• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.9
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• pp.2054-2063
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• 2020

The high-temperature oxidation behavior of ZrSi₂ used as a coating material for nuclear fuel cladding was investigated for developing accident-tolerant fuel cladding of light water reactors. Bulk ZrSi₂ samples were prepared by spark plasma sintering. In situ X-ray diffraction was conducted in air at 900, 1000, and 1100 ℃ for 20 h. The microstructures of the samples before and after oxidation were examined by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that the oxide layer of zirconium silicide exhibited a layer-by-layer structure of crystalline ZrO₂ and amorphous SiO₂, and the high-temperature oxidation resistance was superior to that of Zircaloy-4 owing to the SiO₂ layer formed. ZrSi₂ was coated on the Zircaloy-4 tube surface using laser 3D printing, and the coated tube was oxidized for 2000 s at 1200 ℃ under a vapor/argon mixture atmosphere. The outer surface of the coated tube was hardly oxidized (10-30 ㎛), while the inner surface of the uncoated tube was significantly oxidized to approximately 300 ㎛.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.510-517
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• 2019

Increasing proliferation resistance of plutonium by way of increased $^{238}Pu$ content is of interest to the nuclear nonproliferation and international safeguards community. Considering the high alpha decay heat of $^{238}Pu$, increasing the isotopic fraction leads to a noticeably higher amount of heat generation within the plutonium. High heat generation is especially unattractive in the scenario of weaponization. Upon weaponization of the plutonium, the plutonium may generate enough heat to elevate the temperature in the high explosives to above its self-explosion temperature, rendering the weapon useless. In addition, elevated temperatures will cause thermal expansion in the components of a nuclear explosive device that may produce thermal stresses high enough to produce failure in the materials, reducing the effectiveness of the weapon. Understanding the technical limit of $^{238}Pu$ required to reduce the possibility of weaponization is key to reducing the current limit on safeguarded plutonium (greater than 80 at. % $^{238}Pu$). The plutonium vector evaluated in this study was found by simulating public information on Lightbridge's fuel design for pressurized water reactors. This study explores the temperature profile and maximum stress within a simple (first generation design) hypothetical nuclear explosive device of four unique scenarios over time. Analyzing the transient development of both the temperature profile and maximum stress not only establishes a technical limit on the $^{238}Pu$ content, but also establishes a time limit for which each scenario would be useable.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.15-15
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• 2011

As you know, boron compounds, borax ($Na_2B_4O_5(OH)_4{\cdot}8H_2O$) etc. were known thousands of years ago. As for natural boron, it has two naturally occurring and stable isotopes, boron 11 ($^{11}B$) and boron 10 ($^{10}B$). The neutron absorption $^{10}B$ is included about 19~20% with 80~81% $^{11}B$. Boron is similar to carbon in its capability to form stable covalently bonded molecular networks. The mass difference results in a wide range of ${\beta}$ values between the $^{11}B$ and $^{10}B$. The $^{10}B$ isotope, stable with 5 neutrons is excellent at capturing thermal neutrons. For example, it is possible to decrease a thermal neutron required for the nuclear reaction of uranium 235 ($^{235}U$). If $^{10}B$ absorbs a neutron ($^1n$), it will change to $^7Li+^1{\alpha}$ (${\alpha}$ ray, like $^4He$) with prompt ${\gamma}$ ray from $^{11}B$ $^{11}B$ (equation 1). $$^{10}B+^1n\;{\rightarrow}\;^{11}B\;{\rightarrow}\; prompt \;{\gamma}\;ray (478 keV), \;^7Li+4{\alpha}\;(4He)\;\;\;\;{\cdots}\; (1)$$ If about 1% boron is added to stainless steel, it is known that a neutron shielding effect will be 3 times the boron free steel. Enriched boron or $^{10}B$ is used in both radiation shielding and in boron neutron capture therapy. Then, $^{10}B$ is used for reactivity control and in emergency shutdown systems in nuclear reactors. Furthermore, boron carbide, $B_4C$, is used as the charge of a nuclear fission reaction control rod material and neutron cover material for nuclear reactors. The $B_4C$ powder of natural B composition is used as a charge of a control material of a boiling water reactor (BWR) which occupies commercial power reactors in nuclear power generation. The $B_4C$ sintered body which adjusted $^{10}B$ concentration is used as a charge of a control material of the fast breeder reactor (FBR) currently developed aiming at establishment of a nuclear fuel cycle. In this study for new boron compound, silicon boride ceramics for capturing thermal neutrons, preparation and characterization of both silicon tetraboride ($SiB_4$) and silicon hexaboride ($SiB_6$) and ceramics produced by sintering were investigated in order to determine the suitability of this material for nuclear power generation. The relative density increased with increasing sintering temperature. With a sintering temperature of 1,923 K, a sintered body having a relative density of more than 99% was obtained. The Vickers hardness increased with increasing sintering temperature. The best result was a Vickers hardness of 28 GPa for the $SiB_6$ sintered at 1,923K for 1 h. The high temperature Vickers hardness of the $SiB_6$ sintered body changed from 28 to 12 GPa in the temperature range of room temperature to 1,273 K. The thermal conductivity of the SiB6 sintered body changed from 9.1 to 2.4 W/mK in the range of room temperature to 1,273 K.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.8 s.279
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• pp.575-581
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• 2005

