• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.431-431
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• 2012

A compact tokamak reactor concept as a 14 MeV neutron source is desirable from an economic viewpoint for a fusion-driven transmutation reactor. LAR (Low Aspect Ratio) tokamak allows a potential of high "see full txt" operation with high bootstrap current fractions and can be used for a compact fusion neutron source. For the optimal design of a reactor, a radial build of reactor components has to be determined by considering the plasma physics and engineering constraints which inter-relate various reactor components and are constrained to use ITER physics and technology. In a transmutation reactor, the blanket should produce enough tritium for tritium self-sufficiency and the neutron multiplication factor, keff should be less than 0.95 to maintain sub-criticality. The shield should provide sufficient protection for the superconducting toroidal field (TF) coil against radiation damage and heating effects of the fusion neutrons, fission neutrons, and secondary gammas. In this work, characteristics of transmutation reactor based on LAR tokamak is investigated by using the coupled system analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.455-458
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• 2006

The HANARO reactor has a vertical hole for a cold neutron source (CNS) in the heavy-water reflector tank, i.e., the CNS hole, which was considerably deformed during its welding to the horizontal cold neutron (CN) beam tube. This paper presents an investigation of the form of the CNS hole for the optimal design of the a vacuum chamber for the CNS. In addition, the installation method of the vacuum chamber into the CNS hole for minimizing the water thickness between the vacuum chamber and the nose of the CN beam tube is proposed.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.315-319
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• 2001

It is shown, that both cosmic radiation (external source) and natural radioactive gases (inner source) are sources of neutrons near the Earth crust. Correlation between the Earth crust dynamics and variations of thermal and slow neutron flux near the Earth surface is studied. It is shown, that variations of neutron flux near the Earth crust can be used for short-term predicting of natural hazards.

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

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.523-530
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• 2011

In a previous study, the stochastic space-dependent kinetics model (SSKM) based on the forward stochastic model in stochastic kinetics theory and the Ito stochastic differential equations was proposed for treating monoenergetic space-time nuclear reactor kinetics in one dimension. The SSKM was tested against analog Monte Carlo calculations, however, for exemplary cases of homogeneous slab reactors with only one delayed-neutron precursor group. In this paper, the SSKM is improved and evaluated with more realistic and complicated cases regarding several delayed-neutron precursor groups and heterogeneous slab reactors in which the extraneous source or reactivity can be introduced locally. Furthermore, the source level and the initial conditions will also be adjusted to investigate the trends in the variances of the neutron population and fission product levels across the reactor. The results indicate that the improved SSKM is in good agreement with the Monte Carlo method and show how the variances in population dynamics can be controlled.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.1234-1239
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• 2017

Basic research on the accelerator-driven system is conducted by combining $^{235}U$-fueled and $^{232}Th$-loaded cores in the Kyoto University Critical Assembly with the pulsed neutron generator (14 MeV neutrons) and the proton beam accelerator (100 MeV protons with a heavy metal target). The results of experimental subcriticality are presented with a wide range of subcriticality level between near critical and 10,000 pcm, as obtained by the pulsed neutron source method, the Feynman-${\alpha}$ method, and the neutron source multiplication method.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.58.1-58.1
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• 2019

Gravitational-wave (GW) sources for the next decades would be in majority binaries consisting of neutron stars and/or black holes reside in the extragalactic environment. For example, GW170817 was the first extragalactic neutron star - neutron star binary found by GW observations and it was proved the power of multi-messenger astronomy (MMA) including the KMTNet observations. With the ever increased sensitivity, the $3^{rd}$ observation run (O3) led by the advanced LIGO and advanced Virgo this year aims to search for more 'standard' populations as well as 'exotic' ones expected by stellar evolution. I will present highlights of on-going efforts by researchers in Korea and those in abroad for estimating physical parameters of a source. Mass, spin, distance, and location are prerequisite information to constrain theoretical understanding of the source formation and evolution. Furthermore, these information are to be shared with the international community for follow-up multi-messenger observations. I will present the observational accuracy expected for the future GW observations and discuss their implications. If time allows, I will make a few remarks on prospects of O3 with KAGRA collaborations, which many domestic researchers are closely involved in.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.36.3-37
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• 2020

Recent observation of the neutron star merger event, GW170817, through both gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic wave (EM) observations opened a new way of exploring the universe, namely, multi-messenger astronomy (MMA). One of the keys to the success of MMA is a rapid identification of EM counterpart. We will introduce GW follow-up observation project in Korea for hunting GW EM counterpart rapidly and its strategy for prioritization of GW source host galaxy candidates. Our method relies on recent simulation results regarding plausible properties of GW source host galaxies and the low latency localization map from LIGO/Virgo. We will show a test result for both binary neutron star merger events using previous event and describe observing strategy with our facilities for GW events during the ongoing LIGO/Virgo O3 run. Finally, we report the results of optical/NIR follow-up observation of GW190425, the first neutron.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.939-944
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• 2015

The calibration methods of neutron-measuring devices such as the neutron survey meter have advantages and disadvantages. To compare the calibration factors obtained by the shadow cone method and semi-empirical method, 10 neutron survey meters of five different types were used in this study. This experiment was performed at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI; Daejeon, South Korea), and the calibration neutron fields were constructed using a $^{252}Californium$ ($^{252}Cf$) neutron source, which was positioned in the center of the neutron irradiation room. The neutron spectra of the calibration neutron fields were measured by a europium-activated lithium iodide scintillator in combination with KAERI's Bonner sphere system. When the shadow cone method was used, 10 single moderator-based survey meters exhibited a smaller calibration factor by as much as 3.1-9.3% than that of the semi-empirical method. This finding indicates that neutron survey meters underestimated the scattered neutrons and attenuated neutrons (i.e., the total scatter corrections). This underestimation of the calibration factor was attributed to the fact that single moderator-based survey meters have an under-ambient dose equivalent response in the thermal or thermal-dominant neutron field. As a result, when the shadow cone method is used for a single moderator-based survey meter, an additional correction and the International Organization for Standardization standard 8529-2 for room-scattered neutrons should be considered.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.3784-3789
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• 2021

We report a simple technique for direct neutron spectroscopy using pure LaCl₃ crystals. Pure LaCl₃ crystals exhibit considerably better pulse shape discrimination (PSD) capabilities with relatively good energy resolution as compared with Ce-doped LaCl₃ crystals. Single crystals of pure and Ce-doped LaCl₃ were grown using an inhouse-developed Bridgman furnace. PSD capabilities of these crystals were investigated using ²⁴¹Am and ¹³⁷Cs sources. Fast neutron detection was tested using a²⁵²Cf source and three separate bands corresponding to electron, proton, and alpha were observed. The proton band induced by the ³⁵Cl(n,p)³⁵S reaction can be used for direct neutron spectroscopy because proton energy is proportional to incident neutron energy. Owing to good scintillation performance and excellent PSD capabilities, pure LaCl₃ is a promising candidate for space detectors and other applications that necessitate gamma/fast neutron discrimination capability.