• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.141-150
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• 2013

There is mounting evidence that complex computer system displays in control rooms contribute to cognitive complexity and, thus, to the probability of human error. Research shows that reaction time increases and response accuracy decreases as the number of elements in the display screen increase. However, in terms of supporting the control room operator, approaches focusing on addressing display complexity solely in terms of information density and its location and patterning, will fall short of delivering a properly designed interface. This paper argues that information complexity and semantic complexity are mandatory components when considering display complexity and that the addition of these concepts assists in understanding and resolving differences between designers and the preferences and performance of operators. This paper concludes that a number of simplified methods, when combined, can be used to estimate the impact that a particular display may have on the operator's ability to perform a function accurately and effectively. We present a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach and a method for complexity estimation.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.167-174
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• 2009

A comprehensive analysis has been conducted on the purity of the uranium product generated from a pyroprocessing of EBR-II spent fuel. The analysis results were compared to the low-level waste criteria for both ROK and USA under a collaborative program between INL and KAERI. It is found that the US LLW definition does not include the activity from any U isotopes, but the Korean one does. The analysis results show that Pu-239 is the only alpha emitting isotope other than U isotopes that exceed the limit in the EBR-II U product. Pu contamination of the product seems to be drastically reduced in a preliminary test of the modified cathode process, and the further development of the proposed technology may be possible to meet the US LLW criteria.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.7
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• pp.885-892
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• 2009

This manuscript will discuss a numerical method where the six equations of two-phase flow, the solid heat conduction equations, and the two equations that describe neutron diffusion and precursor concentration are solved together in a tightly coupled, nonlinear fashion for a simplified model of a nuclear reactor core. This approach has two important advantages. The first advantage is a higher level of accuracy. Because the equations are solved together in a single nonlinear system, the solution is more accurate than the traditional "operator split" approach where the two-phase flow equations are solved first, the heat conduction is solved second and the neutron diffusion is solved third, limiting the temporal accuracy to $1^{st}$ order because the nonlinear coupling between the physics is handled explicitly. The second advantage of the method described in this manuscript is that the time step control in the fully implicit system can be based on the timescale of the solution rather than a stability-based time step restriction like the material Courant limit required of operator-split methods. In this work, a pilot code was used which employs this tightly coupled, fully implicit method to simulate a reactor core. Results are presented from a simulated control rod movement which show $2^{nd}$ order accuracy in time. Also described in this paper is a simulated rod ejection demonstrating how the fastest timescale of the problem can change between the state variables of neutronics, conduction and two-phase flow during the course of a transient.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.87-97
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• 2016

The new generation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) will likely make use of state-of-the-art technologies in many areas of the plant. The analysis, design, and selection of advanced human-system interfaces (HSIs) constitute an important part of power plant engineering. Designers need to consider the new capabilities afforded by these technologies in the context of current regulations and new operational concepts, which is why they need a more rigorous method by which to plan the introduction of advanced HSIs in NPP work areas. Much of current human factors research stops at the user interface and fails to provide a definitive process for integration of end user devices with instrumentation and control and operational concepts. The current lack of a clear definition of HSI technology, including the process for integration, makes characterization and implementation of new and advanced HSIs difficult. This paper describes how new design concepts in the nuclear industry can be analyzed and how HSI technologies associated with new industrial processes might be considered. It also describes a basis for an understanding of human as well as technology characteristics that could be incorporated into a prioritization scheme for technology selection and deployment plans.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.827-838
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• 2013

