• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.1219-1229
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• 2016

The present paper reports on a trial to shed further light on the characterization, applications, and operation of radar speed guns or Gunn diodes on different radiation environments of neutron or g fields. To this end, theoretical and experimental investigations of microwave oscillating system for outer-space applications were carried out. Radiation effects on the transient parameters and electrical properties of the proposed devices have been studied in detail with the application of computer programming. Also, the oscillation parameters, power characteristics, and bias current were plotted under the influence of different ${\gamma}$ and neutron irradiation levels. Finally, shelf or oven annealing processes were shown to be satisfactory techniques to recover the initial characteristics of the irradiated devices.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.219-222
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• 2013

Alloy 690 has been selected as a steam generator tubing material for SMART owing to a near immunity to primary water stress corrosion cracking. The steam generators of SMART are faced with a neutron flux due to the integrated arrangement inside a reactor vessel, and thus it is important to know the irradiation effects of the thermal conductivity of Alloy 690. Alloy 690 was irradiated at HANARO to fluences of (0.7-28) ${\times}10^{19}n/cm^2$ (E>0.1MeV) at $250^{\circ}C$, and its thermal conductivity was measured using the laser-flash equipment in the IMEF. The thermal conductivity of Alloy 690 was dependent on temperature, and it was a good fit to the Smith-Palmer equation, which modified the Wiedemann-Franz law. The irradiation at $250^{\circ}C$ did not degrade the thermal conductivity of Alloy 690, and even showed a small increase (1%) at fluences of (0.7~28) ${\times}10^{19}n/cm^2$ (E>0.1MeV).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.3398-3405
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• 2021

This study observed the effect of neutron irradiation and ageing on the microstructure, hardness, and corrosion resistance of SAV-1 (Al-Mg-Si) alloy. The investigated material was irradiated with neutrons to fluences of 10²¹-10²⁶ n/m² in the WWR-K research reactor and kept in dry storage. Long-term irradiation led to an increase in hardness of the alloy and a deterioration of pitting corrosion resistance. Post-irradiation ageing for 1 h at 100-300 ℃ resulted in a decrease in microhardness of the irradiated SAV-1. The effect of post-irradiation ageing on pitting corrosion was made clear through the formation of Guinier-Preston zones and secondary precipitates in the Al matrix. Ageing at 250 ℃ corresponded to the development of stable microstructure and the highest corrosion resistance for the irradiated samples. Mg₂Si, Si, and needle-shaped β" precipitates were formed in SAV-1 alloy that was irradiated with low fluences. β" and clusters of rod-shaped B-type precipitates were observed in highly irradiated samples. The precipitates were similar to those seen in non-irradiated pseudo-binary Al-Mg₂Si alloys with Si excess.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 1988

The low leakage leading pattern has features as the placement of some fresh fuel assemblies in the core interior to reduce the neutron fluence on the pressure vessel and to enhance the neutron economics. But as fresh fuel assemblies are loaded in the core interior, the local power tends to exceed safety limit due to the high reactivity of the fresh assemblies. Therefore, a large number of burnable poisons must be utilized in a low leakage scheme to suppress the high assembly power as well as the excess reactivity. In this study the effects of burnable poisons are treated as a perturbation on the power distribution, and the 'Power Sensitivity Coefficient' concept is adopted. An application study is performed for cycle 1 of the Korea Nuclear Unit-7 (KNU-7) to justify the usefulness of the reverse depletion method coupled with the above concept. To obtain the optimal burnable poision distribution at the given burnup step, the linear programming technique is adopted. The result shows maximum 4.5% error in the amount of burnable poisons between the calculated and the reference values. It is concluded that the design methodology which consists of the reverse depletion, the power sensitivity coefficient concept, and the linear programming technique can be used to find the optimal turnable poison distribution.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.316-322
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• 2019

A probabilistic approach considering uncertainties was employed to investigate the effects on the material characteristics and strength of nuclear bio-logical shield concrete walls, when exposed to long-term radiation during the entire service life. Time-dependent compressive and tensile strengths were estimated by conducting the neutron fluence analysis. For the contaminated concrete, individual compressive and tensile failure probabilities can be possibly evaluated by not only establishing limit-state function withthe predefined critical values but also performing Monte Carlo Simulation. Nuclear power plant types similar to the Kori Unit 1, which was shut off permanently in 2017 after the 40-year operation, were herein selected for an illustrative purpose. Consequently, the probability-based performance assessment and prediction of contaminated concrete walls were well demonstrated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.552-557
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• 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 Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1977

A base of photographic posi-film which is commecially available has been found to be a possible alpha-particle track detector. Its neutron dosimetric characteristics, i. e., alpha-particle track registrating efficiency and optimum condition of track formation by chemical etching, have been determined experimentally. The range of neutron fluence and dose capable of being measured by a neutron dosimeter consisting of alpha-particle radiator foils $(^{10}B\;and\;^{27}Al)$ and posi-flim solid state track detector, has been estimated on the basis of experimental results and theoryetical background. This detector seems to be useful for neutron dosimetry because of many favorable properties, i. e., simplicity, cheapness and a wide range of sensitivitiy.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.12-16
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• 2005

The $Fe_{87}Zr_{7}B_{6}$ amorphous alloy after neutron irradiation are studied hysteresis loop and complex permeability measurements. The total integration fluence of fast neutrons is varied from $1.92{\times}10^{14}$ to $4.85{\times}10^{16}n_{f1}cm^{-2}$. After neutron irradiation, the imaginary part of complex permeability in low frequency region decreased due to the decrease of wall motion, but the permeability in high frequency region increased due to the enhancement of rotational magnetization. The measurement of hysteresis loop showed the increase of magnetic softness, related to rotational magnetization, but saturation magnetization was decreased in neutron irradiation sample.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.12
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• pp.819-827
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• 2009

This work is concerned with a statistical analysis of factors affecting the irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) of austenitic stainless steels for core internals of pressurized water reactors (PWR). The microstructural and environmental factors were reviewed and critically evaluated by the statistical analysis. The Cr depletion at grain boundary was determined to have no significant correlation with the IASCC susceptibility. The threshold irradiation fluence of IASCC in a PWR was statistically calculated to decrease from 5.799 to 1.914 DPA with increase of temperature from 320 to $340^{\circ}C$. From the analysis of the relationship between applied stress and time-to-failure of stainless steel components based on an accelerated life testing model, it was found that B2 life of a baffle former bolt exposed to neutron fluence of 20 and 75 DPA was at least 2.5 and 0.4 year, respectively, within 95% confidence interval.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.74-83
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• 1995

The accurate determination of the fast neutron flux/fluence onto the pressure vessel is an essential part of the reactor pressure vessel surveillance program. It has been reported recently that the iron cross section data in ENDF/B versions III through V might underestimate the flux/fluence of fast neutrons in steel structures such as reactor pressure vessel. In this study, for the comparison of iron data of ENDF/B-IV and VI we produced two 47-group cross section sets, CXFe-IV and CXFe-Ⅵ, which are based on Yonggwang nuclear unit-3/4 model and the iron data of ENDF/B-IV and VI, respectively. A comparison was made of the results obtained from DOT4.3 calculation using CXFe-IV and CXFe-VI. From the results, it was found that the fast flux(E 〉 1.0 MeV), which is important for the pressure vessel embrittlement analysis, increases by about 7.6％ at the inner wall and 20％ at the outer wall of the vessel, if the iron data are used from ENDF/B-VI instead of ENDF/B-IV.