• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.50 no.5
• /
• pp.788-793
• /
• 2018

High-density spent fuel (SF) storage racks have been installed to increase SF pool capacity. In these SF racks, neutron absorber materials were placed between fuel assemblies allowing the storage of fuel assemblies in close proximity to one another. The purpose of the neutron absorber materials is to preclude neutronic coupling between adjacent fuel assemblies and to maintain the fuel in a subcritical storage condition. METAMIC neutron absorber has been used in high-density storage racks. But, neutron absorber materials can be subject to severe conditions including long-term exposure to gamma radiation and neutron radiation. Recently, some of them have experienced degradation, such as white spots on the surface. Under these conditions, the material must continue to serve its intended function of absorbing neutrons. For the first time in Korea, this article uses a neutron attenuation test to examine the performance of METAMIC surveillance coupons. Also, scanning electron microscope analysis was carried out to verify the white spots that were detected on the surface of METAMIC. In the neutron attenuation test, there was no significant sign of boron loss in most of the METAMIC coupons, but the coupon with white spots had relatively less B-10 content than the others. In the scanning electron microscope analysis, corrosion material was detected in all METAMIC coupons. Especially, it was confirmed that the coupon with white spots contains much more corrosion material than the others.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.6
• /
• pp.2288-2297
• /
• 2023

Current designs of both large reactor units and small modular reactors utilize a nuclear fuel with increasing enrichment. This increasing demand for better nuclear fuel utilization is a challenge for nuclear fuel handling facilities. The operation with higher enriched fuels leads to reduced reserves to legislative and safety criticality limits of spent fuel transport, storage and final disposal facilities. Design changes in these facilities are restricted due to a boron content in steel and aluminum alloys that are limited by rolling, extrusion, welding and other manufacturing processes. One possible solution for spent fuel pools and casks is the burnup credit method that allows decreasing very high safety margins associated with the fresh fuel assumption in spent fuel facilities. This solution can be supplemented or replaced by an alternative solution based on placing the neutron absorber material directly into the fuel assembly, where its efficiency is higher than between fuel assemblies. A neutron absorber permanently fixed in guide tubes decreases system reactivity more efficiently than absorber sheets between the fuel assemblies. The paper summarizes possibilities of fixed neutron absorbers for various nuclear fuel and fuel handling facilities. Moreover, an absorber material was optimized to propose alternative options to boron. Multiple effective absorbers that do not require steel or aluminum alloy compatibility are discussed because fixed absorbers are placed inside zirconium or steel cladding.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.151-164
• /
• 1989

Since in the KMRR the neutron spectrum is hardened in comparison with the conventional power reactors, and the absorber is in a tube-form which may contain the neutron multiplying media inside it, the reactor physics characteristics of the KMRR absorber are much different. The characteristics of the hafnium control absorber are studied under the several kinds of the environmental conditions. The environmental conditions include the inner materials inside the absorber shroud, the absorber thickness, the absorber burnout, and the fuel burnup. Investigated are nuclear characteristics such as the dependence of the spectral, regional, and isotopic contribution to the neutron absorption, and the dependence of the reactivity worth. Many important absorber characteristics are identified and presented from the analysis.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.384-388
• /
• 2016

Background: For a verification of newly-developed neutron absorbers, one of guidelines on the qualification and acceptance of neutron absorbers is the neutron attenuation test. However, this approach can cause a problem for the qualifications that it cannot distinguish how the neutron attenuates from materials. Materials and Methods: In this study, an estimation method of neutron absorption performances for materials is proposed to detect both direct penetration and back-scattering neutrons. For the verification of the proposed method, MCNP simulations with the experimental system designed in this study were pursued using the polyethylene, iron, normal glass and the vitrified form. Results and Discussion: The results show that it can easily test neutron absorption ability using single absorber model. Also, from simulation results of single absorber and double absorbers model, it is verified that the proposed method can evaluate not only the direct thermal neutrons passing through materials, but also the scattered neutrons reflected to the materials. Therefore, the neutron absorption performances can be accurately estimated using the proposed method comparing with the conventional neutron attenuation test. Conclusion: It is expected that the proposed method can contribute to increase the reliability of the performance of neutron absorbers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
• /
• 2018.11a
• /
• pp.179-180
• /
• 2018

Al - MMC, used as a neutron absorber, shows pitting corrosion and/or galvanic corrosion in 3.5wt.% NaCl solution. If pitting corrosion penetrates the core, neutron absorption performance could be affected. Galvanic corrosion was observed between Al 5052 and Al 1070, and pitting corrosion was observed around $B_4C$.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.49 no.7
• /
• pp.1369-1378
• /
• 2017

