• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.674-680
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• 2020

We used MCNP6 computer code to model HTR-10 core reactor. We used two types of fuel; UO₂ and (Th+Pu)O₂ mixture. We determined the critical height at which the reactor approached criticality in both two cases. The neutronic and burnup parameters were investigated. The results indicated that the core fueled with mixed (Th+Pu)O₂, achieved about 24% higher fuel cycle length than the UO₂ case. It also enhanced safeguard security by burning Pu isotopes. The results were compared with previously published papers and good agreements were found.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.178-186
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• 2020

Background: Reactor pressure vessel (RV) with internals (RVI) are activated structures by neutron irradiation and volume contaminated wastes. Thus, to develop safe and optimized disposal plan for them at a disposal site, it is important to perform exact activation calculation and evaluate the dose rate on the surface of casks which contain cut-off pieces. Materials and Methods: RV and RVI are subjected to neutron activation calculation via Monte Carlo methodology with MCNP6 and ORIGEN-S program-neutron flux, isotopic specific activity, and gamma spectrum calculation on each component of RV and RVI, and dose rate evaluation with MCNP6. Results and Discussion: Through neutron activation analysis, dose rate is evaluated for the casks containing cut-off pieces produced from decommissioned RV and RVI. For RV cut-off ones, the highest value of dose rate on the surface of cask is 6.97 × 10-1 mSv/hr and 2 m from it is 3.03 × 10-2 mSv/hr. For RVI cut-off ones, on the surface of it is 0.166 × 10-1 mSv/hr and 2 m from it is 1.04 × 10-1 mSv/hr. Dose rates for various RV and RVI cut-off pieces distributed lower than the limit except the one of 2 m from the cask surface of RVI. It needs to adjust contents in cask which carries highly radioactive components in order to decrease thickness of cask. Conclusion: Two types of casks are considered in this paper: box type for very-low-level waste (VLLW) as well as low-level waste (LLW) and cylinder type for intermediate-level waste (ILW). The results will contribute to the development of optimal loading plans for RV and RVI cut-off pieces during the decommissioning of nuclear power plant that can be used to prepare radioactive waste disposal plans for the different types of wastes-ILW, LLW, and VLLW.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.849-853
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• 2021

PET images used in medical diagnoses are created using positron emitting radionuclides. The radiation used for imaging is generated at 0.511 MeV by p-annihilation. The CSDA range is the distance the particle radiation flew physically, and it is different from the range shown in PET images. This study proposes a novel method that uses radiological criteria to measure this range. The experiment was conducted by applying the MCNP6 simulation to positron emitting nuclides ¹⁸F, ¹¹C, ¹³N, and ¹⁵O. Radiological criteria were based on the location of the p-annihilation event, which is also the image signal. Results showed the radiological range of positrons to be 2.3, 3.9, 5.0, and 7.9 mm for ¹⁸F, ¹¹C, ¹³N, and ¹⁵O, respectively. The higher the positron energy, the larger its difference from the CSDA range. Positron emitting nuclide is being developed and studied as a nuclide for dosimetry or radiotherapy. Further research needs to be conducted into various positron ranges.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.1109-1119
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• 2016

Although, the direct use of spent pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel in CANda Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors (DUPIC) cycle is still under investigation, DUPIC cycle is a promising method for uranium utilization improvement, for reduction of high level nuclear waste, and for high degree of proliferation resistance. This paper focuses on the effect of DUPIC cycle on CANDU reactor safety parameters. MCNP6 was used for lattice cell simulation of a typical 3,411 MWth PWR fueled by $UO_2$ enriched to 4.5w/o U-235 to calculate the spent fuel inventories after a burnup of 51.7 MWd/kgU. The code was also used to simulate the lattice cell of CANDU-6 reactor fueled with spent fuel after its fabrication into the standard 37-element fuel bundle. It is assumed a 5-year cooling time between the spent fuel discharges from the PWR to the loading into the CANDU-6. The simulation was carried out to calculate the burnup and the effect of DUPIC fuel on: (1) the power distribution amongst the fuel elements of the bundle; (2) the coolant void reactivity; and (3) the reactor point-kinetics parameters.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2015

$^3He$ gas has been used for neutron monitors as the neutron converter owing to its advantages such as high sensitivity, good ${\gamma}$-discrimination capability, and long-term stability. However, $^3He$ is becoming more difficult to obtain in last few years due to a global shortage of $^3He$ gas. Accordingly, the cost of a neutron monitor using $^3He$ gas as a neutron converter is becoming more expensive. Demand on a neutron monitor using an alternative neutron conversion material is widely increased. $^{10}B$ has many advantages among various $^3He$ alternative materials, as a neutron converter. In order to develop a neutron converter using $^{10}B$ (actually $B_4C$), we calculated the optimal thickness of a neutron converter with a Monte Carlo simulation using MCNP6. In addition, a neutron converter was fabricated by the Ar sputtering method and the neutron signal detection efficiencies were measured with respect to various thicknesses of fabricated a neutron converter. Also, we developed a 2-dimensional multi-wire proportional chamber (MWPC) for neutron beam profile monitoring using the fabricated a neutron converter, and performed experiments for neutron response of the neutron monitor at the 30 MW research reactor HANARO at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. The 2-dimensional MWPC with boron ($B_4C$) neutron converter was proved to be useful for neutron beam monitoring, and can be applied to other types of neutron imaging.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.197-202
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• 1997