Interaction layer growth between U-Mo alloy fuel particles and Al in a dispersion fuel is a concern due to the volume expansion and other unfavorable irradiation behavior of the interaction product. To reduce interaction layer (IL) growth, a small amount of Si is added to the Al. As a result, IL growth is affected by the Si content in the Al matrix. In order to predict IL growth during fabrication and irradiation, empirical models were developed. For IL growth prediction during fabrication and any follow-on heating process before irradiation, out-of-pile heating test data were used to develop kinetic correlations. Two out-of-pile correlations, one for the pure Al matrix and the other for the Al matrix with Si addition, respectively, were developed, which are Arrhenius equations that include temperature and time. For IL growth predictions during irradiation, the out-of-pile correlations were modified to include a fission-rate term to consider fission enhanced diffusion, and multiplication factors to incorporate the Si addition effect and the effect of the Mo content. The in-pile correlation is applicable for a pure Al matrix and an Al matrix with the Si content up to 8 wt%, for fuel temperatures up to $200^{\circ}C$, and for Mo content in the range of 6 - 10wt%. In order to cover these ranges, in-pile data were included in modeling from various tests, such as the US RERTR-4, -5, -6, -7 and -9 tests and Korea's KOMO-4 test, that were designed to systematically examine the effects of the fission rate, temperature, Si content in Al matrix, and Mo content in U-Mo particles. A model converting the IL thickness to the IL volume fraction in the meat was also developed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.1349-1359
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• 2016

Alternative control schemes for an Advanced High Temperature Reactor system consisting of a reactor, an intermediate heat exchanger, and a secondary heat exchanger (SHX) are presented in this paper. One scheme is designed to control the cold outlet temperature of the SHX ($T_{co}$) and the hot outlet temperature of the intermediate heat exchanger ($T_{ho2}$) by manipulating the hot-side flow rates of the heat exchangers ($F_h/F_{h2}$) responding to the flow rate and temperature disturbances. The flow rate disturbances typically require a larger manipulation of the flow rates than temperature disturbances. An alternate strategy examines the control of the cold outlet temperature of the SHX ($T_{co}$) only, since this temperature provides the driving force for energy production in the power conversion unit or the process application. The control can be achieved by three options: (1) flow rate manipulation; (2) reactor power manipulation; or (3) a combination of the two. The first option has a quicker response but requires a large flow rate change. The second option is the slowest but does not involve any change in the flow rates of streams. The third option appears preferable as it has an intermediate response time and requires only a minimal flow rate change.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.05a
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• pp.600-605
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• 1997

Sandia National Laboratories(SNL)에서 수행된 원자로 용기의 고온, 고압 크리프 파괴 실험의 하나인 Lower Head Failure-1(LHF-1)에 대한 코드 해석을 수행하였다. 해석 코드로는 범용 유한요소 구조해석 코드인 ABACUS를 사용하였고, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory(INEL)의 크리프 데이터를 이용하였다. 크리프 해석에는 strain hardening 식을 적용하였고, 크리프 데이터를 적용하기 위해서 user subroutine을 개발하였다. 민감도 분석의 일환으로 내부 압력을 1.2배로 증가시킨 경우에 대해 수행한 해석 결과가 실험 결과와 유사하였다 해석 결과를 분석하여 현 크리프 데이터의 절대적 부족을 확인하였고, 크리프데이터 생산을 위한 크리프 시험을 계획하였다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.10
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• pp.3874-3897
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• 2023

