• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.99-106
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• 2009

The contents of transuranic elements ($^{237}Np$, $^{238}Pu$, $^{239}Pu$, $^{240}Pu$, $^{241}Am$, $^{244}Cm$, and $^{242}Cm$) in high-burnup spent fuel samples ($35.6{\sim}53.9\;GWd/MtU$) were determined by alpha spectrometry. Anion exchange chromatography and diethylhexyl phosphoric acid extraction chromatography were applied for the separation of these elements from the uranium matrix. The measured values of the nuclides were compared with ORIGEN-2 calculations. For plutonium, the measurements were higher than the calculations by about $2.6{\sim}32.7%$ on average according to each isotope, and those for americium and curium were also higher by about $35.9{\sim}63.1%$. However, for $^{237}Np$, the measurements were lower by about 52% on average for the samples.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.133-140
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• 2024

The Korean 2^nd basic plan for management of high-level radioactive waste presented a plan to manage spent nuclear fuel through dry storage facilities in NPP on-site. For the construction and operation of the facility, it is necessary to develop the monitoring system of the integrity of spent nuclear fuel before operation. NUREG-1536 recommends that the theoretical cask array, typically in the 2×10 array, should account for shadowing effect among the dry storage casks. The objective of this study was to evaluate neutron flux accounting for shadowing effect among dry storage casks. The neutron release rate was evaluated using ORIGEN based on the design basis fuel condition. And the simulation of dry storage casks and evaluation of the shadowing effect were performed using MCNP. Shadowing effect of other dry storage casks was the highest at the center of the dry storage facility of the 2×10 array compared with the outside of the cask. The shadowing effect of neutron flux on the surface among the metal casks was approximately 18% at point 1, 23% at point 2, and 43% at point 3. For the concrete casks, the shadowing effect of neutron flux on the surface was approximately 46% at point 1, 51% at point 2, and 52% at point 3. This means that correction is necessary to monitor the integrity of spent nuclear fuel in each dry storage cask through evaluation of shadowing effect. The results of this study will be used for comparative analysis of neutron measurement data from spent nuclear fuels in dry storage cask. Additionally, the neutron flux evaluation procedure used in this study could be used as the basic data of safety assessment of dry storage cask and development of safety guide.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.43-49
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the radiation effect on damage when the external shield of the spent nuclear fuel transport cask is damaged due to impact as the cause of an unexpected accident. The neutron and gamma-ray intensities and spectra are calculated using the ORIGEN-Arp module in the SCALE 6.2.4 code package⁽¹⁾ and then using MCNP6.2⁽²⁾ code calculate the dose rate. In order to evaluate the radiation dose according to the size of damage caused by external impact, various sized holes of 0.3~13.7% are assumed in the outer shield of the cask to evaluate the sensitivity to the dose. In the case of radiation source leakage, damage to the nuclear fuel assembly is assumed to be up to 6% based on overseas test cases. When only the outer shield is damaged, the maximum surface dose is calculated as 3.12E+03 mSv/hr. However, if the radiation source is leaked due to damage to the nuclear fuel assembly, it becomes 7.00E+05 mSv/hr which is about 200 times greater than the former case.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.90-96
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• 1984

Estimated dose rates in spent fuel pool storage with the extended fuel cycle core management were reviewed and compared with design limit after calculation with the aid of DLC-23/CASK(22 n, 18 g) nuclear data and ANISN code. Radioactivity and gamma spectrum within spent fuel assemblies were calculated with ORIGEN code by extended fuel cycle model. In the calculation of dose rate, the fuel pool geometry was assumed to be infinite slab. Also, composition materials and radiation source within assemblies which are being stored in pool storage were assumed to be uniformly distributed throughout all the assemblies. As a result of culculation of dose rate from stored assemblies and waterborne radionuclides in pool water, the calculated dose rates appear to be lower than design basis limit under normal condition as well as abnormal condition.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.438-442
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• 2004

To determine the contents of $^{99}Tc$ in the spent PWR (pressurized water reactor) nuclear fuels by ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry), a technetium separation method using an extraction chromatographic resin (TEVA Spec resin) has been established. $^{99}Tc$ was separated from a spent PWR nuclear fuel solution by this separation procedure and its concentration was determined by ICP-MS. The result agrees well with the value calculated by the program ORIGEN 2 and also the value measured by AG MP-1 resin/ICP-MS method described in our previous paper. It can be concluded that the present separation procedure is superior to the AG MP-1 resin procedure with respect to the time required for technetium separation as well as the efficiency of decontamination from other radioactive nuclides.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 1988

