• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제38권7호
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• pp.657-664
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• 2006

The problem of reactivity oscillations for a point reactor constitutes an interesting aspect of nuclear reactor physics and its solution may give important information for dynamic and safety assessments. The present paper considers the problem of a reactivity oscillation for a source-driven system which involves some specific aspects that introduce significant differences with respect to the source-free situation. Assuming a square-wave shape for the reactivity insertion, the solution is derived by a fully analytical approach. The conditions for stability and instability can be identified in a straightforward way by directly studying the stationarity of the power response. Numerical results presented allow to discuss the role of the system kinetic parameters and of the time-shape of the reactivity wave.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권2호
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• pp.455-465
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• 2021

The Molten Salt Reactor (MSR), one of the six advanced reactor types of the 4th generation nuclear energy systems, has many impressive features including economic advantages, inherent safety and nuclear non-proliferation. This paper introduces a system analysis code named TREND, which is developed and used for the steady and transient simulation of MSRs. The TREND code calculates the distributions of pressure, velocity and temperature of single-phase flows by solving the conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy, along with a fluid state equation. Heat structures coupled with the fluid dynamics model is sufficient to meet the demands of modeling MSR system-level thermal-hydraulics. The core power is based on the point reactor neutron kinetics model calculated by the typical Runge-Kutta method. An incremental PID controller is inserted to adjust the operation behaviors. The verification and validation of the TREND code have been carried out in two aspects: detailed code-to-code comparison with established thermal-hydraulic system codes such as RELAP5, and validation with the experimental data from MSRE and the CIET facility (the University of California, Berkeley's Compact Integral Effects Test facility).The results indicate that TREND can be used in analyzing the transient behaviors of MSRs and will be improved by validating with more experimental results with the support of SINAP.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 제어로봇시스템학회 2001년도 ICCAS
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• pp.133.6-133
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• 2001

Reactor vessel is one of the most important equipment of Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) with regard to the nuclear safety. Thus reactor vessel must be examined periodically by certified experts. Currently, ultra-sonic(UT) non-destructive inspection is executed on reactor vessel. Two different techniques are used in this inspection. One is using the movable manipulator fixed with the support-guide placed on the vessel, and the other is using mobile robot moving in the vessel. Movable manipulator machine is very heavy, hard to handle, and very expensive. Mobile robot equipment is small and convenient but has a weak point on positional precision. To solve these problems we developed a reactor inspection system based on laser-driven mobile robot. This paper describes the main concept and structure of integrated inspection units and the feature of implemented units.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권2호
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• pp.248-257
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• 2020

This study presents an initial design for a novel system consisting in a coupled nuclear reactor and a phase change material-based thermal energy storage (TES) component, which acts as a buffer and regulator of heat transfer between the primary and secondary loops. The goal of this concept is to enhance the capacity factor of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the case of high integration of renewable energy sources into the electric grid. Hence, this system could support in elevating the economics of NPPs in current competitive markets, especially with subsidized solar and wind energy sources, and relatively low oil and gas prices. Furthermore, utilizing a prismatic-core advanced high temperature reactor (PAHTR) cooled by a molten salt with a high melting point, have the potential in increasing the system efficiency due to its high operating temperature, and providing the baseline requirements for coupling other process heat applications. The present research studies the neutronics and thermal hydraulics (TH) of the PAHTR as well as TH calculations for the TES which consists of 300 blocks with a total heat storage capacity of 150 MWd. SERPENT Monte Carlo and MCNP5 codes carried out the neutronics analysis of the PAHTR which is sized to have a 5-year refueling cycle and rated power of 300 MW_th. The PAHTR has 10 metric tons of heavy metal with 19.75 wt% enriched UO₂ TRISO fuel, a hot clean excess reactivity and shutdown margin of $33.70 and -$115.68; respectively, negative temperature feedback coefficients, and an axial flux peaking factor of 1.68. Star-CCM + code predicted the correct convective heat transfer coefficient variations for both the reactor and the storage. TH analysis results show that the flow in the primary loop (in the reactor and TES) remains in the developing mixed convection regime while it reaches a fully developed flow in the secondary loop.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 1996년도 추계학술발표회논문집(1)
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• pp.79-84
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• 1996