A high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed using the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model for the lower plenum of the High-Temperature Test Facility (HTTF), a ¼ scale test facility of the modular high temperature gas-cooled reactor (MHTGR) managed by Oregon State University. In most next-generation nuclear reactors, thermal stress due to thermal striping is one of the risks to be curiously considered. This is also true for HTGRs, especially since the exhaust helium gas temperature is high. In order to evaluate these risks and performance, organizations in the United States led by the OECD NEA are conducting a thermal hydraulic code benchmark for HTGR, and the test facility used for this benchmark is HTTF. HTTF can perform experiments in both normal and accident situations and provide high-quality experimental data. However, it is difficult to provide sufficient data for benchmarking through experiments, and there is a problem with the reliability of CFD analysis results based on Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes to analyze thermal hydraulic behavior without verification. To solve this problem, high-fidelity 3-D CFD analysis was performed using the LES model for HTTF. It was also verified that the LES model can properly simulate this jet mixing phenomenon via a unit cell test that provides experimental information. As a result of CFD analysis, the lower the dependency of the sub-grid scale model, the closer to the actual analysis result. In the case of unit cell test CFD analysis and HTTF CFD analysis, the volume-averaged sub-grid scale model dependency was calculated to be 13.0% and 9.16%, respectively. As a result of HTTF analysis, quantitative data of the fluid inside the HTTF lower plenum was provided in this paper. As a result of qualitative analysis, the temperature was highest at the center of the lower plenum, while the temperature fluctuation was highest near the edge of the lower plenum wall. The power spectral density of temperature was analyzed via fast Fourier transform (FFT) for specific points on the center and side of the lower plenum. FFT results did not reveal specific frequency-dominant temperature fluctuations in the center part. It was confirmed that the temperature power spectral density (PSD) at the top increased from the center to the wake. The vortex was visualized using the well-known scalar Q-criterion, and as a result, the closer to the outlet duct, the greater the influence of the mainstream, so that the inflow jet vortex was dissipated and mixed at the top of the lower plenum. Additionally, FFT analysis was performed on the support structure near the corner of the lower plenum with large temperature fluctuations, and as a result, it was confirmed that the temperature fluctuation of the flow did not have a significant effect near the corner wall. In addition, the vortices generated from the lower plenum to the outlet duct were identified in this paper. It is considered that the quantitative and qualitative results presented in this paper will serve as reference data for the benchmark.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.1100-1107
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• 2024

The nuclear waste attributes of near-term deployable SMRs were assessed using established nuclear waste metrics, which are the DU mass, SNF mass, volume, activity, decay heat, radiotoxicity, and decommissioning LLW volumes. Metrics normalized per unit electricity generation were compared to a reference large PWR. Three SMRs, VOYGR, Natrium, and Xe-100, were selected because they represent a range of reactor and fuel technologies and are active designs deployable by the decade's end. The SMR nuclear waste attributes show both some similarities to the PWR and some significant differences caused by reactor-specific design features. The DU mass is equivalent to or slightly higher than the PWR. Back-end waste attributes for SNF disposition vary, but the differences have a limited impact on long-term repository isolation. SMR designs can vary significantly in SNF volume (and thus heat generation density). However, these differences are amenable to design optimization for handling, storage, transportation, and disposal technologies. Nuclear waste attributes from decommissioning vary depending on design and decommissioning technology choices. Given the analysis results in this study and assuming appropriate waste management system and operational optimization, there appear to be no major challenges to managing SMR nuclear wastes compared to the reference PWR.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.7
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• pp.1051-1059
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• 2018

Fast periodic pulsed reactor is a type of reactor in which the fission bursts are formed entirely with external reactivity modulation with a specified time periodicity. This type of reactors could generate much larger intensity of neutron beams for experimental use, compared with the steady state reactors. In the design of fast periodic pulsed reactors, the time dependent simulation of the power pulse is majorly based on a point kinetic model, which is known to have limitations. A more accurate calculation method is desired for the design analyses of fast periodic pulsed reactors. Monte Carlo computer code MCNP6 is used for this task due to its three dimensional transport capability with a continuous energy library. Some new routines were added to simulate the rotation of the movable reflector parts in the time dependent calculation. Fast periodic pulsed reactor IBR-2M was utilized to validate the new routines. This reactor is periodically in prompt supercritical state, which lasts for ${\sim}400{\mu}s$, during the equilibrium state. This generates long neutron fission chains, which requires tremendously large amount of computation time during Monte Carlo simulations. Russian Roulette was applied for these very long neutron chains in MCNP6 calculation, combined with other approaches to improve the efficiency of the simulations. In the power pulse of the IBR-2M at equilibrium state, there is some discrepancy between the experimental measurements and the calculated results using the point kinetics model. MCNP6 results matches better the experimental measurements, which shows the merit of using MCNP6 calculation relative to the point kinetics model.