• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 1986

Dosimetric quantities for 300 keV neutrons in the ICRU standard tissue sphere were evaluated. The Monte Carlo code NEDEP which performs neutron-photon-charged particles coupled transport was used in the direct estimation of absorbed dose and dose equivalent. Some important quantities calculated are as follows; Deep dose equivalent index $H_{I,d}:1.78{\times}10^{11}\;Sv-cm^2$ Shallow dose equivalent index $H_{I,s}:2.08{\times}10^{-11}\;Sv-cm^2$ Ambient dose equivalent $H^*(0.07):1.7{\times}10^{-11}\;Sv-cm^2$ Ambient dose equivalent $H^*(10):1.78{\times}10^{-11}\;Sv-cm^2$ Effective quality factor $\bar{Q}^*(10):12.4$

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.765-772
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• 2016

In analyzing residual radiation, researchers generally use a two-step Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. The first step (MC1) simulates neutron transport, and the second step (MC2) transports the decay photons emitted from the activated materials. In this process, the stochastic uncertainty estimated by the MC2 appears only as a final result, but it is underestimated because the stochastic error generated in MC1 cannot be directly included in MC2. Hence, estimating the true stochastic uncertainty requires quantifying the propagation degree of the stochastic error in MC1. The brute force technique is a straightforward method to estimate the true uncertainty. However, it is a costly method to obtain reliable results. Another method, called the adjoint-based method, can reduce the computational time needed to evaluate the true uncertainty; however, there are limitations. To address those limitations, we propose a new strategy to estimate uncertainty propagation without any additional calculations in two-step MC simulations. To verify the proposed method, we applied it to activation benchmark problems and compared the results with those of previous methods. The results show that the proposed method increases the applicability and user-friendliness preserving accuracy in quantifying uncertainty propagation. We expect that the proposed strategy will contribute to efficient and accurate two-step MC calculations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.301-308
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• 2011

The diametral creep of pressure tubes (PTs) in CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) reactors is one of the principal aging mechanisms governing the heat transfer and hydraulic degradation of the heat transport system (HTS). PT diametral creep leads to diametral expansion, which affects the thermal hydraulic characteristics of the coolant channels and the critical heat flux (CHF). The CHF is a major parameter determining the critical channel power (CCP), which is used in the trip setpoint calculations of regional overpower protection (ROP) systems. Therefore, it is essential to predict PT diametral creep in CANDU reactors. PT diametral creep is caused mainly by fast neutron irradiation, temperature and applied stress. The objective of this study was to develop a bundle position-wise linear model (BPLM) to predict PT diametral creep employing previously measured PT diameters and HTS operating conditions. The linear model was optimized using a genetic algorithm and was devised based on a bundle position because it is expected that each bundle position in a PT channel has inherent characteristics. The proposed BPLM for predicting PT diametral creep was confirmed using the operating data of the Wolsung nuclear power plant in Korea. The linear model was able to predict PT diametral creep accurately.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.783-796
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• 2014

The coarse mesh finite difference (CMFD) method is applied to the discontinuous finite element method based discrete ordinate calculation for source convergence acceleration. The three-dimensional (3-D) DFEM-Sn code FEDONA is developed for general geometry applications as a framework for the CMFD implementation. Detailed methods for applying the CMFD acceleration are established, such as the method to acquire the coarse mesh flux and current by combining unstructured tetrahedron elements to rectangular coarse mesh geometry, and the alternating calculation method to exchange the updated flux information between the CMFD and DFEM-Sn. The partial current based CMFD (p-CMFD) is also implemented for comparison of the acceleration performance. The modified p-CMFD method is proposed to correct the weakness of the original p-CMFD formulation. The performance of CMFD acceleration is examined first for simple two-dimensional multigroup problems to investigate the effect of the problem and coarse mesh sizes. It is shown that smaller coarse meshes are more effective in the CMFD acceleration and the modified p-CMFD has similar effectiveness as the standard CMFD. The effectiveness of CMFD acceleration is then assessed for three-dimensional benchmark problems such as the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and C5G7MOX problems. It is demonstrated that a sufficiently converged solution is obtained within 7 outer iterations which would require 175 iterations with the normal DFEM-Sn calculations for the IAEA problem. It is claimed that the CMFD accelerated DFEM-Sn method can be effectively used in the practical eigenvalue calculations involving general geometries.

