• Title/Summary/Keyword: Nuclear non-proliferation

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MANAGING SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL FROM NONPROLIFERATION, SECURITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVES

  • Choi, Jor-Shan
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.42 no.3
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    • pp.231-236
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    • 2010
  • The growth in global energy demand and the increased recognition of the impacts of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel plants have aroused a renewed interest on nuclear energy. Many countries are looking afresh at building more nuclear power stations to deal with the twin problems of global warming and the need for more generating capacity. Many in the nuclear community are also anticipating a significant growth of new nuclear generation in the coming decades. If there is a nuclear renaissance, will the expansion of nuclear power be compatible with global non-proliferation and security? or will it add to the environmental burden from the large inventory of spent nuclear fuel already produced in existing nuclear power reactors? We learn from past peaceful nuclear activities that significant concerns associated with nuclear proliferation and spent-fuel management have resulted in a decrease in public acceptance for nuclear power in many countries. The terrorist attack in the United States (US) on September 11, 2001 also raised concern for security and worry that nuclear materials may fall into the wrong hands. As we increase the use of nuclear power, we must simultaneously reduce the proliferation, security and environmental risks in managing spent-fuel below where they are today.

Evaluation of neutron attenuation properties using helium-4 scintillation detector for dry cask inspection

  • Jihun Moon;Jisu Kim;Heejun Chung;Sung-Woo Kwak;Kyung Taek Lim
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.55 no.9
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    • pp.3506-3513
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    • 2023
  • In this paper, we demonstrate the neutron attenuation of dry cask shielding materials using the S670e helium-4 detector manufactured by Arktis Radiation Ltd. In particular, two materials expected to be applied to the TN-32 dry cask manufactured by ORANO Korea and KORAD-21 by the Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) were utilized. The measured neutron attenuation was compared with our Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport simulation results, and the difference is given as the root mean square (RMS). For the fast neutron case, a rapid decline in neutron counts was observed as a function of increasing material thickness, exhibiting an exponential relationship. The discrepancy between the experimentally acquired data and simulation results for the fast neutron was maintained within a 2.3% RMS. In contrast, the observed thermal neutron count demonstrated an initial rise, attained a maximum value, and exhibited an exponential decline as a function of increasing thickness. In particular, the discrepancy between the measured and simulated peak locations for thermal neutrons displayed an RMS deviation of approximately 17.3-22.4%. Finally, the results suggest that a minimum thickness of 5 cm for Li-6 is necessary to achieve a sufficiently significant cross-section, effectively capturing incoming thermal neutrons within the dry cask.

Fuzzy Logic in Monitoring the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Technologies, Raw Materials and Weapons

  • Belenki, Alexander;Ryjov, Alexander
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.27-33
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    • 1997
  • This project is dedicated to the elaboration of a man-machine system for monitoring the non spread of nuclear weapons, technologies, raw materials. The main purpose of such a system depends on the customer requirements and may be : - control of non proliferation of nuclear technologies, especially those that can be used to manufacture a nuclear explosive device; - the appraisal of the possibility of production of nuclear weapons by a certain country on the basic of its intellectual and scientific-technical potential, its raw material resources, its export-import potential and other parameters.

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A Study on Current Status of Detection Technology and Establishment of National Detection Regime against Nuclear/Radiological Terrorism (핵테러/방사능테러 탐지 기술 현황 및 국내 탐지체계 구축 방안에 관한 연구)

  • Kwak, Sung-Woo;Jang, Sung-Soon;Lee, Joung-Hoon;Yoo, Ho-Sik
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.34 no.3
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    • pp.115-120
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    • 2009
  • Since 1990s, some events - detection of a dirty bomb in a Russian nation park in 1995, 9/11 terrorist attack to WTC in 2001, discovery of Al-Qaeda's experimentation to build a dirty bomb in 2003 etc - have showed that nuclear or radiological terrorism relating to radioactive materials (hereinafter "radioactive materials" is referred to as "nuclear material, nuclear spent fuel and radioactive source") is not incredible but serious and credible threat. Thus, to respond to the new threat, the international community has not only strengthened security and physical protection of radioactive materials but also established prevention of and response to illicit trafficking of radioactive materials. In this regard, our government has enacted or revised the national regulatory framework with a view to improving security of radioactive materials and joined the international convention or agreement to meet this international trend. For the purpose of prevention of nuclear/radiological terrorism, this paper reviews physical characteristics of nuclear material and existing detection instruments used for prevention of illicit trafficking. Finally, national detection regime against nuclear/radiological terrorism based on paths of the smuggled radioactive materials to terrorist's target building/area, national topography and road networks, and defence-in-depth concept is suggested in this paper. This study should contribute to protect people's health, safety and environment from nuclear/radiological terrorism.

