• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.191-198
• /
• 2008

The influence of fission products' contents on the DUPIC fuel powder and pellet properties was experimentally evaluated using SIMFUEL as a surrogate for actual spent PWR fuel due to the high radioactivity of spent fuel. Pure $UO_2$ and SIMFUEL pellets with fission products equivalent to a burn-up of 35,000 MWd/tU and 60,000 MWd/tU were used as impurities in this study. The specific surface area of the powder milled after the OREOX treatment increased and resulted in sintered pellets with a theoretical density (TD) higher than 95%, regardless of the impurity contents. However, the grain size of the sintered pellets decreased with the increasing impurity contents. As a result of the dissolved oxides in $UO_2$ from the impurity groups, the specific surface area of the OREOX powder increased with an increase of the impurities. The grain size of the sintered pellets was significantly decreased by the metallic and oxide precipitates.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.541-554
• /
• 1998

A computer code COSMOS has been developed based on the CARO-D5 for the thermal analysis of LWR UO$_2$ and MOX fuel rod under steady-state and transient operating conditions. The main purpose of the COSMOS, which considers high turnup characteristics such as thermal conductivity degradation with turnup and rim formation at the outer part of fuel pellet, is to calculate temperature profile across fuel pellet and fission gas release up to high burnup. A new mechanistic fission gas release model developed based on physical processes has been incorporated into the code. In addition, the features of MOX fuel such as change in themo-mechanical properties and the effect of microscopic heterogeneity on fission gas release have been also taken into account so that it can be applied to MOX fuel. Another important feature of the COSMOS is that it can analyze fuel segment refabricated from base irradiated fuel rods in commercial reactors. This feature makes it possible to analyze database obtained from international projects such as the MALDEN and RISO, many of which were collected from refabricated fuel segments. The capacity of the COSMOS has been tested with some number of experimental results obtained from the HALDEN, RISO and FIGARO programs. Comparison with the measured data indicates that, although the COSMOS gives reasonable agreement, the current models need to be improved. This work is being performed using database available from the OECD/NEA.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.175-181
• /
• 2019

A failed spent fuel rod with 53,000 MWd/tU from a nuclear power plant was characterized, and the fission products and oxygen layer in the pellet-clad mechanical interaction region were observed using an EPMA (Electron Probe Micro-Analyzer). A sound fuel rod burned under similar conditions was used to compare and analyze, the results of the failed fuel rod. In the failed fuel rod, the oxide layer represented $10{\mu}m$ of the boundary of the cladding, and $35{\mu}m$ of the region outside the cladding. By comparison, in the sound fuel rod, the oxide layer was $8{\mu}m$, observed in the cladding boundary region. The cladding inner surface corrosion and the resulting fuel-cladding bonding were investigated using an EPMA. Zirconium existed in the bonding layer of the (U, Zr)O compound beyond the pellet cladding interaction gap of $20{\mu}m$, and composition of UZr2O3 was observed in the failed fuel rod. This paper presents the results of the EPMA examination of a spent fuel specimen, and a technique to analyze fission products in the pellet-clad mechanical interaction region.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
• /
• 2006.06a
• /
• pp.596-601
• /
• 2006

Because of insufficiency of energy resources and pollution of environment, it is necessary to develop alternative energy sources. Nuclear fission energy is used widely for source of electric Power but being restricted due to radioactivity problem. Nuclear fission is highlighted as the new generation of nuclear energy and researched worldwide because of low risk of radiation effect. The representatives of fusion research is China's EAST, KSTAR of Korea and ITER of world. Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research(KSTAR) project is on progress for the completion in August, 2007. In this study, the research of utility system for KSTAR be carried out. The utility system of KSTAR is consist of water cooling & heating system, $N_2$ gas system, DI water system, service water system and instrument air & auto control system. The progress of KSTAR utility system is under commissioning state after construction completion. The optimal operation scenario will be verified during commissioning and adopted to the KSTAR operation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 1997.05b
• /
• pp.177-182
• /
• 1997

금속연료가 연소할 때 발생하는 Fission Gas는 주로 직경방향으로의 Swelling을 일으켜 낮은 연소도의 원인이 되어 왔다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 높은 연소도를 갖는 금속연료의 개발을 목적으로 Fission Gas가 Plenum으로 쉽게 방출하는 조직인 Laminar Structure를 갖는 합금의 설계를 연구하였다. 또한 조사 후의 조직안정성을 예측하기 위해 열처리 후의 미세조직의 변화를 관찰하여 조직안정성을 시험하였다. U-10wt.%Zr 합금 중 Zr 원소 대신에 2wt.% 및 3wt.%의 W 또는 Mo을 첨가한 합금을 제조하여 합금원소 첨가의 영향에 따른 미세조직의 변화를 조사하였다. 그 결과 모든 조성의 합금은 Matrix에 있어서 Laminar Structure를 나타내었다. 또한 U-10wt.%Zr에 비해 2wt.% 및 3wt.%W의 W 또는 Mo를 첨가한 합금의 lamina Thickness가 철면 미세해짐을 확인하였다. 특히 U-7wt.%Zr-3wt.%W의 경우는 U-10wt.Zr에 비해 Laminar Thickness가 1/2배까지 감소되었다. 합금원소(W, Mo) 첨가에 의한 Laminar Thickness의 감소는 Fission Gas의 Inter-connected Path가 보다 잘 형성되게 하여 Gas의 방출속도를 증가시켜 Swelling을 감소시킬 것으로 생각된다. 열처리한 금속연료의 미세조직을 비교한 결과를 보면 합금원소(W, Mo)를 첨가한 합금을 50$0^{\circ}C$에서 1000시간동안 열처리한 것을 U-Zr 2원계 합금을 열처리한 것과 비교했을 때 약 1/3배 정도의 Laminar Thickness를 유지하는 것으로 보아 합금원소를 첨가하면 조사 후의 조직안정성에도 크게 기여할 것으로 기대된다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.812-824
• /
• 2021