The robust controller for the nuclear reactor power control system is designed. The reactor model is set up by use of the point kinetics equations and the singly lumped energy balance equations. Since the model is different from the actual plant, the controller which makes the system robust is necessary. The perturbation of the actual plant is investigated with respect to several possible sources of uncertainty. Then the overall system is configured into the two port model and the $H_{\infty}$ controller is designed. The loop shaping and the permissible control rod speed are considered as the design constraints. The designed $H_{\infty}$ controller provides the sufficient margins for the robustness, and the system output as well as the control input satisfy their relevant requirements.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.227-239
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• 2015

The thermal, mechanical, and neutronic performance of the metal alloy fast reactor fuel design complements the safety advantages of the liquid metal cooling and the pool-type primary system. Together, these features provide large safety margins in both normal operating modes and for a wide range of postulated accidents. In particular, they maximize the measures of safety associated with inherent reactor response to unprotected, doublefault accidents, and to minimize risk to the public and plant investment. High thermal conductivity and high gap conductance play the most significant role in safety advantages of the metallic fuel, resulting in a flatter radial temperature profile within the pin and much lower normal operation and transient temperatures in comparison to oxide fuel. Despite the big difference in melting point, both oxide and metal fuels have a relatively similar margin to melting during postulated accidents. When the metal fuel cladding fails, it typically occurs below the coolant boiling point and the damaged fuel pins remain coolable. Metal fuel is compatible with sodium coolant, eliminating the potential of energetic fuel-coolant reactions and flow blockages. All these, and the low retained heat leading to a longer grace period for operator action, are significant contributing factors to the inherently benign response of metallic fuel to postulated accidents. This paper summarizes the past analytical and experimental results obtained in past sodium-cooled fast reactor safety programs in the United States, and presents an overview of fuel safety performance as observed in laboratory and in-pile tests.

• 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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• 제56권1호
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• pp.275-282
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• 2024

Lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) is used as coolant for MicroURANUS, a small marine nuclear power plant, and this coolant is transported in the plant by an electromagnetic pump. Given the considerable heat generated by the electromagnetic pump, the cooling of the pump is essential. This study compared air cooling and water-cooling methods and found that the maximum temperatures during air and water cooling were 640 K and 372 K, respectively. These findings were utilized to design an electromagnetic pump with water-cooling. The maximum temperature of the pump was lower than the boiling point of water; thus, the pump did not require a separate pressurization. Consequently, the resistance problem of the coil and the deformation problem of the material caused by generated heat can be solved through water-cooling.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제35권5호
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• pp.399-411
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• 2003

A model predictive control method is applied to design an automatic controller for thermal power control in a reactor core. The basic concept of the model predictive control is to solve an optimization problem for a finite future at current time and to implement as the current control input only the first optimal control input among the solutions of the finite time steps. At the next time step, the second optimal control input is not implemented and the procedure to solve the optimization problem is then repeated. The objectives of the proposed model predictive controller are to minimize the difference between the output and the desired output and the variation of the control rod position. The nonlinear PWR plant model (a nonlinear point kinetics equation with six delayed neutron groups and the lumped thermal-hydraulic balance equations) is used to verify the proposed controller of reactor power. And a controller design model used for designing the model predictive controller is obtained by applying a parameter estimation algorithm at an initial stage. From results of numerical simulation to check the controllability of the proposed controller at the $5\%/min$ ramp increase or decrease of a desired load and its $10\%$ step increase or decrease which are design requirements, the performances of this controller are proved to be excellent.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.239-247
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• 2008

Hydrogen production facility using very high temperature gas cooled reactor lies in situation of high temperature and corrosion which makes hydrogen release easily. In that case of hydrogen release, there lies a danger of explosion. However, from the point of thermal-hydraulics view, the long distance of them makes lower efficiency result. In this study, therefore, outlines of hydrogen production using nuclear energy are researched. Several methods for analyzing the effects of hydrogen explosion upon high temperature gas cooled reactor are reviewed. Reliability physics model which is appropriate for assessment is used. Using this model, leakage probability, rupture probability and structure failure probability of very high temperature gas cooled reactor are evaluated and classified by detonation volume and distance. Also based on standard safety criteria which is value of $1{\times}10^{-6}$, safety distance between the very high temperature gas cooled reactor and the hydrogen production facility is calculated.