ORIGEN2코드의 검증계산을 통해 PWR 사용 후 핵연료 조성핵종의 핵종량에 대한 핵임계측면에서 보수성을 가지는 안전인자를 산출하였고, MCNP코드의 검증계산으로 95/95 신뢰구간에서의 계산오차를 구하였다. 이를 바탕으로 직경이 1.2567cm이고 길이가 380.5cm인 196 개 금속봉을 장전한 캐니스터 ( 금속저장체 )가 x-y 방향으로 무한히 배열된 경우에 대해 캐니스터의 두께, 간격 및 외부의 공기중 수분농도에 따른 핵임계 안전해석을 수행하였다. 그 결과, 캐니스터의 두께가 7mm일 때 공기중 수분농도가 0.30 g/㎤이고 캐니스터간의 간격이 6.0cm인 경우의 최종핵 임계도값은 0.94130로서 최대허용핵임계값 (0.942)보다 적은 값을 보였다.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.95-100
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• 2012

In this study, there has been investigated the simulation of irradiation dose using Monte Carlo methodology for the biological control of wooden cultural property. In the evaluation of fungal contamination on wooden cultural properties, Cladosporium tenuissimum, Aspergillus versicolor, Penicillium sp. were mainly identified from the Gimjeotgae. But these microorganisms were completely inactivated by 20 kGy gamma-rays. For dosimetry simulation of wooden cultural properties, Monte Carlo methodology with MCNP was used. The radiation absorbed dose distribution was predicted at 8.2~18.9 kGy. These results show that irradiation is effective for biologic control of wooden cultural properties and Monte Carlo methodology is useful for non-destructive conservation and preservation of wooden cultural properties.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.1311-1317
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• 2021

In this study, an airborne alpha detection system, which consists of a passivated implanted planar silicon (PIPS) detector and an air filter, was developed. A collimator applied to the alpha detection system showed an enhancement in resolution and a degradation in detection efficiency. The resolution and detection efficiency were compared and analyzed to evaluate the performance of the collimator. Thus, the resolution was found to be more important than the efficiency as a determining factor of the detection system performance, from the viewpoint of radionuclide identification. The performance was evaluated on three properties of the collimator: hole shape, hole length, and the ratio between the hole and frame pitches. From the hole shape performance evaluation, a hexagonal collimator showed the highest resolution. Further, the collimator with a hole pitch of 14 mm was found to have the highest resolution while that with a frame pitch of 4-6 mm (i.e., 1.2-1.4 times longer than the hole pitch) showed the highest resolution.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.7
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• pp.675-680
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• 2006

The neutron transmutation doping of silicon (NTD), as a method to produce a high quality semiconductor, utilizes the transmutation of a silicon element into phosphorus by neutron absorption in a silicon single crystal. In this paper, we present the design of a neutron screen for a 6' Si ingot irradiation in the NTD2 hole of HANARO. The goal of the design is to achieve an even flat axial distribution of the resistivity, or $Si^{30}(n,{\gamma})Si^{31}$ reaction rate, in the irradiated Si ingot. We used the MCNP4C code to simulate the neutron screen and to calculate the reaction rate distribution in the Si ingot. The fluctuations in the axial distribution were estimated to be within ${\pm}2.0%$ from the average for the final neutron screen design; thus, they satisfy the customers' requirement for uniform irradiation. On the other hand, we determined the optimal insertion depths of the Si ingots by varying the critical control rod position, which greatly affects the axial flux distribution.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.1869-1877
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• 2021

This paper presents the neutron dose rate analysis of the new CONSTOR® RBMK-1500/M2 storage cask intended for the spent nuclear fuel storage at Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania. These casks are designed to be stored in a new "closed" type interim storage facility, with the capacity to store up to 202 CONSTOR® RBMK-1500/M2 casks. In 2016 y, the "hot trials" of this new facility were conducted and 10 CONSTOR® RBMK-1500/M2 casks loaded with the spent nuclear fuel were transported to the dedicated storage places in this facility. During "hot trials", the dose rate measurements of the CONSTOR® RBMK-1500/M2 casks were performed as the dose rate is one of the critical parameter to control and it must be below design (and safety) criteria. Therefore, having the actual data of the spent nuclear fuel characteristics, the neutron dose rate modeling of the CONSTOR® RBMK-1500/M2 cask loaded with this particular fuel was also performed. Neutron dose rate modeling was performed using MCNP 5 computer code with very detailed geometrical representation of the cask and the fuel. The obtained modeling results were compared with the measurement results and it was revealed, that modeling results are generally in good agreement with the measurements.