SiC-based ceramics are considered as candidate materials for the advanced nuclear energy systems such as the generation IV reactors and the fusion reactors due to their excellent high-temperature strength and irradiation resistance. The advanced nuclear energy systems and their main components adopting ceramic composites were briefly reviewed. A novel fabrication method of $SiC_f/SiC$ composites by introducing SiC whiskers was also described. In addition, the charged-particle irradiation ($Si^{2+}$ and $H^{+}$ ion) into CVD SiC was carried out to simulate the severe environments of the advanced nuclear reactors. SiC whiskers grown in the fiber preform increased the matrix infiltration rate by more than $60\%$ compared to the conventional CVI process. The highly crystalline and pure SiC showed little degradation in hardness and elastic modulus up to a damage level of 10 dpa at $1000^{\circ}C$.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.6
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• pp.253-259
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• 2003

Zirconium based alloys have been extensively used as a cladding material for fuel rods in nuclear reactors, due to their low thermal neutron absorption cross-section, excellent corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties at high temperatures. However, a cladding material for fuel rods in nuclear reactors was contact water during long time at high-temperature, so it is necessary to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of the fuel cladding, At ambient environment, there are few data or paper on the characteristic of corrosion in chloride solution and acidic solution. The specimens used in this work are pure Zr and Zircaloy-4. Zircaloy-4 is a specific zirconium-based alloy containing, on a weight percent basis, 1.4% Sn, 0.2% Fe, 0.1% Cr. Pitting corrosion resistance of two alloys by ASTM G48 is higher than that of electrochemical method. Passive film formed on Zircaloy-4 is mainly composed of $ZrO_2$, metallic Sn, and iron species regardless of formation environments. Also, passive film formed on Zr alloys shows n-type semiconductic property on the base of Mott-Schottky plot.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.878-888
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• 2020

This paper presents the validation of UNIST in-house Monte Carlo code MCS used for the high-fidelity simulation of commercial pressurized water reactors (PWRs). Its focus is on the accurate, spatially detailed neutronic analyses of startup physics tests for the initial core of the Watts Bar Nuclear 1 reactor, which is a vital step in evaluating core phenomena in an operating nuclear power reactor. The MCS solutions for the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) core physics benchmark progression problems 1 to 5 were verified with KENO-VI and Serpent 2 solutions for geometries ranging from a single-pin cell to a full core. MCS was also validated by comparing with results of reactor zero-power physics tests in a full-core simulation. MCS exhibits an excellent consistency against the measured data with a bias of ±3 pcm at the initial criticality whole-core problem. Furthermore, MCS solutions for rod worth are consistent with measured data, and reasonable agreement is obtained for the isothermal temperature coefficient and soluble boron worth. This favorable comparison with measured parameters exhibited by MCS continues to broaden its validation basis. These results provide confidence in MCS's capability in high-fidelity calculations for practical PWR cores.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.208-212
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• 2003

