• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권2호
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• pp.562-571
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• 2021

In this work, we propose a new mechanistic model for the treatment of helium behaviour which includes the description of helium solubility in oxide fuel. The proposed model has been implemented in SCIANTIX and validated against annealing helium release experiments performed on small doped fuel samples. The overall agreement of the new model with the experimental data is satisfactory, and given the mechanistic formulation of the proposed model, it can be continuously and easily improved by directly including additional phenomena as related experimental data become available.

• 한국세라믹학회지
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• 제47권2호
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• pp.106-112
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• 2010

This paper presents some experimental results on incubation time for massive hydriding of Zr alloys with oxide thickness. Oxide effects experiments on massive hydriding reaction of commercial Zr alloy claddings and pre-oxidized Zr alloys with hydrogen gas were carried out in the temperature range from 300 to $400^{\circ}C$ with thermo-gravimetric apparatus. Experimental results for oxide effects on massive hydriding kinetics show that incubation time is not proportional to oxide thickness and that the massive hydriding kinetics of pre-filmed Zr alloys follows linear kinetic law and the hydriding rate are similar to that of oxide-free Zr alloys once massive hydriding is initiated. There was a difference in micro-structures between oxide during incubation time and oxide after incubation time. Physical defects such as micro-cracks and pores were observed in only oxide after incubation time. Therefore, the massive hydriding of Zr alloys seems to be ascribed to short circuit path, mechacical or physical defects, such as micro-cracks and pores in the oxide rather than hydrogen diffusion through the oxide resulting from the increase of oxygen vacancies in the hypostoichiometric oxide.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 2001년도 춘계학술발표회요약집
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• pp.313.1-313
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• 2001

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제42권2호
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• pp.183-192
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• 2010

An electrochemical reduction of a mixture of metal oxides was conducted in a LiCl molten salt containing 3 wt% $Li_2O$ at $650^{\circ}C$. The oxide reduction was carried out by applying a current to an electrolysis cell, and the $Li_2O$ concentration was analyzed during each run. The concentration of $Li_2O$ in the electrolyte bulk phase gradually decreases according to Faraday's law due to a slow diffusion of the $O^{2-}$ ions. A hindrance effect of the unreduced metal oxides was observed for the reduction of the uranium oxide. Cs, Sr, and Ba of high heat-load fission products were diffused into and accumulated in the salt phase as predicted with thermodynamic consideration.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.107-112
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• 2009

Corrosion of nickel-base alloys (Hastelloy C-276, Inconel 625, and Inconel X-750) in $500^{\circ}C$, 25MPa supercritical water (with 10 wppb oxygen) was investigated to evaluate the suitability of these alloys for use in supercritical water reactors. Oxide scales formed on the samples were characterized by gravimetry, scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicate that, during the 1000h exposure, a dense spinel oxide layer, mainly consisting of a fine Cr-rich inner layer ($NiCr_{2}O_{4}$) underneath a coarse Fe-rich outer layer ($NiFe_{2}O_{4}$), developed on each alloy. Besides general corrosion, nodular corrosion occurred on alloy 625 possibly resulting from local attack of ${\gamma}$" clusters in the matrix. The mass gains for all alloys were small, while alloy X -750 exhibited the highest oxidation rate, probably due to the absence of Mo.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 1995년도 추계학술발표회논문집(2)
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• pp.680-686
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• 1995

It has been known that water-side corrosion of fuel rods in nuclear reactor is accompanied with the loss of metallic wall thickness and pickup of hydrogen. This corrosion is one of the important limiting factors ill the operating life of fuel rods. In connection with the fuel cladding corrosion, a device to measure the water-side oxide layer thickness by means of the eddy-current method without destructing the fuel rod was developed by KAERI. The device was installed on the multi-function testing bench in the nondestructive test hot-cell and its calibration was carried out successfully for the standard rod attached with plastic thin films whose thicknesses are predetermined. It shows good precision within about 10% error. And a PWR fuel rod, one of the J-44 assembly discharged from Kori nuclear power plant Unit-2, has been selected for oxide layer thickness measurements. With the result of data analysis, it appeared that the oxide layer thicknesses of Zircaloy cladding vary with the length of the fuel rod, and their thicknesses were compared with those of the destructive test results to confirm the real thicknesses.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제48권4호
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• pp.997-1001
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• 2016

