• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.3071-3079
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• 2023

Helium production in the nuclear fuel matrix during irradiation plays a critical role in the design and performance of Gen-IV reactor fuel, as it represents a life-limiting factor for the operation of fuel pins. In this work, a surrogate model for the helium production rate in fast reactor MOX fuels is developed, targeting its inclusion in engineering tools such as fuel performance codes. This surrogate model is based on synthetic datasets obtained via the SCIANTIX burnup module. Such datasets are generated using Latin hypercube sampling to cover the range of input parameters (e.g., fuel initial composition, fission rate density, and irradiation time) and exploiting the low computation requirement of the burnup module itself. The surrogate model is verified against the SCIANTIX burnup module results for helium production with satisfactory performance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.1893-1908
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• 2021

In light of the importance of helium production in influencing the behaviour of fast reactor fuels, in this work we present a burn-up module with the objective to calculate the production of helium in both in-pile and out-of-pile conditions tracking the evolution of 23 alpha-decaying actinides. This burn-up module relies on average microscopic cross-section look-up tables generated via SERPENT high-fidelity calculations and involves the solution of the system of Bateman equations for the selected set of actinide nuclides. The results of the burn-up module are verified in terms of evolution of actinide and helium concentrations by comparing them with the high-fidelity ones from SERPENT, considering two representative test cases of (U,Pu)O₂ fuel in fast reactor conditions. In addition, a code-to-code comparison is made with the independent state-of-the-art module TUBRNP (implemented in the TRANSURANUS fuel performance code) for the same test cases. The herein presented burn-up module is available in the SCIANTIX code, designed for coupling with fuel performance codes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.1754-1761
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• 2024

In hadrontherapy, secondary fragments are generated by nuclear interactions of the incident heavy ion beam with the atomic nuclei of the target. It is important to determine the yield of production and the dose contribution of these secondary fragments in order to determine the radiobiological effectiveness more accurately. This work aims to fully identify the secondary fragments generated by nuclear interactions of proton and helium (⁴He) ion beams in a High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) target and to investigate the dose contributions by secondary fragments. Incident protons with energies of 55.90 MeV and 105.20 MeV and helium ions with energies of 52.55 MeV/u and 103.50 MeV/u in the HDPE phantom have been investigated by the means of Geant4 Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Simulated results were validated using NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) Bragg curves experimental data. The results showed that the dose contribution of secondary fragments deriving from helium ion beams is three times higher than in the case of proton beams. This is due to a higher production of nuclear fragments in the case of helium ion beams. This work contributes to a better understanding of secondary fragments generated by protons and helium ions in the HDPE target.

• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2008

Tritium ($^3H$ or T) has been produced mostly by atmospheric nuclear weapon tests, and entered the ocean in the form of water (HTO). As tritium exists as water itself, it has been regarded as an ideal tool to study the transport of water masses. In April 2001 we collected water samples in the western Japan Basin (WJB) for tritium and helium measurement. The timely sampling provided direct evidence of the bottom water formation, resulting in the drastic increase in tritium concentration from 0.3 TU in 2000 to 0.67 TU in 2001. Considering that the new bottom waters were found mostly in the WJB, it implies that maximum 1% of the whole bottom layer below 2600 m should be replaced with the surface water during the severely cold winter 2000 2001. $^3H-^3He$ age, showing the elapsed time since the water left from the surface, can be used to calculate oxygen utilization rate by dividing AOU by the age. Under the condition of 90% oxygen saturation in the surface water, the integration of OUR in the water column below 200 m yields net oxygen consumption of 12 mol $(O_2)m^{-2}yr^{-1}$, which corresponds to the export production of $99\;g\;C\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$. This estimate is comparable to a previous estimate based on satellite data and implies that the ratio of export to primary production(f-ratio) is as high as 0.5 in the WJB.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.831-840
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• 2009

In order to evaluate the start-up behavior and to identify, through abnormal operation occurrences, the transient behaviors of the Sulfur Iodine(SI) process, which is a nuclear hydrogen process that is coupled to a Very High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor (VHTR) through an Intermediate Heat Exchanger (IHX), a dynamic simulation of the process is necessary. Perturbation of the flow rate or temperature in the inlet streams may result in various transient states. An understanding of the dynamic behavior due to these factors is able to support the conceptual design of the secondary helium loop system associated with a hydrogen production plant. Based on the mass and energy balance sheets of an electrodialysis-embedded SI process equivalent to a 200 $MW_{th}$ VHTR and a considerable thermal pathway between the SI process and the VHTR system, a dynamic simulation of the SI process was carried out for a sulfuric acid decomposition process (Second Section) that is composed of a sulfuric acid vaporizer, a sulfuric acid decomposer, and a sulfur trioxide decomposer. The dynamic behaviors of these integrated reactors according to several anticipated scenarios are evaluated and the dominant and mild factors are observed. As for the results of the simulation, all the reactors in the sulfuric acid decomposition process approach a steady state at the same time. Temperature control of the inlet helium is strictly required rather than the flow rate control of the inlet helium to keep the steady state condition in the Second Section. On the other hand, it was revealed that the changes of the inlet helium operation conditions make a great impact on the performances of $SO_3$ and $H_2SO_4$ decomposers, but no effect on the performance of the $H_2SO_4$ vaporizer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of IIIuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.40-45
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• 1999

The effect of the addition of helium, neon, argon and xenon on the production of negative hydrogen ions has been studied in a magnetically confined dc filament discharge. The addition of helium and neon produced effects similar to an equivalent increase in hydrogen pressure. However, the addition of argon and low fractions of xenon produced significant increases in the negative ion density for hydrogen at pressures around 1 mTorr. The addition of argon and xenon, by increasing electron density and decreasing electron temperature, achieved conditions closer to optimum for negative ion production. The largest enhancement of negative hydrogen ion density occurred with the addition of argon; it is suggested that this is due to a resonant energy exchange between excited argon atoms and hydrogen molecules.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.659-667
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• 2012