In order to reduce risks from the Steam Generator Tube Rupture (SGTR) accident and to meet safety targets, various measures have been analyzed to minimize the amount of fission product (FP) release. In this paper, we propose an introduction of a Containment Filtered Venting System (CFVS) connected to the steam generator secondary side, which can reduce the amount of FP release while minimizing adverse effects identified in the previous studies. In order to compare the effect of new equipment with the existing strategy, accident simulations using MELCOR were performed. As a result of simulations, it is confirmed that CFVS operation lowers FP release into the environment, and the release fractions are lower (minimum 0.6% of the initial inventory for Cs) than that of the strategy which intends to depressurize the primary system directly (minimum 15.2% for Cs). The sensitivity analyses identify that refill of the CFVS vessel is a dominant contributor reducing the amount of FP released. As the new strategy has the possibility of hydrogen combustion and detonation in CFVS, the installation of an igniter inside the CFVS vessel may be considered in reducing such hydrogen risk.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.18-24
• /
• 2020

When a damage occurs in the nuclear fuel burning in the reactor, fission products that should be in the nuclear fuel rod are released into the reactor coolant. In this case, sipping test, a series of non-destructive inspection methods, are used to find leakage in nuclear fuel assemblies during the power plant overhaul period. In addition, the sipping test is also used to check the integrity of the spent fuel for moving to an intermediate dry storage, which is carried out as the first step of nuclear decommissioning, . In this paper, the principle and characteristics of the sipping test are described. The structure of the sipping inspection equipment is largely divided into a suction device that collects fissile material emitted from a damaged assembly and an analysis device that analyzes their nuclides. In order to make good use of the sipping technology, the radioactive level behavior of the primary system coolant and major damage mechanisms in the event of nuclear fuel damage are also introduced. This will be a reference for selecting an appropriate sipping method when dismantling a nuclear power plant in the future.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.8
• /
• pp.3073-3084
• /
• 2022

The propagation of radiation source uncertainties in spent nuclear fuel (SNF) cask shielding calculations is presented in this paper. The uncertainty propagation employs the depletion and source term outputs of the deterministic code STREAM as input to the transport simulation of the Monte Carlo (MC) codes MCS and MCNP6. The uncertainties of dose rate coming from two sources: nuclear data and modeling parameters, are quantified. The nuclear data uncertainties are obtained from the stochastic sampling of the cross-section covariance and perturbed fission product yields. Uncertainties induced by perturbed modeling parameters consider the design parameters and operating conditions. Uncertainties coming from the two sources result in perturbed depleted nuclide inventories and radiation source terms which are then propagated to the dose rate on the cask surface. The uncertainty analysis results show that the neutron and secondary photon dose have uncertainties which are dominated by the cross section and modeling parameters, while the fission yields have relatively insignificant effect. Besides, the primary photon dose is mostly influenced by the fission yield and modeling parameters, while the cross-section data have a relatively negligible effect. Moreover, the neutron, secondary photon, and primary photon dose can have uncertainties up to about 13%, 14%, and 6%, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.7
• /
• pp.2151-2161
• /
• 2021

Nuclear data (ND) sensitivity and uncertainty (S/U) quantification in shielding applications is performed using deterministic and probabilistic approaches. In this paper the validation of the newly developed deterministic program package ASUSD (ADVANTG + SUSD3D) is presented. ASUSD was developed with the aim of automating the process of ND S/U while retaining the computational efficiency of the deterministic approach to ND S/U analysis. The paper includes a detailed description of each of the programs contained within ASUSD, the computational workflow and validation results. ASUSD was validated on two shielding benchmark experiments from the Shielding Integral Benchmark Archive and Database (SINBAD) - the fission relevant ASPIS Iron 88 experiment and the fusion relevant Frascati Neutron Generator (FNG) Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) Test Blanket Module (TBM) mock-up experiment. The validation process was performed in two stages. Firstly, the Denovo discrete ordinates transport solver was validated as a standalone solver. Secondly, the ASUSD program package as a whole was validated as a ND S/U analysis tool. Both stages of the validation process yielded excellent results, with a maximum difference of 17% in final uncertainties due to ND between ASUSD and the stochastic ND S/U approach. Based on these results, ASUSD has proven to be a user friendly and computationally efficient tool for deterministic ND S/U analysis of shielding geometries.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.781-789
• /
• 2022

KHNP had licensed Dynamic Control rod Reactivity Measurement (DCRM) method using detector current signals of PWRs in 2006. The method has been applied to all PWRs in Korea for about 15 years successfully. However, the original method was inapplicable to PWRs using low-sensitivity integral fission chamber as ex-core detectors because of their pulse pile-up and the nonlinearity of the mean-square voltage at low power region. Therefore, to overcome this disadvantage, a modified method, DCRM-EK, was developed using kinetics behavior after equilibrium condition where the pulse counts maintain the maximum value before pulse pile-up. Overall measurement, analysis procedure, and related computer codes were changed slightly to reflect the site test condition. The new method was applied to a total of 15 control rods of 1000 MWe and 1400 MWe PWRs in Korea with worths in the range of 200 pcm -1200 pcm. The results show the average difference of -0.4% and the maximum difference of 7.1% compared to the design values. Therefore, the new DCRM-EK will be applied to PWRs using low sensitivity integral fission chambers, and also can replace the original DCRM when the evaluation fails by big noises present in current or voltage signals of uncompensated/compensated ion chambers.