Conductive ceramics are being developed to replace current Pt anodes in the electrolytic reduction of spent oxide fuels in pyroprocessing. While several conductive ceramics have shown promising electrochemical properties in small-scale experiments, their long-term stabilities have not yet been investigated. In this study, the chemical stability of conductive $La_{0.33}Sr_{0.67}MnO_3$ in $LiCl-Li_2O$ molten salt at $650^{\circ}C$ was investigated to examine its feasibility as an anode material. Dissolution of Sr at the anode surface led to structural collapse, thereby indicating that the lifetime of the $La_{0.33}Sr_{0.67}MnO_3$ anode is limited. The dissolution rate of Sr is likely to be influenced by the local environment around Sr in the perovskite framework.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권2호
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• pp.218-222
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• 2018

An oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) layer was formed on Zircaloy-4 tubes by a laser beam scanning process to increase mechanical strength. Laser beam was used to scan the yttrium oxide ($Y_2O_3$)-coated Zircaloy-4 tube to induce the penetration of $Y_2O_3$ particles into Zircaloy-4. Laser surface treatment resulted in the formation of an ODS layer as well as microstructural phase transformation at the surface of the tube. The mechanical strength of Zircaloy-4 increased with the formation of the ODS layer. The ring-tensile strength of Zircaloy-4 increased from 790 to 870 MPa at room temperature, from 500 to 575 MPa at $380^{\circ}C$, and from 385 to 470 MPa at $500^{\circ}C$. Strengthening became more effective as the test temperature increased. It was noted that brittle fracture occurred at room temperature, which was not observed at elevated temperatures. Resistance to dynamic high-temperature bursting improved. The burst temperature increased from 760 to $830^{\circ}C$ at a heating rate of $5^{\circ}C/s$ and internal pressure of 8.3 MPa. The burst opening was also smaller than those in fresh Zircaloy-4 tubes. This method is expected to enhance the safety of Zr fuel cladding tubes owing to the improvement of their mechanical properties.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권6호
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• pp.1208-1212
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• 2020

Knowledge on fuel enthalpy and its temperature derivative, the heat capacity, are important quantities in determination of fuel behavior in normal reactor operation and reactor transients. The aim of this study is to compare the heat capacity of oxide and nitrite fuels by using Einstein-Debye approximation. A simple analytical expression was performed to calculate the heat capacity of fuels. To test the validity and reliability, the calculated formulas were compared to published results for various nuclear fuels including UO₂, ThO₂, PuO₂ and UN. Calculated formulas yielded results in consistent with literature.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제17권3호
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• pp.185-192
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• 1985

가압경수로에서 나오는 사용후 핵연료의 fissile 양은 CANDU형 원자로에 쓰는 천연우라늄의 농축도 보다 높다. 따라서 핵연료 활용을 다양화하고 점차 누적되고 있는 가압경수로의 사용후 핵 연료의 저장문제를 부분적으로나마 해결하기 위하여, 가압경수로의 사용후 책 연료를 CANDU 형 원자로에 사용하는 방안을 검토 하였다. 가압경수로에서 나온 사용후 핵 연료에서 가공되는 혼합핵연료(Mixed Oxide Fuel)를 CANDU형 원자로에 장전하였을 경우, WIMS/D 코드를 이용하여 핵적특성을 분석하였다. 그리고 본 분석에서는 현 CANDU형 원자로의 반응도 조절장치를 변경시키지 않고 혼합핵 연료를 CANDU형 원자로에 사용할 수있는 방안만 조사하였다.