Alloy 617 is a Ni-base superalloy and a candidate material for the intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) of a very high temperature gas reactor (VHTR) which is one of the next generation nuclear reactors under development. The high operating temperature of VHTR enables various applications such as mass production of hydrogen with high energy efficiency. Alloy 617 has good creep resistance and phase stability at high temperatures in an air environment. However, it was reported that the mechanical properties decreased at a high temperature in an impure helium environment. In this study, high-temperature corrosion tests were carried out at $850^{\circ}C-950^{\circ}C$ in a helium environment containing the impurity gases $H_2$, CO, and $CH_4$, in order to examine the corrosion behavior of Alloy 617. Until 250 h, Alloy 617 specimens showed a parabolic oxidation behavior at all temperatures. The activation energy for oxidation in helium environment was 154 kJ/mol. The SEM and EDS results elucidated a Cr-rich surface oxide layer, Al-rich internal oxides and depletion of grain boundary carbides. The thickness and depths of degraded layers also showed a parabolic relationship with time. A normal grain growth was observed in the Cr-rich surface oxide layer. When corrosion tests were conducted in a pure helium environment, the oxidation was suppressed drastically. It was elucidated that minor impurity gases in the helium would have detrimental effects on the high-temperature corrosion behavior of Alloy 617 for the VHTR application.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.269-275
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• 2006

Atmospheric-pressure cold plasma (APCP) using helium/oxygen was developed and tested as a suitable sterilization method in a clinical environment. The sterilizing effect of this method is not due to UV light, which is known to be the major sterilization factor of APCP, but instead results from the action of reactive oxygen radicals. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae deposited on a nitrocellulose filter membrane or Bacillus subtilis spores deposited on polypropylene plates were exposed to helium/oxygen plasma generated with AC input power at 10 kHz, 6 kV. After Plasma treatment, nitrocellulose filter membranes were overlaid on fresh solid media and CFUs were counted after incubation overnight. D-values were 18 sec for E. coli, 19 sec for S. aureus, 1 min 55 sec for S. cerevisiae, and 14 min for B. subtilis spores. D-values of bacteria and yeast were dependent on the initial inoculation concentration, while the D-value of B. subtilis spores showed no correlation. When treated cells were observed with a scanning electron microscope, E. coli was more heavily damaged than S. aureus, S. cevevisiae exhibited peeling, and B. subtilis spores exhibited shrunken morphology. Results showed that APCP using helium/oxygen has many advantages as a sterilization method, especially in a clinical environment with conditions such as stable temperature, unlimited sample size, and no harmful gas production.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.204-212
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• 2023

Background: Isotopes of the projectile may be produced along the beam path during the irradiation of a target by a heavy ion due to inelastic interactions with the media. This study analyzed the production cross-section of carbon (C) and Helium (He) projectile's isotopes resulting from the interactions of these beams with different materials along the beam path. Materials and Methods: In this study, we transport C and He ion beams through different materials. This transportation was made by the Monte Carlo simulation. Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS) has been used for this calculation. Results and Discussion: It has been found that ¹⁰C, ¹¹C, and ¹³C from the ¹²C ion beam and ³He from the ⁴He ion beam are significant projectile's isotopes that have higher flux than other isotopes of these projectiles. The ⁴He ion beam has a higher projectile's isotope production cross-section along the beam path, which adds more impurities to the beam than the ¹²C ion beam. These projectile's isotopes from both the ¹²C and ⁴He ion beams have higher production cross-sections in hydrogenous materials like water or polyethylene. Conclusion: It is important to distinguish these projectile's isotopes from the primary beam particles to obtain a precise and accurate cross-section result by minimizing the error during measurement with a nuclear track detector. This study will show the trend of the production probability of projectile's isotopes for these ion beams.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2001

The biological pump is one of the important pumping mechanisms absorbing CO$_2$ from the atmosphere into the ocean and can be quantified by estimating new production. New production in the open ocean mostly depends on the supply of nitrate from the water below the mixed layer. While nitrate is affected by many biological processes, the helium isotope ($^3$He) is inert and has very simple physical properties. Using the $^3$He flux and the relation between $^3$He and NO${_3}\;{^-}$- within the thermocline, the nitrate flux supporting new production was estimated in the southern East Sea. The average ${\delta}^3$He within the mixed layer was -14$%_o$ and -l5.4$%_o$ in the winter and autumn, respectively. Through the year excess $^3$He occurs in the mixed layer except for a slight depletion of -17$%_o$ in summer. The $^3$He flux of 13$%_o$md$^{-1}$ associated with the concentration gradient at the air-sea interface was calculated from the product of the piston velocity and the excess $^3$He. Tritium decay within the mixed layer could support only 2$%_o$md$^{-1}$ of the flux. Thus, the remaining 11$%_o$md^{-1}$ could be attributed to the flux of tritiugenic $^3$He from the water below the mixed layer. Nitrate and $^3$He were positively correlated within the thermocline layer with the slope of 0.21 ${\mu}$mol kg$^{-1}$ $%_o\;^{-1}$. The annual nitrate flux estimated from the upward flux of $^3$He and the NO$_{3}\;{^-}$-$^3$He relation was 0.8${\pm}$0.2 mol(N) m$^{-2}$yr$^{-1}$. This flux corresponds to an annual new production of 64 g(C) m$^{-2}$yr$^{-1}$, which is consistent with that in the north-west Pacific.