A Shielding analysis of the shipping cask designed conceptually, of which shielding material are lead and resin, for containing 4 PWR spent fuel assemblies, has been made with the help of a computer code, ANISN. The shielding materials being used in the cask have been selected and arranged to minimize cask weight while maintaining an overall shielding effectiveness. Radiation source terms have been calculated by means of ORIGIN-2 code under the assumptions of 38,000 MWD/MTU burnup and 3-year cooling time. A calculation of gamma-ray and neutron dose rates on the cask surface and 1m from the surface has been done. It is revealed that the total dose rates under the normal transport and hypothetical accident conditions meet the standards specified.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1998.05b
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• pp.551-556
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• 1998

The correlation of isotope composition of Zr with the turnup and some heavy isotopes in PWR uranium dioxide fuel has been investigated. The total and partial ($^{235}$ U) burnup were determined by $^{148Nd}$ and by U and Pu mass spectrometric method, respectively. After separating Zr from the fuel samples, its isotope composition was measured by mass spectrometry. In addition, the quantities of the U and Pu in the spent fuel were determined by isotope di lution mass spectrometric method using $^{233}$ U and $^{242}$ Pu as spikes. The content of some heavy isotopes, $^{235}$ U, $^{239}$ Pu and $^{241}$ Pu, and the Pu Contribution to total turnup were expressed by the correlation with Zr isotope ratios, $^{91}$ Zr/$^{96}$ Zr and $^{93}$ Zr/$^{96}$ Zr The correlations by isotope compositions measured were compared wi th those calculated from ORIGEN2 code.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.415-420
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• 2013

A determination method for $^{237}Np$ in spent nuclear fuel samples was developed using an isotope dilution method with $^{239}Np$ as a spike. In this method, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was taken for the $^{237}Np$ instead of the previously used alpha spectrometry. $^{237}Np$ and $^{239}Np$ were measured by ICP-MS and gamma spectrometry, respectively. The recovery yield of $^{237}Np$ in synthetic samples was $95.9{\pm}9.7$% (1S, n=4). The $^{237}Np$ contents in the spent fuel samples were 0.15, 0.25, and $1.06{\mu}g/mgU$ and these values were compared with those from ORIGEN-2 code. A fairly good agreement between the measurements (m) and calculations (c) was obtained, giving ratios (m/c) of 0.93, 1.12 and 1.25 for the three PWR spent fuel samples with burnups of 16.7, 19.0, and 55.9 GWd/MtU, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.319-326
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• 2008

To transport process wastes efficiently from the Advanced Spent Fuel Conditioning Pyro-process Facility (ACPF) at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), a new hot cell cask has been designed based on an existing hot cell padirac transport cask, with not only a neutron absorber for improved shielding capability, but also a docking facility for an easy docking system. In the new hot cell cask, two kinds of materials have been considered as shielding materials, polyethylene and resin. To verify the transport compatibility of the waste and spent fuel for the ACPF, neutron and photon shielding calculations were performed using the MCNPX code. The source term was evaluated by the ORIGEN-ARP code system based on spent PWR fuel. From the calculation, it was found that the maximum surface dose rates of the hot cell cask with the two candidates were estimated within the limit (2 mSv/hr).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1372-1384
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• 2024

The discrimination of the source for xenon gases' release can provide an important clue for detecting the nuclear activities in the neighboring countries. In this paper, three machine learning techniques, which are logistic regression, support vector machine (SVM), and k-nearest neighbors (KNN), were applied to develop the predictive models for discriminating the source for xenon gases' release based on the xenon isotopic activity ratio data which were generated using the depletion codes, i.e., ORIGEN in SCALE 6.2 and Serpent, for the probable sources. The considered sources for the neighboring countries of South Korea include PWRs, CANDUs, IRT-2000, Yongbyun 5 MWe reactor, and nuclear tests with plutonium and uranium. The results of the analysis showed that the overall prediction accuracies of models with SVM and KNN using six inputs, all exceeded 90%. Particularly, the models based on SVM and KNN that used six or three xenon isotope activity ratios with three classification categories, namely reactor, plutonium bomb, and uranium bomb, had accuracy levels greater than 88%. The prediction performances demonstrate the applicability of machine learning algorithms to predict nuclear threat using ratios of xenon isotopic activity.