• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제37권4호
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• pp.327-362
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• 2005

The design, construction, and operation of a light water reactor (LWR) are subject to compliance with safety criteria specified for accident situations, such as loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) and reactivity-initiated accident (RIA). Because reactor fuel is the primary source of radioactivity and heat generation, such a criterion is established on the basis of the characteristics and performance of fuel under the specific accident condition. As such, fuel behavior under accident situations impact many aspects of fuel design and power generation, and in an indirect manner, even spent fuel storage and management. This paper provides a comprehensive review of: the history of the current LOCA criteria, results of LOCA-related investigations on conventional and new classes of fuel, and status of on-going studies on high-burnup fuel under LOCA situations. The objective of the paper is to provide a better understanding of important issues and an insight helpful to establish new LOCA criteria for modem LWR fuels.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제5권3호
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• pp.229-238
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• 2007

본 논문에서는 고준위폐기물 처분용기를 지하 심지층에 처분하기 위하여 요구되는 구조설계 요구조건과 구조안전성 평가 기준을 도출하였다. 고준위폐기물은 높은 열과 많은 방사능을 방출하기 때문에 고준위폐기물을 넣어 보관하는 처분용기는 그 취급에 많은 주의가 요구된다. 이를 위하여 고준위폐기물 처분용기는 장기간(보통 10,000년 동안) 안전한 장소에 보관되어야 한다. 보통 이 보관 장소는 지하 500m에 위치한다. 지하 깊은 화강암에 고준위폐기물을 보관하도록 설계되는 처분용기는 내부주철삽입물과 이를 감싸고 있는 부식에 강한 와곽쉘, 위 덮개와 아래 덮개로 구성되는 구조로 되어 있으며 지하수압과 벤토나이트 버퍼의 팽윤압을 받는다. 따라서 고준위폐기물 처분용기는 심지층에 보관 시 이들 외력들을 견디도록 설계되어야 한다. 만약에 발생 가능한 모든 하중조합을 고려한 처분용기 설계가 되지 않으면 심지층에 위험한 고준위폐기물 처분 시에 처분용기에 소성변형이나 크랙 또 좌굴같은 구조적 결함이 발생할 수 있다. 따라서 심지층에 처분용기를 처분 시에 처분용기에 발생하는 구조적 문제들이 발생하지 않게 하기 위하여 여러 가지 구조해석이 수행되어야 한다. 이러한 구조해석 수행에 앞서 처분용기 설계 타당성을 평가하기 위한 기준이 필요하다. 또한 평가기준에 영향을 미치는 설계요구조건(설계변수)이 명확히 검토되어야 한다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 처분용기의 구조설계 요구조건(설계변수)과 구조 안전성 평가기준을 도출하고자 한다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.57-69
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• 1983

경수형원자로 핵연료봉의 거동분석을 위한 전산코드인 FRAPCON-1 코드가 월성 1호기에 장전되는 CANDU형 핵연료봉의 거동분석을 위해 적절한지를 평가하였다. 연료내의 중성자속의 감소와 연료피복재간 열전달을 계산하는 FRAPCON-1 코드의 모형들을 수정하였으며 핵분열 기체방출모형의 CANDU 핵연료에 대한 타당성여부를 검토하였고 피복재와 냉각수간의 열전달 계수 계산을 위해 중수특성을 사용하였다. 수정된 코드 FRAPCON-1-CSK를 사용하여 월성 1호기 핵연료의 각 설계변수들에 대한 민감도 분석을 수행하였다. 아울러 월성 1호기 핵연료봉의 거동특성분석도 수행하였는데 계산된 결과들은 CANDU 핵연료봉에 대한 설계기준이 알러져 있지 않는 관계로 경수로 핵연료봉 설계기준의 입장에서 검토되었다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권8호
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• pp.3085-3094
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• 2022

The design concept of a Small High-flux Multipurpose LBE(Lead Bismuth Eutectic) cooled Fast Reactor (SHMLFR) was proposed in the paper. The primary cooling system of the reactor is forced circulation, and the fuel element form is arc-plate loaded high enrichment MOX fuel. The core is cylindrical with a flux trap set in the center of the core, which can be used as an irradiation channel. According to the requirements of the core physical design, a series of physical design criteria and constraints were given, and the steady and transient parameters of the reactor were calculated and analyzed. Regarding the thermal and hydraulic phenomena of the reactor, a simplified model was used to conduct a preliminary analysis of the fuel plates at special positions, and the temperature field distribution of the fuel plate with the highest power density under different coolant flow rates was simulated. The results show that the various parameters of SHMLFR meet the requirements and design criteria of the physical design of the core and the thermal design of the reactor. This implies that the conceptual design of SHMLFR is feasible.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제28권5호
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• pp.440-451
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• 1996

With emphasis on safety, this study addresses for better design condition for the cooling system in a wet-type interim spent fuel storage facility, using a probabilistic safety assessment method. To incorporate the design renovation into the design phase, a simple approach is proposed. By taking the cooling system of a reference design, a fault tree analysis was performed to identify the weak point of the considered system, and then basic factors for design renovation were defined. A total of 21 design alternatives were selected through the combination of the basic factors. Finally, the optimum design alternative for the cooling system is derived by means of the cost and effect analysis based on the estimated cost, system reliability and assumed probabilistic safety criteria. With the assumption that the failure frequency of at-reactor spent fuel cooling system compiles with probabilistic safety criteria for the interim spent fuel cooling system, it was shown that the optimum alternative should have l00% cooling loop redundancy with one pump per cooling loop and a cleanup system installed separately from the main loop. Furthermore, it also should be classified into safety system. The result of this study can be used as a useful basis to identify factors of safety concern and to establish design requirements in the future. The method also can be applied for other nuclear facilities.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제35권4호
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• pp.356-368
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• 2003