• Proceedings of the Korea Crystallographic Association Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.8-8
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• 2003

Electron-phonon interaction plays a significant role in forming of colossal magnetoresistance effect (CMR). Polaron formation was observed by neutron diffraction and by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis. Local probe as given by the EXAFS is a useful method to study the polaronic charge and its dependence on temperature and ions size. Here we present the EXAFS study of polaronic charge in La/sub 0.7/Ca/sub 0.3-X/Ba/sub X/MnO₃ compositions. The single phase La/sub 0.7/Ca/sub 0.3-X/Ba/sub X/MnO₃ manganites (x=0; 0.03; 0.06, ..., 0.3) were prepared by ceramic technology [1]. The Curie temperature was determined by extrapolation of the temperature dependence of the magnetization (down to zero magnetization). EXAFS experiments were carried out at the 7C EC beam line of the Pohang Light Source (PLS) in Korea. The atomic pair distribution functions (PDF) were obtained by re-regularization method [2] from filtered spectra. The PDF for the x=0.3 sample showed a single peak function and for x=0.0, 0.03, 0.06, 0.09, 0.12 compositions were asymmetric in agreement with a small Jahn-Teller elongation of two (short and long) bonds of the MnO/sub 6/ octahedron. Dispersion, σ/sub Min-O//sup 2/, and asymmetry, σ/sub Min-O//sup 3/, of the Mn-O bond distances varied significantly with x and showed a maximums at x=0.09. The maximum of σ/sub Min-O//sup 2/ is caused by increase of dynamic rms displacements of the Mn-O distances near the T/sub C/. The observed x dependence of σ/sub Min-O//sup 3/ reflects the reduction of charge carriers mobility at approaching to T/sub C/ from low as well as high temperatures.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 1979

Effective multiplication factor has been calculated for one PWR fresh fuel assembly immersed in a spent fuel storage vault on the basis of the neutron transport theory. A numerical calculation has been carried out by means of Sn approximation. The method employed in this study is that the energy domain is broken into 16 groups, the angular variable is divided into four discrete direction, i.e., $S_4$, and the spatial variable which is divided into fine meshes at the interface between different materials is discretized into 27 mesh points. The calculated $K_{eff}$ value of 0.6145 seems to be far small in comparison with the value obtained by other author for an infinite array of fuel assemblies.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.184-196
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• 2023

Background: Radiation protection is crucial in various fields due to the harmful effects of radiation. Shielding is used to reduce radiation exposure, but gamma radiation poses challenges due to its high energy and penetration capabilities. Materials and Methods: This work investigates the radiation shielding properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) samples containing different weight fraction of tungsten carbide (WC), tungsten trioxide (WO₃), and tungsten disulfide (WS₂). Parameters such as the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), half-value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), effective atomic number (Z_eff), and macroscopic effective removal cross-section for fast neutrons (Σ_R) were calculated using the Phy-X/PSD software. EpiXS simulations were conducted for MAC validation. Results and Discussion: Increasing the weight fraction of the additives resulted in higher MAC values, indicating improved radiation shielding. PVDF-xWC showed the highest percentage increase in MAC values. MFP results indicated that PVDF-0.20WC has the lowest values, suggesting superior shielding properties compared to PVDF-0.20WO₃ and PVDF-0.20WS₂. PVDF-0.20WC also exhibited the highest Z_eff values, while PVDF-0.20WS₂ showed a slightly higher increase in Z_eff at energies of 0.662 and 1.333 MeV. PVDF-0.20WC has demonstrated the highest Σ_R value, indicating effective shielding against fast neutrons, while PVDF-0.20WS₂ had the lowest Σ_R value. The Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport version 5 (MCNP5) simulations showed that PVDF-xWC attenuates gamma radiation more than pure PVDF, significantly decreasing the dose equivalent rate. Conclusion: Overall, this research provides insights into the radiation shielding properties of PVDF mixtures, with PVDF-xWC showing the most promising results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.608-616
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• 2015

The migration of silver (Ag) in silicon carbide (SiC) and $^{110m}Ag$ through SiC of irradiated tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel has been studied for the past three to four decades. However, there is no satisfactory explanation for the transport mechanism of Ag in SiC. In this work, the diffusion coefficients of Ag measured and/or estimated in previous studies were reviewed, and then pre-exponential factors and activation energies from the previous experiments were evaluated using Arrhenius equation. The activation energy is $247.4kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$ from Ag paste experiments between two SiC layers produced using fluidized-bed chemical vapor deposition (FBCVD), $125.3kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$ from integral release experiments (annealing of irradiated TRISO fuel), $121.8kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$ from fractional Ag release during irradiation of TRISO fuel in high flux reactor (HFR), and $274.8kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$ from Ag ion implantation experiments, respectively. The activation energy from ion implantation experiments is greater than that from Ag paste, fractional release and integral release, and the activation energy from Ag paste experiments is approximately two times greater than that from integral release experiments and fractional Ag release during the irradiation of TRISO fuel in HFR. The pre-exponential factors are also very different depending on the experimental methods and estimation. From a comparison of the pre-exponential factors and activation energies, it can be analogized that the diffusion mechanism of Ag using ion implantation experiment is different from other experiments, such as a Ag paste experiment, integral release experiments, and heating experiments after irradiating TRISO fuel in HFR. However, the results of this work do not support the long held assumption that Ag release from FBCVD-SiC, used for the coating layer in TRISO fuel, is dominated by grain boundary diffusion. In order to understand in detail the transport mechanism of Ag through the coating layer, FBCVD-SiC in TRISO fuel, a microstructural change caused by neutron irradiation during operation has to be fully considered.