This study was performed to examine the effects of chaff as bulking materials on temperature, pH, weight and volume reduction and salinity in aerobic composting of food wastes. Volume ratios of food wastes to chaff in reactor Control, Ch-1, Ch-2, Ch-3 and Ch-4 were 4:0, 4:1, 4:2, 4:3 and 4:4, respectively. Reactors were operated for 24 days with 1 hour stirring by 1 rpm and 2 hours aeration per day. The lowering of the volume ratio of food wastes to chaff resulted in the ascending of the highest reaction temperature and the elongation of the high temperature reaction period. The lowering of the volume ratio of food wastes to chaff resulted in the more fast time of pH ascending. The lowering of the volume ratio of food wastes to chaff resulted in the more fast consistency in the weight and volume reduction rates. Salinities were condensed by reaction days. The final salinity of Control was 2.79%, and the final range of salinities of chaff mixtures was 2.18 - 2.37%.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.56-61
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• 2003

This study was performed to examine the effects of chaff as a bulking material on temperature, pH, weight and volume reduction and salinity in aerobic composting of food wastes. Volume ratios of food wastes to chaff in reactor of Control, Ch-1. Ch-2, Ch-3 and Ch-4 were 4:0, 4:1, 4:2, 4:3 and 4:4. respectively. Reactors were operated for 24 days with 1 hour stirring by 1 rpm and 2 hours aeration per day. The lowering of the volume ratio of food wasted to chaff resulted in the reaction at higher reaction temperature and the elongation of the high temperature reaction period. The lowering of the volume ratio of food wastes to chaff resulted in the more faster pH increase. The lowering of the volume ratio of food wastes to chaff resulted in the more faster reduction in the weight and the volume of wastes. Salinities were condensed by reaction days. The final salinity of Control and the final range of salinities of chaff mixtures were 2.79%, and 2.18~2.37%. respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.9
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• pp.3320-3325
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• 2023

The scaled water-cooled Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS) experimental facility reproduces a passive safety feature to be implemented in Generation IV nuclear reactors. It keeps the reactor cavity and other internal structures in operational conditions by removing heat leakage from the reactor pressure vessel. The present work uses Flownex one-dimensional thermal-fluid code to model the facility and predict the experimental thermal-hydraulic behavior. Two representative steady-state cases defined by the bulk volumetric flow rate are simulated (Re = 2,409 and Re = 11,524). Results of the cavity outlet temperature, risers' temperature profile, and volumetric flow split in the cooling panel are also compared with the experimental data and RELAP system code simulations. The comparisons are in reasonable agreement with the previous studies, demonstrating the ability of Flownex to simulate the RCCS behavior. It is found that the low Re case of 2,409, temperature and flow split are evenly distributed across the risers. On the contrary, there's an asymmetry trend in both temperature and flow split distributions for the high Re case of 11,524.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.451-455
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• 2007

This study was performed to evaluate the effects of input ratios of bulking material in aerobic composting of food wastes on variation of colony forming units(CFU) of fungi. Wood chips were used as a bulking material. Volume ratios of food wastes to wood chips in reactor of Control, WC-1 and WC-2 were 10/0, 10/5 and 10/10, respectively. Reactors were operated for 24 days with I hour stirring by 1rpm and 2 hours of the forced aeration rate of $80L/min{\cdot}m^3$ per day. WC-2 reached high temperature range faster than WC-1, and the maximum temperature of WC-2 was higher than that of WC-1. WC-2 reached high pH range faster than WC-1. and the maximum pH of WC-2 was higher than that of WC-1. WC-2 reached high Log(CFU/gram) range faster than WC-I, and the maximum Log(CFU/gram) of WC-2 was higher than that of WC-1. These all mean that the reaction velocity of composting of WC-2 was faster than that of WC-1. The profile of fungi changes in Log(CFU/gram) was similar to that of temperature changes (r=0.8861) not pH changes (r=0.1631).