• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.573-580
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• 2013

The combined effects of reactivity coefficients, along with other core nuclear characteristics, determine reactor core behavior in normal operation and accident conditions. The Power Coefficient of Reactivity (PCR) is an aggregate indicator representing the change in reactor core reactivity per unit change in reactor power. It is an integral quantity which captures the contributions of the fuel temperature, coolant void, and coolant temperature reactivity feedbacks. All nuclear reactor designs provide a balance between their inherent nuclear characteristics and the engineered reactivity control features, to ensure that changes in reactivity under all operating conditions are maintained within a safe range. The $CANDU^{(R)}$ reactor design takes advantage of its inherent nuclear characteristics, namely a small magnitude of reactivity coefficients, minimal excess reactivity, and very long prompt neutron lifetime, to mitigate the demand on the engineered systems for controlling reactivity and responding to accidents. In particular, CANDU reactors have always taken advantage of the small value of the PCR associated with their design characteristics, such that the overall design and safety characteristics of the reactor are not sensitive to the value of the PCR. For other reactor design concepts a PCR which is both large and negative is an important aspect in the design of their engineered systems for controlling reactivity. It will be demonstrated that during Loss of Regulation Control (LORC) and Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LBLOCA) events, the impact of variations in power coefficient, including a hypothesized larger than estimated PCR, has no safety-significance for CANDU reactor design. Since the CANDU 6 PCR is small, variations in the range of values for PCR on the performance or safety of the reactor are not significant.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.418-426
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• 2015

Recently, shipping operators have been making efforts to reduce the fuel cost in various ways, such as trim optimization and bulb re-design. Furthermore, IMO restricts the hydro-dioxide emissions to the environment based on the EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index), EEOI (Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator), and SEEMP (Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan). In particular, ship speed is one of the most important factors for calculating the EEDI, which is based on methods suggested by ITTC (International Towing Tank Conference) or ISO (International Standardization Organization). Many shipbuilding companies in Korea have carried out speed trials around the Korea Straits. However, the conditions for these speed trials have not been exactly the same as those for model tests. Therefore, a ship’s speed is corrected by measured environmental data such as the seawater temperature, density, wind, waves, swell, drift, and rudder angle to match the conditions of the model tests. In this study, fundamental research was performed to evaluate the ship resistance performance due to changes in the water temperature and salinity, comparing the ISO method and numerical simulation. A numerical simulation of a KCS (KRISO Container ship) with a free-surface was performed using the commercial software Star-CCM+ under three conditions that were assumed based on the water temperature and salinity data in the Korea Straits. In the simulation results, the resistance increased under low water temperature & high salinity conditions, and it decreased under high water temperature & low salinity conditions. In addition, the ISO method showed the same result as the simulation.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.250-261
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• 2013

In order to overcome the 21st century's challenges such as national energy supply security, global warming, and resource depletion, we are struggling to accelerate the paradigm shift in our life style from fossil fuel-based economy to biomass-based economy. In the context of sustainable bioeconomy revitalization, we comprehensively review the development status of the biorefinery as a system for bioenergy/biochemicals co-products on the basis of the various categories according to six criteria.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.75-85
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• 2023

The potential sources and spatial distribution of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in the leaf plants of Al-Zubair city. A total of 14 samples of conocarpus lancifolius plant leaf were collected and analyzed for their heavy metals and PAHs content using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and a 7890 Agilent capillary gas chromatograph (GC) respectively. Bioaccumulation factor calculation revealed the highest pollution of heavy metals , due to the activity of a petrochemical in the area. The diagnostic ratio of Ant/(Phe+Ant), BaA/BaA+Chr), In/(In+BghiP), Flu/Pyr, FlA/FlA+Pyr), FlA/FlA+Pyr), ∑LMW/∑HMW are commonly used for determining the origin and source of PAHs in various environmental media. The diagnostic ratio indicated the anthropogenic origin. PAHs with five-to-six membered rings were dominant in the plant leaf, which likely results from anthropogenic activities. The leaves of C. lancifolius have a preponderance of high molecular weight PAHs compared to low molecular weight PAHs, indicating a combustion origin (car exhaust, petroleum emissions, and fossil fuel). C. lancifolius leaves are a reliable indication of atmospheric PAHs absorption. The background level of heavy metals in the city (or the near environment) is in the order of Fe > Cu > Ni > Cr. On the other hand, the bioaccumulation in plant leaves showed greater tendencies as follows: Co>Cd>Zn=As>Cu>Mn>Ni>Pb>Cr>Fe. Cobalt showed high bioaccumulation, indicating strong uptake of Co by plant leaves. These findings point to human activity and car emissions as the primary sources of roadside vegetation pollution in Al-Zubair city.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.63-75
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• 2012

This paper gives some basic requirements and preferences of various geological environmental conditions for the final deep geological repository of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). This study also indicates how the requirements and preferences are to be considered prior to the selection of sites for a site investigation as well as the final disposal in Korea. The results of the study are based on the knowledge and experience from the IAEA and NEA/OECD as well as the advanced countries in SNF disposal project. This study discusses and suggests preliminary guideline of the disposal requirements including geological, mechanical, thermal, hydrogeological, chemical and transport properties of host rock with long term geological stabilities which influence the functions of a multi-barrier disposal system. To apply and determine whether requirements and preferences for a given parameter are satisfied at different stages during a site selection and suitability assessment of a final disposal site, the quantitative criteria in each area should be formulated with credibility through relevant research and development efforts for the deep geological environment during the site screening and selection processes as well as specific studies such as productions of safety cases and validation studies using a generic underground research laboratory (URL) in Korea.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 2006

