
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• 2004

The research was performed to develop a CANDU-6 Core Monitoring System(CCMS) that enables operators to have efficient core management by monitoring core power distribution, burnup distribution, and the other important core variables and managing the past core history for Wolsong nuclear power plant unit 1. The CCMS uses Reactor Fueling Simulation Program(RFSP, developed by AECL) for continuous core calculation by integrating the algorithm and assumptions validated and uses the information taken from Digital Control Computer(DCC) for the purpose of producing basic input data. The CCMS has two modules; CCMS server program and CCMS client program. The CCMS server program performs automatic and continuous core calculation and manages overall output controlled by DataBase Management System. The CCMS client program enables users to monitor current and past core status in the predefined GUI(Graphic-User Interface) environment. For the purpose of verifying the effectiveness of CCMS, we compared field-test data with the data used for Wolsong unit 1 operation. In the verification the mean percent differences of both cases were the same($0.008\%$), which showed that the CCMS could monitor core behaviors well.