Material properties such as coolant specific heat, film heat transfer coefficient, cladding thermal conductivity, surface diffusion coefficient of the multi-bubble are improved in MACSIS-Mod1. The axial power and flux profile module was also incorporated with irradiation history. The performance and feasibility of the updated driver fuel pin have been analyzed for nominal parameters based on the conceptual design for the KALIMER breakeven core by MACSIS-MOD1 code. The fuel slug centerline temperature takes the maximum at 700mm from the bottom of the slug in spite of the nearly symmetric axial power distribution. The cladding mid-wall and coolant temperatures take the maximum at the top of the pin. Temperature of the fuel slug surface over the entire irradiation life is much lower than the fuel-clad eutectic reaction temperature. The fission gas release of the driver fuel pin at the end of life is predicted to be $68.61\%$ and plenum pressure is too low to cause cladding yielding. The probability that the fuel pin would fail is estimated to be much less than that allowed in the design criteria. The maximum radial deformation of the fuel pin is $1.93\%$, satisfying the preliminary design criterion ($3\%$) for fuel pin deformation. Therefore the conceptual design parameters of the driver fuel pin for the KALIMER breakeven core are expected to satisfy the preliminary criteria on temperature, fluence limit, deformation limit etc.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.451-463
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• 2023

With South Korea increasingly focusing on nuclear energy, the management of spent nuclear fuel has attracted considerable attention in South Korea. This study established a novel procedure for selecting safety-relevant radionuclides for long-term safety assessments of a deep geological repository in South Korea. Statistical evaluations were performed to identify the design basis reference spent nuclear fuels and evaluate the source term for up to one million years. Safety-relevant radionuclides were determined based on the half-life criteria, the projected activities for the design basis reference spent nuclear fuel, and the annual limit of ingestion set by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission Notification No. 2019-10 without considering their chemical and hydrogeological properties. The proposed process was used to select 56 radionuclides, comprising 27 fission and activation products and 29 actinide nuclides. This study explains first the determination of the design basis reference spent nuclear fuels, followed by a comprehensive discussion on the selection criteria and methodology for safety-relevant radionuclides.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.273-286
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• 1998

As there has arisen a concern that failure of the high burnup fuel under the reactivity-insertion accident(RIA) may occur at the energy lower than the expected, fuel behavior under the rod ejection accident in a typical Westinghouse-designed 950 MWe PWR was analyzed by using the three dimensional nodal transient neutronics code, PANBOX2 and the transient fuel rod performance analysis code, FRAP-T6. Fuel failure criteria versus the burnup was conservatively derived taking into account available test data and the possible fuel failure mechanisms. The high burnup and longer cycle length fuel loading scheme of a peak rod turnup of 68 MWD/kgU was selected for the analysis. Except three dimensional core neutronics calculation, the analysis used the same core conditions and assumptions as the conventional zero dimensional analysis. Results of three dimensional analysis showed that the peak fuel enthalpy during the rod ejection accident is less than one third of that calculated by the conventional zero dimensional analysis methodology and the fraction of fuel failure in the core is less than 4 %. Therefore, it can be said that the current design limit of less than 10 percent fuel failure and maintaining the core coolable geometry would be adequately satisfied under the rod ejection accident, even though the conservative fuel failure criteria derived from the test data are applied.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.135-147
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• 2020

A methodology for evaluation of mechanical and thermal effects of localized non-axisymmetric oxidation in zircaloy claddings on LWR fuel reliability is proposed. To this end, the basic capabilities of the FALCON fuel behaviour code are used. Examples of methodology application to adjustment of selected operational limits for modern BWR fuel rods, to capture effects of the excess local oxidation, are presented. Specifically, the limiting rod internal pressure for the onset of cladding lift-off is reduced, depending on initial excess oxidation spot sizes. Also, the power limits for Anticipated Operational Occurrences are adjusted, to preclude fuel melting and cladding failure due to PCMI and PCI-SCC in the affected fuel rods.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권6호
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• pp.899-906
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• 2018

The irradiation performance of $U_3Si$ dispersion fuel in an Al matrix, $U_3Si-Al$, under the Hi-Flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO) design full-power condition of 30 MW was tested for full-power qualification of the fuel. A test assembly was fabricated containing 18 fuel rods made with atomized $U_3Si$ powder manufactured at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. The test assembly was irradiated for 188 full-power operation days in the HANARO subject to the normal fuel-loading scheme and achieved about 60 at% U-235 average burnup and 75 at% U-235 peak burnup. The maximum linear power of the test assembly was 98 kW/m. Nondestructive and destructive postirradiation examinations were conducted. The measured postirradiation examination data were compared with data from previous irradiations and the design criteria required for HANARO fuel. Consequently, it was concluded that in-pile performance was acceptable and fuel integrity was maintained, and the behavior satisfied the fuel design requirements.