• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권1호
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• pp.178-187
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• 2021

Dual-cooled annular fuel allows a significant increase in power density while maintaining or improving safety margins. However, the dual-cooled design brings much higher Zircaloy charge in reactor core, which could cause a great threaten of hydrogen explosion during severe accidents. Hence, an innovative fuel combined dual-cooled annular geometry and SiC cladding was proposed for the first time in this study. Capabilities of fuel design and behavior simulation were developed for this new fuel by the upgrade of FROBA-ANNULAR code. Considering characteristics of both SiC cladding and dual-cooled annular geometry, the basic fuel design was proposed and preliminary proved to be feasible. After that, a design optimization study was conducted, and the optimal values of as-fabricated plenum pressure and gas gap sizes were obtained. Finally, the performance simulation of the new fuel was carried out with the full consideration of realistic operation conditions. Results indicate that in addition to possessing advantages of both dual-cooled annular fuel and accident tolerant cladding at the same time, this innovative fuel could overcome the brittle failure issue of SiC induced by pellet-cladding interaction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권1호
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• pp.73-83
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• 2019

It is important to clarify the mechanisms of molten-fuel-pool sloshing behavior that might be encountered during a core disruptive accident of sodium-cooled fast reactors. In this study, motivated by acquiring some evidence for understanding the characteristics of this behavior at more realistic conditions, a number of experiments are newly performed by injecting nitrogen gas into a water pool with the accumulation of solid particles. To achieve comprehensive understanding, various parameters including particle bed height, particle size, density, shape, gas pressure along with the gas-injection duration, were employed. It is found that due to the different interaction mechanisms between solid particles and the gas bubble injected, three kinds of regimes, termed respectively as the bubble-impulsion dominant regime, the transitional regime and the bed-inertia dominant regime, could be identified. The performed analyses also suggest that under present conditions, all our experimental parameters employed can have noticeable impact on the regime transition and resultant sloshing intensity (e.g. maximum elevation of water level at pool peripheries). Knowledge and fundamental data from this work will be used for the future verifications of fast reactor severe accident codes in China.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제41권3호
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• pp.307-318
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• 2009

KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) has developed the GAMMA+ code for a thermo-fluid and safety analysis of a VHTR (Very High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor). A key safety issue of the VHTR design is to demonstrate its inherent safety features for an automatic reactor power trip and power stabilization during an anticipated transient without scram (ATWS) accident such as a loss of forced cooling by a trip of the helium circulator (LOFC) or a reactivity insertion by a control rod withdrawal (CRW). This paper intends to show the ATWS assessment capability of the GAMMA+ code which can simulate the reactor power response by solving the point-kinetic equations with six-group delayed neutrons, by considering the reactivity changes due to the effects of a core temperature variation, xenon transients, and reactivity insertions. The present benchmark calculations are performed by using the safety demonstration experiments of the 10 MW high temperature gas cooled-test module (HTR-10) in China. The calculation results of the power response transients and the solid core temperature behavior are compared with the experimental data of a LOFC ATWS test and two CRW ATWS tests by using a 1mk-control rod and a 5mk-control rod, respectively. The GAMMA+ code predicts the power response transients very well for the LOFC and CRW ATWS tests in HTR-10.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권11호
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• pp.4295-4306
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• 2023

The vibration of fuel rods in axial flow is a universally recognized issue within both engineering and academic communities due to its significant importance in ensuring structural safety. This paper aims to thoroughly investigate the stability and nonlinear vibration of a fuel rod subjected to axial flow in a newly designed high temperature gas cooled reactor. Considering the possible presence of thermal expansion and large deformation in practical scenarios, the thermal effect and geometric nonlinearity are modeled using the von Karman equation. By applying Hamilton's principle, we derive the comprehensive governing equation for this fluid-structure interaction system, which incorporates the quadratic nonlinear stiffness. To establish a connection between the fluid and structure aspects, we utilize the Galerkin method to solve the perturbation potential function, while employing mode expansion techniques associated with the structural analysis. Following convergence and validation analyses, we examine the stability of the structure under various conditions in detail, and also investigate the bifurcation behavior concerning the buckling amplitude and flow velocity. The findings from this research enhance the understanding of the underlying physics governing fuel rod behavior in axial flow under severe yet practical conditions, while providing valuable guidance for reactor design.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.293-305
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• 2015

