• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권8호
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• pp.2771-2782
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• 2022

When assessing the radiological consequences of postulated accident scenarios, it is of primary interest to determine the amount of radioactive fission gas accumulated in the fuel rod free volume. The state-of-the-art semi-empirical approach (ANS 5.4-2010) is reviewed and compared with a mechanistic approach to evaluate the release of radioactive fission gases. At the intra-granular level, the diffusion-decay equation is handled by a spectral diffusion algorithm. At the inter-granular level, a mechanistic description of the grain boundary is considered: bubble growth and coalescence are treated as interrelated phenomena, resulting in the grain-boundary venting as the onset for the release from the fuel pellets. The outcome is a kinetic description of the release of radioactive fission gases, of interest when assessing normal and off-normal conditions. We implement the model in SCIANTIX and reproduce the release of short-lived fission gases, during the CONTACT 1 experiments. The results show a satisfactory agreement with the measurement and with the state-of-the-art methodology, demonstrating the model soundness. A second work will follow, providing integral fuel rod analysis by coupling the code SCIANTIX with the thermo-mechanical code TRANSURANUS.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 2005년도 춘계학술발표회
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• pp.391-392
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• 2005

• 한국결정성장학회지
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.75-81
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• 2007

[ $UO_2$ ] 소결체와 $U_3O_8$종자를 5wt% 첨가한 $UO_2$ 소결체의 치밀화 과정 및 입자성장 양상을 소결 온도 및 시간을 변수로 하여 분석하였다. $UO_2$ 성형체와 5wt% $U_3O_8$ 종자 첨가 성형체를 수소분위기에서 $1300^{\circ}C$에서 $1700^{\circ}C$로 온도를 올려가며 0시간에서 4시간 소결하여 밀도와 입자크기를 측정하였다. $1300^{\circ}C$까지는 종자 첨가에 상관없이 거의 같은 밀도를 가졌지만 온도가 올라가면서 종자 첨가 소결체의 치밀화가 저하되었다가 $1700^{\circ}C$ 근처에서 거의 비슷한 밀도를 가지게 된다. 입자성장의 경우, $1600^{\circ}C$에서는 종자 입자를 제외하면 기지상의 입자 크기는 거의 비슷하지만 $1700^{\circ}C$ 이후에서는 종자첨가 $UO_2$ 소결체의 입자성장이 종자가 첨가되지 않을 경우에 비하여 2배 이상 빠르게 진행되었다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권7호
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• pp.2367-2375
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• 2022

In this work, we propose a new mechanistic model for the treatment of helium behaviour at the grain boundaries in oxide nuclear fuel. The model provides a rate-theory description of helium inter-granular behaviour, considering diffusion towards grain edges, trapping in lenticular bubbles, and thermal resolution. It is paired with a rate-theory description of helium intra-granular behaviour that includes diffusion towards grain boundaries, trapping in spherical bubbles, and thermal re-solution. The proposed model has been implemented in the meso-scale software designed for coupling with fuel performance codes SCIANTIX. It is validated against thermal desorption experiments performed on doped UO₂ samples annealed at different temperatures. The overall agreement of the new model with the experimental data is improved, both in terms of integral helium release and of the helium release rate. By considering the contribution of helium at the grain boundaries in the new model, it is possible to represent the kinetics of helium release rate at high temperature. Given the uncertainties involved in the initial conditions for the inter-granular part of the model and the uncertainties associated to some model parameters for which limited lower-length scale information is available, such as the helium diffusivity at the grain boundaries, the results are complemented by a dedicated uncertainty analysis. This assessment demonstrates that the initial conditions, chosen in a reasonable range, have limited impact on the results, and confirms that it is possible to achieve satisfying results using sound values for the uncertain physical parameters.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권12호
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• pp.4052-4059
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• 2021

The microstructure of the fuel pellet plays an essential role in fission gas buildup and release and is critical for the safe and continued operation of nuclear power stations. Structural analysis of uranium dioxide (UO₂)-molybdenum (Mo) composite fuel pellets prepared at a range of sintering temperatures from 1300 to 1800 ℃ was performed. Mo micro and nanoparticles were used in making the composite pellets. A systematic investigation into the influence of processing parameters during Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) of the pellets on the microstructure, texture, grain size, and grain boundary characters of UO₂-Mo is presented. UO₂-Mo composite show significant differences in the fraction of general boundaries and also special/coincident site lattice (CSL) boundaries. EBSD orientation maps demonstrated that <111> texturing was observed in the pellets fabricated at 1500 ℃. The experimental investigations suggest that UO₂-Mo composite pellets have favorable microstructural features compared to the UO₂ pellet.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제3권4호
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• pp.301-307
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• 2005