This study examined the possibility of using dark-striped field mice as a biological indicator for the environmental radio-surveillance. For this study, dark-striped field mice were caught from five areas of Kyonggi, Kyongsang, Chungchong and Cholla provinces. The external morphological characteristics and isoenzymic types of dark-striped field mice were studied after they were captured. Among the external morphological characteristics, the dark-brown coat, dark back stripe, head-to-tail length, tail length, and ear length matched the taxonomical characteristics of dark-striped field mice. The analyses on L-lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, and malate dehydrogenese revealed that one species of dark-striped field mice, called Apodemus agrarius, was inhabitated throughout a wide range of Korea. On the other hand, the frequency of micronuclei in peripheral polychromatic erythrocytes to survived mice after irradiation also analyzed. The LD50/30 of A. cgrarius and ICR mice were approximately 5 Gy and 7.9Gy, respectively. The results of the study reveal that wild A. asrarius have a high potential as a biological monitoring system to determine the impact of radiation in areas such as those within the vicinity of nuclear power plants.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.275-286
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• 2014

This study evaluated the evolution stage and origin of chemical components of 12 boreholes at crystalline bedrock using multivariate statistical and groundwater quality analyses. Groundwater types are mostly belonged to Na(Ca)-$HCO_3$ and Ca-$HCO_3$ types, indicating that directly reaction of cation exchange ($Ca^{2+}{\rightarrow}Na^+$) prevailed. The degree of groundwater evolution is included the range from low to intermediate stage based on field and laboratory analytical conditions. As a result of multivariate statistical analysis, a typical indicator of groundwater contamination, $NO_3$-, has the positive correlation with $Na^+$ and $Cl^-$. The origin of sea spary ($Cl^-$) has the positive correlation with $Na^+$, $SO{_4}^{2-}$, $Mg^{2+}$, and $K^+$, while not correlation with $Ca^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$, $HCO_3{^-}$, $F^-$, and $SiO_2$. The concentration of $Cl^-$ and $NO_3{^-}$ belongs to general quality of groundwater and not exceeds over the Korean standard for drinking water. And the negative values of saturation index of minerals are calculated with chemical components in groundwater. Therefore, most of chemical components of groundwater in the study area are originated from natural process between rock and groundwater, whereas some of components are derived from sea spary and anthropogenic sources related to agricultural activities.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.657-666
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• 2014

Coal gasification technology is considered as next generation clean coal technology even though it uses coal as fuel which releases huge amount of greenhouse gas because it has many advantages for carbon capture. Coal or pet-coke slurry gasification is very attractive technology at present and in the future because of its low construction cost and flexibility of slurry feeding system in spite of lower efficiency compared to dry feeding technology. In this study, we carried out gasification experiment using bituminous coal slurry sample by integrating coal slurry feeding facility and slurry burner into existing dry feeding compact gasifier. Especially, our experiment was conducted under fairly lower operation temperature than that of existing entrained-bed gasifier, resulting in partial slagging operation mode in which only part of ash was converted to slag and the rest of ash was released as fly ash. Carbon conversion rate was calculated from data analysis of collected slag and ash, and then cold gas efficiency, which is the most important indicator of gasifier performance, was estimated by carbon mass balance method. Fairly high performance considering pilot-scale experiment, 98.5% of carbon conversion and 60.4% of cold gas efficiency, was achieved. In addition, soundness of experimental result was verified from the comparison with chemical equilibrium composition and energy balance calculations.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2019

Sources of NOx are both anthropogenic (e.g. fossil fuel combustion, vehicles, and other industrial processes) and natural (e.g. lightning, biogenic soil processes, and wildfires). The nitrogen stable isotope ratio of NOx has been proposed as an indicator for NOx source partitioning, which would help identify the contributions of various NOx sources. In this study, the ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ values of vehicle emissions were measured in an urban region, to understand the sources and processes that influence the isotopic composition of NOx emissions. The Ogawa passive air sampler was used to determine the isotopic composition of $NO_2$(g). In urban tunnels, the observed $NO_2$ concentration and ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ values averaged $3809{\pm}2656ppbv$ and $7.7{\pm}1.8$‰, respectively. The observed ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ values are associated with slight regional variations in the vehicular $NO_2$ source. Both $NO_2$ concentration and ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ values were significantly higher near the expressway ($965{\pm}125ppbv$ and $5.9{\pm}1.4$‰) than at 1.1 km from the expressway ($372{\pm}96ppbv$ and $-11.5{\pm}2.9$‰), indicating a high proportion of vehicle emissions. Ambient ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ values were used in a binary mixing model to estimate the percentage of the ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ value contributed by vehicular NOx emissions. The calculated percentage of the ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ contribution by vehicles was significantly higher close to the highway, as observed for the $NO_2$ concentration and ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$.