• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.4048-4056
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• 2023

The feasibility of using the Monte Carlo code MCS to generate multigroup cross sections for nodal diffusion simulations RAST-F of liquid metal fast reactors is investigated in this paper. The performance of the MCS/RAST-F code system is assessed using steady-state simulations of the ANTS-100e core. The results show good agreement between MCS/RAST-F and MCS reference solutions, with a keff difference of less than 77 pcm and root-mean-square differences in radial and axial power of less than 0.5% and 0.25%, respectively. Furthermore, the MCS/RAST-F reactivity feedback coefficients are within three standard deviations of the MCS coefficients. To validate the internal thermal-hydraulic (TH) feedback capability in RAST-F code, the coupled neutronic/TH1D simulation of ANTS-100e is performed using the case matrix obtained from MCS branch calculations. The results are compared to those obtained using the MARS-LBE system code and show good agreement with relative temperature differences in fuel and coolant of less than 0.8%. This study demonstrates that the MCS/RAST-F code system can produce accurate results for core steady-state neutronic calculations and for coupled neutronic/TH simulations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.8
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• pp.1339-1348
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• 2018

The aim of this paper is to determine neutronic performances of the light water reactor (LWR) spent fuel mixed with fertile thorium fuel in a FFHR. Time dependent three dimensional calculations for major technical data, such as blanket energy multiplication, tritium breeding ratio, cumulative fissile fuel enrichment and burnup have been performed by using Monte Carlo Neutron-Particle Transport code MCNP5 1.4, coupled with a novel interface code MCNPAS, which is developed by our research group. A self-sustaining tritium breeding ratio (TBR>1.05) has been kept throughout the calculations. The study has shown that the fissile fuel quality will be improved in the course of the transmutation of the LWR spent in the FFHR. The latter has gained the reusable fuel enrichment level conventional LWRs between one and two years. Furthermore, LWR spent fuel - thorium mixture provides higher burn-up values than in light water reactors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.117-118
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• 2004

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.56.1-56
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• 2002

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.133-134
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.83-84
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• 2005

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.167-179
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• 2024

This study explores the feasibility of employing (U, Th)-based accident tolerant fuels (ATFs), specifically (_0.8UO₂, _0.2ThO₂), (_0.8UN, _0.2ThN), and (_0.8UC, _0.2ThC). The investigation assesses the overall performance of these proposed fuel materials in comparison to the conventional UO₂, focusing on deep neutronic and thermal-hydraulic (Th) analyses. Neutronic analysis utilized the MCNPX code, while COMSOL Multiphysics was employed for thermal-hydraulic analysis. The primary objective of this research is to overcome the limitations associated with traditional UO₂ fuel by exploring alternative fuel materials that offer advantages in terms of abundance and potential improvements in performance and safety. Given the limited abundance of UO₂, long-term sustainable nuclear energy production faces challenges. From a neutronic standpoint, the U-Th based fuels demonstrated remarkable fuel cycle lengths, except (_0.8UN, _0.2ThN), which exhibited the minimum fuel cycle length and, consequently, the lowest fuel burn-up. Regarding thermal-hydraulic performance, (_0.8UN, _0.2ThN) exhibited outstanding performance with significant margins against fuel melting compared to the other materials. Overall, when considering the integrated performance, the most favourable results were obtained with the use of the (_0.8UC, _0.2ThC) fuel configurations. This study contributes valuable insights into the potential benefits of (U, Th)-based ATFs as a promising avenue for enhanced nuclear fuel performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.314-314
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• 2010

The design of the blanket and shield play a key role in determining the size of a reactor since it has an impact on the various reactor components. The blanket should produce enough tritium for tritium self-sufficiency and the shield should provide sufficient protection for the superconducting TF coil. Neutronic optimization of the blanket and the shield is necessary, and we coupled the system analysis with a neutronic calculation to account for the interrelation of the blanket and shield with the plasma performance of a reactor system in a self-consistent manner. By using the coupled system analysis code, the operational space for a low aspect ratio (LAR) tokamak reactor with a superconducting toroidal field (TF) coil is investigated with an spect ratio in the range of 1.5 - 2.5. The minimum major radius which satisfies all the physics and engineering requirements increases with the magnetic field at the magnetic axis. A required inboard shield thickness is mainly determined by the requirement on the protection of the TF coil against radiation damage. It is shown that to have a fusion power bigger than 3,000 MW in the LAR tokamak with a superconducting TF coil, a major radius bigger than 4.0 m is required.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.461-468
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• 2020

The improvements of the DeCART/MUSAD code system for uncertainty analysis of HTGR neutronic parameters are presented in this paper. The function for quantifying an uncertainty of critical-spectrumweighted few group cross section was implemented using the generalized adjoint B₁ equation solver. Though the changes between the infinite and critical spectra cause a considerable difference in the contribution by the graphite scattering cross section, it does not significantly affect the total uncertainty. To reduce the number of iterations of the generalized adjoint transport equation solver, the generalized adjoint B₁ solution was used as the initial value for it and the number of iterations decreased to 50%. To reflect the implicit uncertainty, the correction factor was derived with the resonance integral. Moreover, an additional correction factor for the double heterogeneity was derived with the effective cross section of the DH region and it reduces the difference from the complete uncertainty. The code system was examined with the MHTGR-350 Ex.II-2 3D core benchmark. The k_eff uncertainty for Ex.II-2a with only the fresh fuel block was similar to that of the block and the uncertainty for Ex.II-2b with the fresh fuel and the burnt fuel blocks was smaller than that of the fresh fuel block.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.499-507
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• 2020

Research reactors for radioisotope production, fuel and material testing and research activities are designed, constructed and operated based on the society's needs. In this study, neutronic and thermal hydraulic design of a high neutron flux research reactor core for radioisotope production is presented. Main parameters including core excess reactivity, reactivity variations, power and flux distribution during the cycle, axial and radial power peaking factors (PPF), Pu₂₃₉ production and minimum DNBR are calculated by nuclear deterministic codes. Core calculations performed by deterministic codes are validated with Monte Carlo code. Comparison of the neutronic parameters obtained from deterministic and Monte Carlo codes indicates good agreement. Finally, subchannel analysis performed for the hot channel to evaluate the maximum fuel and clad temperatures. The results show that the average thermal neutron flux at the beginning of cycle (BOC) is 1.0811 × 10¹⁴ n/㎠-s and at the end of cycle (EOC) is 1.229 × 10¹⁴ n/㎠-s. Total Plutonium (Pu₂₃₉) production at the EOC evaluated to be 0.9487 Kg with 83.64% grade when LEU (UO₂ with 3.7% enrichment) used as fuel. This designed reactor which uses LEU fuel and has high neutron flux and low plutonium production could be used for peaceful nuclear activities based on nuclear non-proliferation treaty concepts.