조사후 핵연료 가열(PIA장비)를 이용한 고연소도 UO2 사용후 핵연료의 산화 및 가열후 미세조직의 변화를 관찰하였다. 울진 2호기에서 한국원자력연구소 조사후시험시설로 이송된 국산 경수로용 고연소도 사용후 핵연료는 봉평균 연소도가 57,000 MWd/tU-rod avg.이였다. 본 시험에 사용된 시편은 국부연소도 65,000 MWd/tU UO2 소결체의 고형체 200 mg을 사용하였다. 본 시편을 사용후 핵 연료 가열(PIA) 시험장비를 이용하여 핫셀 내에서 3시간의 산화시험과 연속적으로 $1,400^{\circ}C$ 까지 가열하였다. 결정립경계까지의 산화를 위하여 $500^{\circ}C$에서 헬륨 50 ml, 표준공기 100 ml를 흔합한 산화분위기로 3시간을 유지하였다. 핵분열기체 방출거동을 알기위해 시험 전과정중에 85Kr의 방출량을 베타 측정기와 감마 측정기를 이용하여 실시간으로 측정 하였다. 가열시험이 종료된 후 전자주사현미경을 이용하여 미세구조의 변화를 관찰하였다. 시험결과 가열하는 동안 핵분열생성물은 UO2기지의 결정립경계와 표면으로 이동된 것을 관찰하였다. 이 시편은 환원과정을 통하여 재구조화 되었고, $5\~10\;{\mu}m$ 정도의 결정립크기를 가진 것으로 나타났다.

• 한국추진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국추진공학회 2009년도 제33회 추계학술대회논문집
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• pp.511-514
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• 2009

본 연구에서는 경사진 그레인 포트 형상을 가진 고체 연료를 사용한 하이브리드 로켓의 연소 특성을 실험적으로 고찰하였다. 수렴 형상의 그레인 포트를 가지는 연료를 사용함으로써 경사각이 없는 연료에 비해 후퇴율을 17.5% 증가시킬 수 있었으나 확산 형상 연료에서는 후퇴율의 차이가 없었다. 또한 수렴 형상을 사용한 경우 특성속도 효율이 증가하였으며 이를 통해 하이브리드 로켓 연료에서 수렴 형상의 그레인 포트가 연소 효율 및 성능을 개선하는데 효과적임을 확인하였다.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 1999년도 추계학술발표회요약집
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• pp.248.1-248
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• 1999

Preliminary analysis of in-reactor thermal performance of three MOX fuel rods, which are going to be irradiated in the Halden reactor beginning in the first Quarter of the year 2000 under the framework of the OECD Halden Reactor Programme, have been conducted by using the computer code COSMOS to ensure their safe operation. Parametric studies have been carried out to investigate the effect of uncertainties on in-reactor behavior by considering the four kinds of uncertainties; thermal conductivity, linear power, manufacturing parameters, and model constants. The analysis shows that, in the case of annular MOX -1 fuel, calculation results for thermal performance vary widely depending on the selection of model constants for fission gas release (FGR). On the contrary, the thermal performance of solid MOX - 3 fuel does not depend on the choice of FGR constants to a large extent as MOX-I, because the fuel temperature is very high in the MOX-3 irrespective of the choice of FGR constants and hence the capacity of grain boundaries to retain gas atoms is not large enough to accommodate the number of gas atoms reaching the grain boundaries. It is planned that when the data on microstructure and thermal conductivity for each type of MOX fuel are available, new analysis will be made using these information. In addition, FGR model constants will be derived from the measured fuel centerline temperature, rod internal pressure and other related data.

• 한국추진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국추진공학회 1995년도 제5회 학술강연회논문집
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• pp.3-8
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• 1995

An experimental investigation was conducted in order to figure out the multiple fire effects on the combustion efficiency and fuel properties of the solid fuel ramjet. Pure HTPB and metallized $B_4$C/HTPB fuel were studied. Fuel property effects were analyzed by using differential scanning calorimetry, The thermal or mechanical properties of the fuel grain were not affected and the combustion efficiency was a little increased.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.122-127
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• 1998

Conductivities of polycrystalline ceria doped with several rare earth oxides were measured by AC admittance and DC four probe method. The conductions were separated into grain and grain boundary contributions using the complex admittance technique as well as grain size dependence of conductivity. The grain size dependence of polycrystalline conductivity, which can be adequately described by the so-called brick layer model, appears to give a more reliable measure of the grain conductivity compared to the complex admittance method. Polycrystalline resistivity(1/conductivity) increases linearly with the reciprocal of grain size. The intercept of resistivity vs. inverse grain size plot gives a measure of the grain resistivity and the slope gives a measure of the grain boundary resistivity. It was also noted that errors involved in the analysis of experimental data may be different between the complex admittance method and the impedance method. A greater resolution of the spectra was found in the complex admittance method, insofar as the present work is concerned, suggesting that the commonly used equivalent circuit may require re-evaluation.