In this paper, we suggest the conceptual design of a water-cooled reactor system for a low-pressure inherent heat sink nuclear desalination plant (LIND) that applies the safety-related design concepts of high temperature gas-cooled reactors to a water-cooled reactor for inherent and passive safety features. Through a scoping analysis, we found that the current LIND design satisfied several essential thermal-hydraulic and neutronic design requirements. In a thermal-hydraulic analysis using an analytical method based on the Wooton-Epstein correlation, we checked the possibility of safely removing decay heat through the steel containment even if all the active safety systems failed. In a neutronic analysis using the Monte Carlo N-particle transport code, we estimated a cycle length of approximately 6 years under 200 $MW_{th}$ and 4.5% enrichment. The very long cycle length and simple safety features minimize the burdens from the operation, maintenance, and spent-fuel management, with a positive impact on the economic feasibility. Finally, because a nuclear reactor should not be directly coupled to a desalination system to prevent the leakage of radioactive material into the desalinated water, three types of intermediate systems were studied: a steam producing system, a hot water system, and an organic Rankine cycle system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권8호
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• pp.2753-2760
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• 2021

This paper proposes using sodium-cooled fast reactor technologies for use in hydrogen vapor methane (SMR) modification. Using three independent energy rings in the Russian BN-600 fast reactor, steam is generated in one of the steam-generating cycles with a pressure of 13.1 MPa and a temperature of 505 ℃. The reactor's second energy cycles can increase the gas-steam mixture's temperature to the required amount for efficient correction. The 620 ton/hr 540 ℃ steam generated in this cycle is sufficient to supply a high-temperature synthesis current source (700 ℃), which raises the steam-gas mixture's temperature in the reactor. The proposed technology provides a high rate of hydrogen production (approximately 144.5 ton/hr of standard H₂), also up to 25% of the original natural gas, in line with existing SMR technology for preparing and heating steam and gas mixtures will be saved. Also, exergy analysis results show that the plant's efficiency reaches 78.5% using HTR heat for combined hydrogen and power generation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• 제55권2호
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• pp.170-179
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• 2017

본 논문은 소듐냉각고속로 원형로 소듐-물 반응 압력완화계통의 급수배출부와 수소방출부의 설계요건 도출을 목적으로 한다. 증기발생기 전열관 누설에 의한 소듐-물 반응 발생 시, 증기발생기 내의 급수 증기를 신속하게 배출하는 조건을 도출하기 위해 급수덤프탱크 가스방출배관의 단면적과 증기발생기 급수배출배관의 수직길이를 변화시켜 연구를 수행하였다. 정상운전과 재장전운전에 대해 각각 계산을 수행하여 급수덤프탱크 가스방출배관의 단면적과 증기발생기 급수배출배관의 수직길이를 결정하였다. 정상운전 조건에서 소듐-물 반응 발생 시, 생성물인 수소에 의해 형성되는 과압이 소듐덤프탱크의 설계압력을 만족시킬 수 있도록 하는 가스방출배관의 직경을 도출하였고, 이 때 대기로 방출되는 수소의 유량과 농도를 계산하였다. 본 논문의 계산결과는 향후 소듐냉각고속로 원형로의 소듐-물 반응 압력완화계통의 설계요건으로 활용될 예정이다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.5-16
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• 1969

음전극을 가진 구형 가스 채집 전리함을 사용한 가스냉각 발전로 핵연료 피복파열에 관한 검출기술의 새로운 설계에 대한 연구이다. 설계를 위한 이론적인 계산결과에 의하면 이 설계된 시스템은 실지응용이 가능하고 1 $\textrm{cm}^2$ 크기의 핵연료 피복파열을 쉽게 검출할 수 있다는 것이 입증되었다.

• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한기계학회 2005년도 창립60주년 기념 추계 학술대회
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• pp.117.2-117.2
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• 2005

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 2004년도 추계학술발표회 발표논문집
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• pp.171-172
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• 2004