• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권11호
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• pp.4244-4252
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• 2022

The accuracy of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations in estimating the computed tomography radiation dose is highly dependent on the accuracy of CT scanner model. A system was developed to observe the 3D model intuitively and to calculate the X-ray energy spectrum and the bowtie (BT) filter model more accurately in Monte Carlo N-particle (MCNP). Labview's built-in Open Graphics Library (OpenGL) was used to display basic surfaces, and constructive solid geometry (CSG) method was used to realize Boolean operations. The energy spectrum was calculated by simulating the process of electronic shooting and the BT filter model was accurately modeled based on the calculated shape curve. Physical data from a study was used as an example to illustrate the accuracy of the constructed model. RMSE between the simulation and the measurement results were 0.97% and 0.74% for two filters of different shapes. It can be seen from the comparison results that to obtain an accurate CT scanner model, physical measurements should be taken as the standard. The energy spectrum library should be established based on Monte Carlo simulations with modifiable input files. It is necessary to use the three-segment splicing modeling method to construct the bowtie filter model.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권11호
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• pp.4013-4021
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• 2022

A kind of zirconium phosphate mesoporous coordination polymer Zr-EDTMPA was successfully synthesized and characterized using XRD, FTIR, TGA, EA, SEM-EDS, and N₂ sorption-desorption measurements. The prepared Zr-EDTMPA was first employed for the removal of Co(II) from an aqueous solution, and the effects of pH, contact time, temperature, initial Co(II) concentration, reusability, and sorption mechanism were systematically investigated. The results showed that the Zr-EDTMPA is a zirconium phosphate complex formed by the coordination of EDTMPA to Zr in a molar ratio of 1:1. The sorption of Co(II) by Zr-EDTMPA was a pH-dependent, spontaneous and endothermic process, which was better fitted to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model. The Zr-EDTMPA was demonstrated to have excellent reusability and presented a high sorption capacity of 73.0 mg·g^-1 for Co(II) at pH 8.0. The sorption mechanism was mainly attributed to the strong coordination between cobalt and the untapped hydroxyl functional groups on Zr-EDTMPA, which was confirmed by XPS spectra. Therefore, as a candidate sorbent with high sorption capacity and excellent reusability, Zr-EDTMPA has a great potential for the removal of Co(II) from aqueous solutions.

• Animal Bioscience
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• 제36권7호
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• pp.1044-1058
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• 2023

Objective: The objective of this study was to characterize physiochemical and nutrient profiles of feedstock and co-products from canola bio-oil processing that were impacted by source origin. The feedstocks and co-products (mash, pellet) were randomly collected from five different bio-oil processing plants with five different batches of samples in each bio-processing plant in Canada (CA) and China (CH). Methods: The detailed chemical composition, energy profile, total digestible nutrient (TDN), protein and carbohydrate subfractions, and their degradation and digestion (CNCPS6.5) were determined. Results: The results showed that TDN_1x was similar in meals between CA and CH. CH meals and feedstock had higher, truly digestible crude protein (tdCP) and neutral detergent fiber (tdNDF) than CA while CA had higher truly digestible non-fiber carbohydrate (tdNFC). The metabolizable energy (ME_3x), net energy (NE_Lp3x, NE_m3x, and NE_g3x) were similar in meals between CA and CH. No differences were observed in energy profile of seeds between CA and CH. The protein and carbohydrate subfractions of seeds within CH were similar. The results also showed that pelleting of meals affected protein sub-fractionation of CA meals, except rapidly degradable fractions (PB1), rumen degradable (RDPB1) and undegrdable PB1 (RUPB1), and intestinal digestible PB1 (DIGPB1). Canola meals were different in the soluble (PA2) and slowly degradable fractions (PB2) between CA and CH. The carbohydrate fractions of intermediately degradable fraction (CB2), slowly degradable fraction (CB3), and undegradable fraction (CC) were different among CH meals. CH presented higher soluble carbohydrate (CA4) and lower CB2, and CC than CA meals. Conclusion: The results indicated that although the seeds were similar within and between CA and CH, either oil-extraction process or meal pelleting seemed to have generated significantly different aspects in physiochemical and nutrient profiles in the meals. Nutritionists and producers need to regularly check nutritional value of meal mash and pellets for precision feeding.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권11호
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• pp.4111-4124
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• 2022

