• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권8호
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• pp.1817-1825
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• 2020

Background: Cosmic ray-induced particles can lead to failure of semiconductors packaged for export during air transport. This work performed MCNP 6.2 simulations to optimize shielding against neutrons and protons induced by cosmic radiation Methods and materials: The energy spectra of protons and neutrons by incident angle at the flight altitude were determined using atmospheric cuboid model. Various candidates for the shielding materials and the geometry of the Unit Load Device Container were evaluated to determine the conditions that allow optimal shielding at all sides of the container. Results: It was found that neutrons and protons, at the flight altitude, generally travel with a downward trajectory especially for the particles with high energy. This indicated that the largest number of particles struck the top of the container. Furthermore, the simulation results showed that, among the materials tested, borated polyethylene and stainless steel were the most optimal shielding materials. The optimal shielding structure was also determined with the weight limit of the container in consideration. Conclusions: Under the determined optimal shielding conditions, a significantly reduced number of neutrons and protons reach the contents inside the container, which ultimately reduces the possibility of semiconductor failure during air transport.

• 한국자기학회:학술대회 개요집
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• 한국자기학회 2007년도 The 1st International Symposium on Advanced Magnetic Materials
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• pp.22.1-22.1
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• 2007

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권9호
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• pp.2968-2976
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• 2021

This paper introduces a method to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) microstructure of two-phase materials, e.g., porous materials such as highly irradiated nuclear fuel, from two-dimensional (2D) sections via a multi-objective optimization genetic algorithm. The optimization is based on the comparison between the reference and reconstructed 2D sections on specific target properties, i.e., 2D pore number, and mean value and standard deviation of the pore-size distribution. This represents a multi-objective fitness function subject to weaker hypotheses compared to state-of-the-art methods based on n-points correlations, allowing for a broader range of application. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated on synthetic data and compared with state-of-the-art methods adopting a fitness based on 2D correlations. The method here developed can be used as a cost-effective tool to reconstruct the pore structure in highly irradiated materials using 2D experimental data.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권12호
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• pp.2880-2886
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• 2020

A small leak occurring on the surface of a fuel rod due to damage exposes UO₂ to a steam atmosphere. During this time, fission gas trapped inside the fuel rod leaks out, and the gas leakage can be increased due to UO₂ oxidation. Numerous studies have focused on the steam oxidation and its thermodynamic calculation in UO₂. However, the thermodynamic calculation of the UO₂ oxidation in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) environment has not been studied extensively. Moreover, the kinetics of the oxidation of UO₂ pellet also has not been investigated. Therefore, in this study, the thermodynamics of UO₂ oxidation under steam injection due to a damaged fuel rod in a PWR environment is studied. In addition, the diminishing radius of the UO₂ pellet with time in the PWR environment was calculated through an experiment simulating the initial time of steam injection at the puncture.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권5호
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• pp.1652-1657
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• 2021

Nuclear materials can be utilized not only for peaceful uses, but also for military purposes; hence, the international community has devoted itself to the control, management and safeguarding of nuclear materials. Nuclear materials are of varying degrees of usability for development of nuclear weapons. Thus, several methods for assessing the attractiveness of nuclear materials for nuclear weapons purposes have been proposed. When these methods are applied to unirradiated depleted, natural, and low-enriched uranium (DU, NU, and LEU), they are certainly classified as non-attractive nuclear materials. However, when nuclear material attractiveness is to be evaluated for potential radiological dispersal device (RDD) uses, it is required to develop a different method for the different aspects and factors. In the present study, we derived a novel method for evaluating nuclear material attractiveness for use in RDD development. To this end, the specific activity and dose coefficient were identified as the two sub-factors, and, in consideration of those, the mass causing detrimental health effects was determined to be the main factor impacting on nuclear materials attractiveness. Based on this factor, the attractiveness of unirradiated DU, NU, and LEU for RDD use was qualitatively compared with that of ¹³⁷Cs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권8호
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• pp.1724-1731
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• 2020

