• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.776-790
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• 2015

Background: The advanced spent fuel conditioning process facility (ACPF) of the irradiated materials examination facility (IMEF) at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has been renovated to implement a lab scale electrolytic reduction process for pyroprocessing. The interior and exterior structures of the ACPF hot cell have been modified under the current renovation project for the experimentation of the electrolytic reduction process using spent nuclear fuel. The most important aspect of this renovation was the installation of the argon compartment within the hot cell. Method: For the design and system implementation of the argon compartment system, a full-scale mock-up test and a three-dimensional (3D) simulation test were conducted in advance. The remodeling and repairing of the process cell (M8a), the maintenance cell (M8b), the isolation room, and their utilities were also planned through this simulation to accommodate the designed argon compartment system. Results and conclusion: Based on the considered refurbishment workflow, previous equipment in the M8 cell, including vessels and pipes, were removed and disposed of successfully after a zoning smear survey and decontamination, and new equipment with advanced functions and specifications were installed in the hot cell. Finally, the operating area and isolation room were also refurbished to meet the requirements of the improved hot cell facility.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.331-336
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• 2003

The advanced spent fuel conditioning process(ACP) was proposed to reduce considerably the overall volume and radioactivity for effective management of the PWR spent fuel in respects on safety and economy. The ACP is under research and development, and have scheduled to perform hot test for demonstration of the ACP after several years. For hot test, hot cell facility of ${\alpha}{\gamma}$ type possess conservative safety is required essentially. A existing hot cell of ${\beta}{\gamma}$ type will be refurbished to minimize construction expenditures of hot cell facility. In this study, the design requirements are established, and the process detail work flow was analysed for the optimum arrangement to ensure effective process operation in hot cell. And also, the basic and detail design of hot cell facility and process and safety analysis was peformed to secure conservative safety of hot cell facility and process.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.20-25
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• 2003

Various welding methods such as Gas Tungsten Arc Welding(GTAW), magnetic force electrical resistance welding and Laser Beam Welding(LBW) are now available for end cap closure of nuclear fuel rods. Even though the resistance and GTA welding processes are widely used in manufacturing commercial fuel rods, they can not be recommended for the remote seal welding of fuel rods in the hot cell Facility due to the complexity of the electrode alignment, the difficulty in replacing parts in a remote manner and the large heat input for the thin sheath. Therefore, the Nd:YAG laser system using optical fiber transmission was selected for the end cap welding of irradiation fuel rods in the hot cell. The remote laser welding apparatus in the hot cell Facility was developed using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser of 500 watt average power with an optical fiber transmission. The weldment quality such as microstructure and mechanical strength was satisfactory. The optimum conditions of laser welding for encapsulating irradiation fuel rods in the hot cell were obtained.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.859-866
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• 2009

KAERI has worked on the development of an advanced spent fuel conditioning process (ACP) since 1997. A hot cell facility, termed the ACPF, has also been developed. The ACPF consists of two air-sealed hot cells. The results of a safety analysis as part of the license procurement process stipulated by the Korean Government showed that the facility was designed safely. After its construction, an integrated performance test was performed. The results of this test confirmed that the facility satisfies the design requirements.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.8
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• pp.1717-1726
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• 2017

In the nuclear industry, mechanical engineers spend a significant portion of their time designing equipment such as manipulators, bogies, mechanical grippers, and so on. Some customized designs can be considered as standard mechanical equipment in this area, although it is not unusual to find that an existing design cannot simply be copied from one project to another. Varied performance requirements can dictate that redesign, often quite extensive redesign, is required. However, if something similar has been done before, engineers could use that as a starting point for the new project. In this regard, this study presents several guidelines inspired by previous design knowledge for similar development cases. Moreover, this study presents more detailed suggestions such as design guidelines for an argon-based hot cell atmosphere and design experience for a large-scale practical hot cell facility. Design considerations and case studies dealt with in this study are dedicated to teleoperation manipulators that are used at a large-scale argon cell facility for pyroprocess integrated inactive demonstration (PRIDE), at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. In particular, for case studies to support the suggested recommendations, a fabricated telemanipulator system for PRIDE is introduced, and several kinds of experimental results associated with it are presented.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.792-799
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• 2023