The control rod drive system is critical to the reactor's reliable operation. The performance of its control system and mechanical system will gradually deteriorate because of operational and environmental stresses, thus increasing the reactor's operational risk. Currently there are few researches on the aging-related degradation of the entire control rod drive system. Because it is difficult to quantify the effect of various environmental stresses and establish an accurate physical model when multiple mechanisms superimposed in the degradation process. Therefore, this paper investigates the aging-related degradation of a control rod drive system by integrating Dynamic Object-Oriented Bayesian Network and Hidden Markov Model. Uncertainties in the degradation of the control system and mechanical system are addressed by using fuzzy theory and the Hidden Markov Model respectively. A system which consists of eight control rod drive mechanisms divided into two groups is used to demonstrate the method. The aging-related degradation of the control rod drive system is analyzed by the Bayesian inference algorithm based on the accelerated life test data, and the impact of different operating schemes on the system performance is also investigated. Meanwhile, the components or units that have major impact on the system's performance are identified at different operational phases. Finally, several essential safety measures are suggested to mitigate the risk caused by the system degradation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권12호
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• pp.4671-4678
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• 2022

The purpose of this comprehensive research is to observe the impact of scintillator crystal type on entire detection process. For this aim, MCNPX (version 2.6.0) is used for designing of a physical plastic scintillation detector available in our laboratory. The modelled detector structure is validated using previous studies in the literature. Next, different types of plastic scintillation crystals were assessed in the same geometry. Several fundamental detector properties are determined for six different plastic scintillation crystals. Additionally, the deposited energy quantities were computed using the MCNPX code. Although six scintillation crystals have comparable compositions, the findings clearly indicate that the crystal composed of PVT 80% + PPO 20% has superior counting and detecting characteristics when compared to the other crystals investigated. Moreover, it is observed that the highest deposited energy amount, which is a result of the highest collision number in the crystal volume, corresponds to a PVT 80% + PPO 20% crystal. Despite the fact that plastic detector crystals have similar chemical structures, this study found that performing advanced Monte Carlo simulations on the detection discrepancies within the structures can aid in the development of the most effective spectroscopy procedures by ensuring maximum efficiency prior to and during use.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권12호
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• pp.4809-4818
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• 2022

The decommissioning project of a nuclear facility is a large-scale process that is expected to take about 15 years or longer. The range of risks to be considered is large and complex, then, it is expected that various risks will arise in decision-making by area during the project. Therefore, in this study, the risk family derived from the Decommissioning Risk Management (DRiMa) project was reconstructed into a decommissioning project risk profile suitable for the Kori Unit 1. Two criteria of uncertainty and importance are considered in order to prioritize the selected 26 risks of decommissioning project. The uncertainty is scored according to the relevant laws and decommissioning plan preparation guidelines, and the project importance is scored according to the degree to which it primarily affects the triple constraints of the project. The results of risks are divided into high, medium, and low. Among them, 10 risks are identified as medium level and 16 risks are identified as low level. 10 risks, which are medium levels, are classified in five categories: End state of decommissioning project, Management of waste and materials, Decommissioning strategy and technology, Legal and regulatory framework, and Safety. This study is a preliminary assessment of the risk of the decommissioning project that could be considered in the preparation stage. Therefore, we expect that the project risks considered in this study can be used as an initial data for reevaluation by reflecting the detail project progress in future studies.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권4호
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• pp.1485-1494
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• 2023

The bow of the nuclear fuel assembly is a well-known phenomenon. One of the vital criteria during the history of nuclear fuel development has been fuel assembly's mechanical stability. Once present, the fuel assembly bow can lead to safety issues like excessive water gap and power redistribution or even incomplete rod insertion (IRI). The extensive bow can result in assembly handling and loading problems. This is why the fuel assembly's bow is one of the most often controlled geometrical factors during periodic fuel inspections for VVER when compared e.g. to on-site fuel rod gap measurements or other instrumental measurements performed on-site. Our proposed screening method uses existing video records for fuel inspection. We establish video frames normalization and aggregation for the purposes of bow measurement. The whole process is done by digital image processing algorithms which analyze rotations of video frames, extract angles whose source is the fuel set torsion, and reconstruct torsion schema. This approach provides results comparable to the commonly utilized method. We tested this new approach in real operation on 19 fuel assemblies with different campaign numbers and designs, where the average deviation from other methods was less than 2 % on average. Due to the fact, that the method has not yet been validated during full scale measurements of the fuel inspection, the preliminary results stand for that we recommend this method as a complementary part of standard bow measurement procedures to increase measurement robustness, lower time consumption and preserve or increase accuracy. After completed validation it is expected that the proposed method allows standalone fuel assembly bow measurements.