Low cycle fatigue tests on the hydrogenated welding seam of Zr-Sn-Nb alloy at room temperature and 360 ℃ had been carried out by using the funnel-shaped flat specimens. The relationships between nominal stress & strain directly measured across the funnel and local stress & strain at the root of the funnel are given by considering cyclic plasticity correction. The results show that the fatigue resistance of welding seam at room temperature is only slightly better than that at 360 ℃. Probabilistic fatigue life curves are obtained by using a two-parameter power function.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제45권3호
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• pp.311-322
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• 2013

High-Cr martensitic steel HT-9 is one of the candidate materials for advanced nuclear energy systems. Thanks to its excellent thermal conductivity and irradiation resistance, ferritic/martensitic steels such as HT-9 are considered for in-core applications of advanced nuclear reactors. The harsh neutron irradiation environments at the reactor core region pose a unique challenge for structural and cladding materials. Microstructural and microchemical changes resulting from displacement damage are anticipated for structural materials after prolonged neutron exposure. Consequently, various irradiation effects on the service performance of in-core materials need to be understood. In this work, the fundamentals of radiation damage and irradiation effects of the HT-9 martensitic steel are reviewed. The objective of this paper is to provide a background introduction of displacement damage, microstructural evolution, and subsequent effects on mechanical properties of the HT-9 martensitic steel under neutron irradiations. Mechanical test results of the irradiated HT-9 steel obtained from previous fast reactor and fusion programs are summarized along with the information of irradiated microstructure. This review can serve as a starting point for additional investigations on the in-core applications of ferritic/martensitic steels in advanced nuclear reactors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.148-154
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• 2020

The radiation induced segregation of Cr at grain boundaries (GBs) in Ferritic/Martensitic steels was modeled assuming vacancy and interstitialcy diffusion mechanisms. In particular, the dependence of segregation on temperature and grain boundary misorientation angle was analyzed. It is found that Cr enriches at grain boundaries at low temperatures primarily through the interstitialcy mechanism while depletes at high temperatures predominantly through the vacancy mechanism. There is a crossover from Cr enrichment to depletion at an intermediate temperature where the Cr:Fe vacancy and interstitialcy diffusion coefficient ratios intersect. The bell-shape Cr enrichment response is attributed to the decreasing void sinks inside the grains as temperature rises. It is also shown that low angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) and special Σ coincidence-site lattice (CSL) grain boundaries exhibit suppressed radiation induced segregation (RIS) response while high angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) have high RIS segregation. This different behavior is attributed to the variations in dislocation density at different grain boundaries.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권8호
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• pp.1871-1880
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• 2020

Round robin analyses for vessel failure probabilities due to PTS events are proposed for plant-specific analyses of all types of reactors developed in Korea. Four organizations, that are responsible for regulation, operation, research and design of the nuclear power plant in Korea, participated in the round robin analysis. The vessel failure probabilities from the probabilistic fracture mechanics analyses are calculated to assure the structural integrity of the reactor pressure vessel during transients that are expected to initiate PTS events. The failure probabilities due to various parameters are compared with each other. All results are obtained based on several assumptions about material properties, flaw distribution data, and transient data such as pressure, temperature, and heat transfer coefficient. The realistic input data can be used to obtain more realistic failure probabilities. The various results presented in this study will be helpful not only for benchmark calculations, result comparisons, and verification of PFM codes developed but also as a contribution to knowledge management for the future generation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제43권5호
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• pp.429-436
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• 2011

The corrosion of materials exposed to high temperature helium in a very high temperature reactor is caused by interaction with the impurities in the helium. This interaction then induces high temperature mechanical deterioration. By considering the effect of the impurity concentration on material corrosion, a long-term coolant chemistry guideline can be determined for the range of impurity concentration at which the material is stable for a long time. In this work, surface reactions were investigated by analyzing the thermodynamics and the experimental results for Alloy 617 exposed to controlled impure helium at $950^{\circ}C$. Moreover, the surfaces were examined for the Alloy 617 crept in air and in uncontrolled helium, which was explained by possible surface reactions.