Non-reactor nuclear facilities are increasing remarkably in Korea combined with advanced technologies such as life and space engineering, and the diversification of the nuclear industry. However, the absence of a basic classification guideline related to the design of non-reactor nuclear facilities has created confusion whenever related projects are carried out. In this paper, related domestic and international technical guidelines are reviewed to present the classification criteria of non-reactor nuclear facilities in Korea. Based on these criteria, the classification of structures, systems and components (SSCs) for safety controls is presented. Using the presented classification criteria, classification of a hot cell facility, a representative non-reactor nuclear facility, was performed. As a result of the classification, the hot cell facility is classified as the hazard category 3, accordingly, the safety class was classified as non-nuclear safety, the seismic category as non-seismic (RW-IIb), and the quality class as manufacturers' standards (S).

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2004

The hot cell facility for research activities related to the lithium reduction of spent fuel, which is designed to permit safe handling of source materials with radioactivity levels up to 1,385 TBq, is planned to be built. To meet this goal, the facility is designed to keep gamma and neutron radiation lower than the recommended dose-rate in normally occupied areas. The calculations peformed with QAD-CGGP and MCNP-4C are used to evaluate the proposed engineering design concepts that would provide acceptable dose-rates during a normal operation in hot cell facility. The maximum effective gamma dose-rates on the surfaces of the facility at operation area and at service area calculated by QAD-CGGP are estimated to be $2.10{\times}10^{-3}, 2.97{\times}10^{-3} and 1.01{\times}10{-1}$ mSv/h, respectively. And those calculated by MCNP-4C are $1.60{\times}10^{-3}, 2.99{\times}10^{-3} and 7.88{\times}10^{-2}$ mSv/h, respectively, The dose-rates contributed by neutrons are one order of magnitude less than that of gamma sources. Therefore, it is confirmed that the radiological design for hot cell facility satisfies the Korean criterion of 0.01 mSv/h for the operation area and 0.15 mSv/h for the service (maintenance) area.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.991-992
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• 2004

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.985-990
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• 2003

In order to demonstrate Advanced Spent Fuel Conditioning Process (ACP), shielding facilities such as hot cell suitable to handling radionuclides and process property will be necessary. But the construction of new facilities needs much money, man-power and time, it is now scheduled to remodel the hot cell, which has already been installed and maintained at Irradiated Material Experiment Facility (IMEF) in the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The basic structure and concrete shield wall of hot cell partly have been constructed on the base floor in IMEF building in current status. And hot cell after remodeling will be used for carrying out the lab-scale experiment of ACP. The hot cell was built in accordance with 35 curies of fe-59(1.2 MeV) as design criteria of radiation dose limit. But the radioactive source of ACP is expected to be much higher than design criteria of IMEF, shielding ability of the hot cell in the current status is unsatisfactory to the hot test of ACP. Therefore shield wall shall be reinforced with heavy concrete, steel or lead. In this paper, dose rates are calculated according to ACP source, shielding materials, etc., and reinforcement structures are determined considering the current situation of hot cells, installation of shield windows and the easiness of work.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.319-326
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• 2008

To transport process wastes efficiently from the Advanced Spent Fuel Conditioning Pyro-process Facility (ACPF) at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), a new hot cell cask has been designed based on an existing hot cell padirac transport cask, with not only a neutron absorber for improved shielding capability, but also a docking facility for an easy docking system. In the new hot cell cask, two kinds of materials have been considered as shielding materials, polyethylene and resin. To verify the transport compatibility of the waste and spent fuel for the ACPF, neutron and photon shielding calculations were performed using the MCNPX code. The source term was evaluated by the ORIGEN-ARP code system based on spent PWR fuel. From the calculation, it was found that the maximum surface dose rates of the hot cell cask with the two candidates were estimated within the limit (2 mSv/hr).