The present paper reports the development of a computational code based on the Adaptive Group of Ink Drop Spread (AGIDS) for reconstruction of the neutron noise sources in reactor cores. AGIDS algorithm was developed as a fuzzy inference system based on the active learning method. The main idea of the active learning method is to break a multiple input-single output system into a single input-single output system. This leads to the ability to simulate a large system with high accuracy. In the present study, vibrating absorber-type neutron noise source in an International Atomic Energy Agency-two dimensional reactor core is considered in neutron noise calculation. The neutron noise distribution in the detectors was calculated using the Galerkin finite element method. Linear approximation of the shape function in each triangle element was used in the Galerkin finite element method. Both the real and imaginary parts of the calculated neutron distribution of the detectors were considered input data in the developed computational code based on AGIDS. The output of the computational code is the strength, frequency, and position (X and Y coordinates) of the neutron noise sources. The calculated fraction of variance unexplained error for output parameters including strength, frequency, and X and Y coordinates of the considered neutron noise sources were $0.002682{\sharp}/cm^3s$, 0.002682 Hz, and 0.004254 cm and 0.006140 cm, respectively.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.481-496
• /
• 2020

After nuclear power plants are permanently shut down and decommissioned, the remaining irradiated metal components such as stainless steel, carbon steel, and Inconel can be used as neutron absorber. This study investigates the possibility of reusing these metal components as neutron absorber materials, that is burnable poison. The absorption cross section of the irradiated metals did not lose their chemical properties and performance even if they were irradiated over 40-50 years in the NPPs. To examine the absorption capability of the waste metals, the lattice calculations of WH 17×17 fuel assembly were analyzed. From the results, Inconel-718 significantly hold-down fuel assembly excess reactivity compared to stainless steel 304 and carbon steel because Inconel-718 contains a small amount of boron nuclide. From the results, a 20wt% impurity of boron in irradiated Inconel-718 enhances the excess reactivity suppression. The application of irradiated Inconel-718 as a burnable absorber for SMR core was investigated. The irradiated Inconel-718 impurity with 20wt% of boron content can maintain and suppress the whole core reactivity. We emphasize that the irradiated metal components can be used as burnable absorber materials to control the reactivity of commercial reactor power and small modular reactors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.2
• /
• pp.344-351
• /
• 2020

AgInCd alloy is widely used as neutron absorber in nuclear reactors. However, the AgInCd control rods may fail during service due to the irradiation swelling. In the present study, a calculational method is proposed to calculate the composition change of the AgInCd absorber. Calculated results show that neutron fluence has significant impact on the chemical compositions. Ag and In contents gradually decrease while Cd and Sn conversely increases from the center to the rim of AgInCd absorber due to the depression of neutron flux. The composition change at the surface is higher almost two times than that at the center. Based on the calculated compositions, six simulated AgInCdSn alloys were prepared and examined. With the increase of Cd and Sn, the simulated AgInCdSn alloys transform from a single fcc phase into the mixed fcc and hcp phases, and finally into the single hcp phase. The atomic volume of the hcp phase is obviously larger than the fcc phase. The fcc-hcp transformation results in considerable volume swelling of the AgInCd absorber. Moreover, the lattice parameters of the fcc and hcp phases gradually increase with Cd and Sn contents, which also can induce small volume swelling.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.2
• /
• pp.552-557
• /
• 2024

The actual swelling of AgInCd absorber might exceed the predicted swelling value after years of service in pressurized water reactors, and the chemical and microstructural changes of AgInCd absorber induced by transmutation reactions are the main reason for the swelling acceleration of AgInCd absorber. In the present study, a model for calculating the irradiation swelling of AgInCd absorber in nuclear control rods is developed according to chemical and microstructural changes of AgInCd absorber. In this model, the chemical compositions of AgInCd absorber as a function of the thermal neutron fluence are firstly calculated, and then the volume of AgInCd absorber after irradiation is obtained on the basis of the crystallographic parameters of phases in the AgInCd absorber, and the irradiation swelling of AgInCd absorber is finally calculated. The crystallographic parameters can be obtained by preparing the simulated AgInCd alloys and fitting the experimental data. The model calculating results of irradiation swelling are in good agreement with the actual swelling data in literature. More importantly, the present model can well explain the EPRI results of the acceleration in the diametral swelling rate above 6-8 × 10²⁰ n/cm² and the decrease in the diametral swelling rate above about 2 × 10²¹ n/cm².

• Journal of the Korea Computer Industry Society
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.7-14
• /
• 2006

In Korea, under the influence of the jurisdiction, usage of radioisotopes are limited. The limitation is $100[{\mu}Ci]$ or less. Therefore, in this study, basic data were designed, and the following data are needed in order to improve content measuring instrument which is suitable for radioisotopes limitation. Owing to the source and detector's properties, measuring instrument was designed geometrically, neutron and photon's particle transportation was analysed by using the MCNP code which is in Monte Carlo Method, also the location of source and detectors, geometrical structure of neutron absorber and moderator was designed.