• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.423-430
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• 2014

An in-pile performance test of HANA claddings was conducted at up to 67 GWD/MTU in the Halden research reactor in Norway over a 6.5 year period. Four types of HANA claddings (HANA-3, HANA-4, HANA-5, and HANA-6) and a reference Zircaloy-4 cladding were used for the in-pile test. The evaluation parameters of the HANA claddings were the corrosion behavior, dimensional changes, hydrogen uptake, and tensile strength after the claddings were tested under the simulated operation conditions of a Korean commercial reactor. The oxide thickness ranged from 15 to 37 mm at a high flux region in the test rods, and all HANA claddings showed corrosion resistance superior to the Zircaloy-4 cladding. The creep-down rate of all HANA claddings was lower than that of the Zircaloy-4 cladding. In addition, the hydrogen content of the HANA claddings ranged from 54 to 96 wppm at the high heat flux region of the test rods, whereas the hydrogen content of the Zircaloy-4 cladding was 119 wppm. The tensile strength of the HANA and Zircaloy-4 claddings was similarly increased when compared to the un-irradiated claddings owing to the radiation-induced hardening.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.681-688
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• 2014

Hydride reorientation behaviors of PWR cladding tubes under typical interim dry storage conditions were investigated with the use of as-received 250 and 485ppm hydrogen-charged Zr-Nb alloy cladding tubes. In order to evaluate the effect of typical cool-down processes on the radial hydride precipitation, two terminal heat-up temperatures of 300 and $400^{\circ}C$, as well as two terminal cool-down temperatures of 200 and $300^{\circ}C$, were considered. In addition, two cooling rates of 2.5 and $8.0^{\circ}C/min$ during the cool-down processes were taken into account along with zero stress or a tensile hoop stress of 150MPa. It was found that the 250ppm hydrogen-charged specimen experiencing the higher terminal heat-up temperature and the lower terminal cool-down temperature generated the highest number of radial hydrides during the cool-down process under 150MPa hoop tensile stress, which may be explained by terminal solid hydrogen solubilities for precipitation, and dissolution and remaining circumferential hydrides at the terminal heat-up temperatures. In addition, the slower cool-down rate generates the larger number of radial hydrides due to a cooling rate-dependent, longer residence time at a relatively high temperature that can accelerate the radial hydride nucleation and growth.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.377-384
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• 2013

During the last three decades, South Korean nuclear power plants have discharged about 5,950 tons of spent fuel and the maximum burn-up reached 55 GWd/MTU in 2002. This study was performed to support the development of Korean dry spent fuel storage alternatives. First, we chose V5H-$17{\times}17$ and KSFA-$16{\times}16$ as representative domestic spent fuels, considering current accumulation and the future generation of the spent fuels. Examination reveals that their average burn-ups have already increased from 33 to 51 GWd/MTU and from 34.8 to 48.5 GWd/MTU, respectively. Evaluation of the fuel characteristics shows that at the average burn-up of 42 GWd/MTU, the oxide thickness, hydrogen content, and hoop stress ranged from $30{\sim}60{\mu}m$, 250 ~ 500 ppm, and 50 ~ 75 MPa, respectively. But when burn-up exceeds 55 GWd/MTU, those characteristics can increase up to 100 ${\mu}m$, 800 ppm, and 120 MPa, respectively, depending on the power history. These results demonstrate that most Korean spent nuclear fuels are expected to remain within safe bounds during long-term dry storage, however, the excessive hoop stress and hydrogen concentration may trigger the degradation of the spent fuel integrity early during the long-term dry storage in the case of high burn-up spent fuels exceeding 45 GWd/MTU.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.111-122
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• 2007

The current energy supply system is burdened by environmental and supply problems. The concept of a hydrogen economy has been actively discussed worldwide. KAERI has set up a plan to demonstrate massive production of hydrogen using a VHTR by the early 2020s. The technological gap to meet this goal was identified during the past few years. The hydrogen production process, a process heat exchanger, the efficiency of an I/S thermochemical cycle, the manufacturing of components, the analysis tools of VHTR, and a coated particle fuel are key areas that require urgent development. Candidate NHDD plant designs based on a 200 MWth VHTR core and I/S thermochemical process have been studied and some of analysis results are presented in this paper.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.185-191
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• 2004

It summarized about the properties of thermochemical water-splitting iodine-sulfur process that was hydrogen production using the waste heat from the High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) recycling the heat of nuclear power. It was mainly explained about the application of membrane separation technique in IS process. Thermochemical water-splitting hydrogen production method using the high temperature nuclear thermal energy could be realized and remained to be solved the investigation subject. And, it is possible for mass-production of hydrogen such as one of the clean energy in future.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2753-2760
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• 2021

This paper proposes using sodium-cooled fast reactor technologies for use in hydrogen vapor methane (SMR) modification. Using three independent energy rings in the Russian BN-600 fast reactor, steam is generated in one of the steam-generating cycles with a pressure of 13.1 MPa and a temperature of 505 ℃. The reactor's second energy cycles can increase the gas-steam mixture's temperature to the required amount for efficient correction. The 620 ton/hr 540 ℃ steam generated in this cycle is sufficient to supply a high-temperature synthesis current source (700 ℃), which raises the steam-gas mixture's temperature in the reactor. The proposed technology provides a high rate of hydrogen production (approximately 144.5 ton/hr of standard H₂), also up to 25% of the original natural gas, in line with existing SMR technology for preparing and heating steam and gas mixtures will be saved. Also, exergy analysis results show that the plant's efficiency reaches 78.5% using HTR heat for combined hydrogen and power generation.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.35-45
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• 2022

The renewable energy based MG is becoming one of the prominent solutions for greenhouse gas and constructing less power lines. However, how to procure the economics of MG considering the CO₂ emission and utility network impact is one of major issues as the proportion of renewable resource increases. This paper proposes the feasibility study scheme of campus MG and shows that the LCOE and CO₂ emission can be reduced by utilizing the excess power and introducing hydrogen system and plus DR. For this, the three cases: (a) adding the PV and selling excess power to utility, (b) producing and selling hydrogen using excess power, and (c) participating in plus DR are considered. For each case, not only the topology and component capacity of MG to secure economic feasibility, but also CO₂ emission and utility network effects are derived. If an electrolyzer with a capacity of 400 kW participates in plus DR for 3,730hours/year, the economic feasibility is securable if plus DR settlement and hydrogen sale price are more than 7.08¢/kWh and 8.3USD/kg or 6.25¢/kWh and 8.6USD/kg, respectively. For this end, continuous technical development and policy support for hydrogen system and plus DR are required.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.487-488
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• 2004

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.523-524
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• 2005

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.553-561
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• 2010

A medium-scale helium loop that can simulate a VHTR (very-high-temperature reactor) is now under construction at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. The heaters of the test helium loop electrically heat helium fluid up to $950^{\circ}C$ at pressures of 1 to 9 MPa. To optimize the design specifications of the experimental helium loop, the conjugate heat transfer in the high-temperature helium heater was analyzed by performing a CFD simulation. The analysis results indicate that the maximum temperature does not exceed the allowable limit. It is confirmed that the thermal characteristics of the loop with the given geometry satisfy the design requirements.