• 디지털융복합연구
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• 제20권3호
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• pp.265-273
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• 2022

본 연구는 COVID-19 팬데믹 하에서 사회적경제기업의 상황을 살펴보고 미래과제를 제시하는데 있다. 2019년말 시작된 COVID-19 팬데믹이 현재까지 건강, 경제, 사회, 네트워킹 등 우리 사회의 다양한 영역에 영향을 미치고 삶을 황폐하게 하고 있다. 바이러스가 호흡기를 통해 전염되는 것으로, 사람 중심의 사회적경제에 장애요인으로서 작용될 것이며, 주요하게는 재정적인 부분에서 기업가들의 활동을 규제하는 모양새로 나타나고 있다. 다만, 팬데믹이 지속되는 과정 속에서도 사회적경제의 규모는 확대되었으며, 청소위생 및 보건업을 중심으로 경제적인 성과와 함께 지역사회 속에서 사회적 성과를 달성하고 있다는 것에서 호혜와 협력에 기반한 사회적경제기업의 협업을 통해 COVID-19 이라는 문제를 해결하고 있다는 것을 확인할 수 있다. 사회적경제의 건강한 생태계 조성을 위해서는 COVID-19에 일차원적으로 대응하기 보다는 경제사회적 안전망 구축차원에서 사회적경제의 지속가능성을 담보할 수 있는 보편적이고 구체적인 미래 과제를 선정, 추진해야 할 것이다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권6호
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• pp.2256-2262
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• 2023

The electrochemical corrosion behaviors of SA106 Grade B (SA106B) carbon steel in H₂SO₄4-N₂H₄ and H₂SO₄-N₂H₄-CuSO₄ solutions at 95 ℃ have been investigated with the addition of commercial corrosion inhibitors (CI#30 and No. 570S), to determine the stability of SA106B in the hydrazine-based reductive metal ion decontamination (HyBRID) process. The potentiodynamic polarization experiment revealed that the corrosion inhibitors were capable of lowering the corrosion rate of SA106B in H₂SO₄-N₂H₄ solution. It was found that the corrosion inhibitors induced formation of fixed surface layer on the carbon steel upon the corrosion. This corrosion inhibition performance was reduced in the presence of CuSO₄ in the solution owing to the chemical reactions between organic compounds in the corrosion inhibitors and CuSO₄. CI#30 showed a better corrosion inhibition effect in the H₂SO₄-N₂H₄-CuSO₄ solution. Although the corrosion inhibitors can provide better stability to SA106B in the HyBRID solution, their application should be carefully considered because it may result in reduced decontamination performance and increased secondary waste generation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권6호
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• pp.2096-2106
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• 2023

Rotating machinery is widely applied in important equipment of nuclear power plants (NPPs), such as pumps and valves. The research on intelligent fault diagnosis of rotating machinery is crucial to ensure the safe operation of related equipment in NPPs. However, in practical applications, data-driven fault diagnosis faces the problem of small and imbalanced samples, resulting in low model training efficiency and poor generalization performance. Therefore, a deep convolutional conditional generative adversarial network (DCCGAN) is constructed to mitigate the impact of imbalanced samples on fault diagnosis. First, a conditional generative adversarial model is designed based on convolutional neural networks to effectively augment imbalanced samples. The original sample features can be effectively extracted by the model based on conditional generative adversarial strategy and appropriate number of filters. In addition, high-quality generated samples are ensured through the visualization of model training process and samples features. Then, a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) is designed to extract features of mixed samples and implement intelligent fault diagnosis. Finally, based on multi-fault experimental data of motor and bearing, the performance of DCCGAN model for data augmentation and intelligent fault diagnosis is verified. The proposed method effectively alleviates the problem of imbalanced samples, and shows its application value in intelligent fault diagnosis of actual NPPs.