Radiopharmaceuticals for Imaging of Cellular Proliferation (세포 증식 영상용 방사성의약품)

  • Oh, Seung-Jun
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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    • v.36 no.4
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    • pp.209-223
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    • 2002
  • By considering the biological properties of a tumor, it should be possible to realize better results in cancer therapy. PET imaging offers the opportunity to measure tumor growth non-invasively and repeatedly as an early assessment of response to cancer therapy. Measuring cellular growth instead of energy metabolism showed offer significant advantages in evaluating therapy. Thymidine and its derivative nucleoside compounds can be changed to mono, di- and tri- phosphate compounds by thymidine kinase and then be incorporated into DNA. Their bindings are increased in highly proliferating cells due to the high DNA synthesis rate. To evaluate cell proliferation, many kinds of thymidine and uridine derivatives have been labeled with positron emitter and radioactive iodine. Compared to radiopharmaceuticals which have radioisotope labeled base ring such as pyirmidine, the radiopharmacuticals which have radioisotope labeled sugar ring are more stable in vivo and have metabolic resistance. The biological properties such as DNA incorporation ratios are highly dependent on their chemical structures and metabolic processes. This overview describes synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals and their biological properties for imaging of tumor cell proliferation.

Assessment of Potential Impacts of the Proposals for Multilateralization of Nuclear Fuel Cycle (핵연료주기 다자화 제안의 잠재적 영향 평가)

  • Moon, Joo-Hyun
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.8 no.4
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    • pp.339-346
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    • 2010
  • Recently, there have been grave concerns that the anticipated increase in the use of nuclear energy worldwide could result in dissemination of sensitive nuclear technologies. To meet the increase in nuclear energy demand and strengthen the non-proliferation regime simultaneously, the various proposals for 'multilateralization of nuclear fuel cycle' have been widely suggested. Those proposals are expected to have serious impacts on our country, if they has come true. In this paper, therefore, the 12 existing proposals were reviewed and assessed for their potential impacts on our country, in order to help prepare the appropriate measures responding to the international attempt of 'multilateralization of nuclear fuel cycle'.

A Comparative Study on Radiochemical Pre-treatment Methods for Airborne Uranium-Isotropic Analysis (공기 중 우라늄 동위원소 분석을 위한 방사화학 전처리방법에 대한 비교 분석 연구)

  • Kang, Han-Byeol;Chung, Heejun;Park, Seunghoon;Shin, Jung-Ki;Kwak, Sung-Woo
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.40 no.2
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    • pp.101-109
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    • 2015
  • Alpha spectrometry is typically used for the assessment of uranium particle concentrations and its accuracy can be directly related to the accuracy in which the radiochemical pre-treatment is conducted. Ashing and alkali fusion methods are typically used but the ashing method requires longer analysis time and the alkali fusion method is extremely costly. Therefore, a new pre-treatment method using ultrasonic cleaning was developed and its experimental result was compared against the two conventional methods in terms of pre-treatment time, convenience, cost, and recovery rate of a target material. The results that were obtained by the conventional methods(ashing and alkali fusion) and the new method were compared. Consequently, even though the shorter pre-treatment time was required, the new technique showed almost same recovery rate comparing with two conventional methods. The new method was also featured by its relatively lower cost and a simpler process than two conventional methods.

Feasibility study of spent fuel internal tomography (SFIT) for partial defect detection within PWR spent nuclear fuel

  • Hyung-Joo Choi;Hyojun Park;Bo-Wi Cheon;Hyun Joon Choi;Hakjae Lee;Yong Hyun Chung;Chul Hee Min
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.56 no.6
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    • pp.2412-2420
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    • 2024
  • The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mandates safeguards to ensure non-proliferation of nuclear materials. Among inspection techniques used to detect partial defects within spent nuclear fuel (SNF), gamma emission tomography (GET) has been reported to be reliable for detection of partial defects on a pin-by-pin level. Conventional GET, however, is limited by low detection efficiency due to the high density of nuclear fuel rods and self-absorption. This paper proposes a new type of GET named Spent Fuel Internal Tomography (SFIT), which can acquire sinograms at the guide tube. The proposed device consists of the housing, shielding, C-shaped collimator, reflector, and gadolinium aluminum gallium garnet (GAGG) scintillator. For accurate attenuation correction, the source-distinguishable range of the SFIT device was determined using MC simulation to the region away from the proposed device to the second layer. For enhanced inspection accuracy, a proposed specific source-discrimination algorithm was applied. With this, the SFIT device successfully distinguished all source locations. The comparison of images of the existing and proposed inspection methods showed that the proposed method, having successfully distinguished all sources, afforded a 150 % inspection accuracy improvement.