• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.535-542
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• 2012

A sodium-cooled demonstration fast reactor with the KALIMER-600 as a reference plant is under design by KAERI. The safety grade decay heat removal system (DHRS), which is important to mitigate design basis accidents, was changed in the reactor design. A loss of heat sink and a vessel leak in design basis accidents were simulated using the MARS-LMR system transient analysis code on two plant systems. In the analyses, the DHRS of KALIMER-600 had a weakness due to elevation of the overflow path for the DHRS operation, while it was proved that the DHRS of the demonstration reactor had superior heat transfer characteristics due to the simplified heat transfer mechanism.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.849-853
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• 2018

Mechanistic calculations for wet scrubbing of aerosol/vapor from gas bubble rising in liquid pool are essential to safety of sodium-cooled fast reactor. Hence, scrubbing of volatile fission product from mixed gas bubble rising in sodium pool is presented in this study. To understand this phenomenon, a theoretical model has been setup based on classical theories of aerosol/vapor removal from bubble rising through liquid pools. The model simulates pool scrubbing of sodium iodide aerosol and cesium vapor from a rising mixed gas bubble containing xenon as the inert species. The scrubbing of aerosol and vapor are modeled based on deposition mechanisms and Fick's law of diffusion, respectively. Studies were performed to determine the effect of various key parameters on wet scrubbing. It is observed that for higher vapor diffusion coefficient in gas bubble, the scrubbing efficiency is higher. For aerosols, the cut-off size above which the scrubbing efficiency becomes significant was also determined. The study evaluates the retention capability of liquid sodium used in sodium-cooled fast reactor for its safe operation.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.190-195
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• 2019

SA508 low-alloy steel for a reactor vessel was exposed to primary water in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) plant because the cladding layer of type 309 stainless steel for the RPV was removed, due to an accident in which the detachment of the thermal sleeve occurred. The major advantage of the electrochemical deposition (ECD) Ni plating technique is that the reactor pressure vessel can be repaired without significant thermal effects, and Ni has solid corrosion resistance that can withstand boric acid. The corrosion rate assessment of the damaged part was performed, and its trend was analyzed. Essential variables of the Ni plating for repair of the damaged part were derived. These conditions are applicable variables for the repair plating device, and have been carefully adjusted using the repair plating device. The process for establishing ASME technical standards called Code Case N-840 is described. The process of developing Ni-plating devices, and the electroplating procedure specification (EPS) are described.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.673-683
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• 2016

This paper analyzes the accuracy of the methods used in calibrating the thermal power of Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIRR-1), a low-power miniature neutron source reactor located at the Centre for Energy Research and Training, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. The calibration was performed at three different power levels: low power (3.6 kW), half power (15 kW), and full power (30 kW). Two methods were used in the calibration, namely, slope and heat balance methods. The thermal power obtained by the heat balance method at low power, half power, and full power was $3.7{\pm}0.2kW$, $15.2{\pm}1.2kW$, and $30.7{\pm}2.5kW$, respectively. The thermal power obtained by the slope method at half power and full power was $15.8{\pm}0.7kW$ and $30.2{\pm}1.5kW$, respectively. It was observed that the slope method is more accurate with deviations of 4% and 5% for calibrations at half and full power, respectively, although the linear fit (slope method) on average temperature-rising rates during the thermal power calibration procedure at low power (3.6 kW) is not fitting. As such, the slope method of power calibration is not suitable at lower power for NIRR-1.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.3910-3917
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• 2021

Reactor fuel's power distribution plays a vital role in designing the new generation thermionic Space Reactor Power Systems (SRPS). In this paper, the 1/12th SPACE-R's full reactor core was numerically analyzed with two kinds of different axial power distribution, to identify their impacts on thermal-hydraulic and thermoelectric characteristics. In the benchmark study, the maximum error between numerical results and existing data or design values ranged from 0.2 to 2.2%. Four main conclusions were obtained in the numerical analysis: a) The axial power distribution has less impact on coolant temperature. b) Axial power distribution influenced the emitter temperature distribution a lot, when the core power was cosine distributed, the maximum temperature of the emitter was 194 K higher than that of the uniform power distribution. c) Comparing to the cosine axial power distribution, the uniform axial power distribution would make the maximum temperature in each component of the reactor core much lower, reducing the requirements for core fuel material. d) Voltage and current distribution were similar to the axial electrode temperature distribution, and the axial power distribution has little effect on the output power.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.7
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• pp.1517-1523
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• 2020

The widely used medical isotope technetium-99 m (^99mTc) is a daughter of Molybdenum-99 (⁹⁹Mo), which is mainly produced using dedicated research reactors from the nuclear fission of uranium-235 (²³⁵U). ^99mTc has been used for several decades, which covers about 80% of the all the nuclear diagnostics procedures. Recently, the instability of the supply has become an important topic throughout the international radioisotope communities. The aging of major ⁹⁹Mo production reactors has also caused frequent shutdowns. It has triggered movements to establish new research reactors for ⁹⁹Mo production, as well as the development of various ⁹⁹Mo production technologies. In this context, a new research reactor project was launched in 2012 in Korea. At the same time, the development of fission-based ⁹⁹Mo production process was initiated by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) in 2012 in order to be implemented by the new research reactor. The KAERI process is based on the caustic dissolution of plate-type LEU (low enriched uranium) dispersion targets, followed by the separation and purification using a series of columns. The development of proper waste treatment technologies for the gaseous, liquid, and solid radioactive wastes also took place. The first stage of this process development was completed in 2018. In this paper, the results of the hot test production of fission ⁹⁹Mo using HANARO, KAERI's 30 MW research reactor, was described.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.37 no.12
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• pp.1573-1579
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• 2013

To test the performance of nuclear fuels, coolant needs to be circulated through the test rig installed in the test loop. Because the pressure and temperature of the coolant is 15.5 MPa and $300^{\circ}C$ respectively, coolant sealing is one of the most important processes in fabricating a nuclear fuel test rig. In particular, 15 instrumentation cables installed in a test rig pass through the pressure boundary, and brazing is generally applied as a sealing method. In this study, an induction brazing system has been developed using a high frequency induction heater including a vacuum chamber. For application in the nuclear field, BNi2 should be used as a paste, and optimal process variables for Ni brazing have been found by several case studies. The performance and soundness of the brazed components has been verified by a tensile test, cross section test, and sealing performance test.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.05a
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• pp.484-488
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• 1997

Fission product release (FPR) assessment for 100% reactor outlet header (ROH) break in CANDU reactor loaded with CANFLEX-NU fuel bundles has been performed. The predicted results are compared with those for the reactor loaded with standard 37-element bundles. The fuel failure thresholds for the CANFLEX and standard bundle elements are very similar. All the sheaths at the corresponding fuel failure thresholds for the CANFLEX and standard bundles fail due to the significant cracks in the surface oxide, except those for the CANFLEX inner element at burnups of 220 to 240 MW.h/kg(U), which fail due to the excessive diametral strain. The fuel failure analysis predicts that the number of failed fuel elements for the CANFLEX bundle case is none, while that for the standard bundle case is 1827. The total (gap plus bound) I-131 releases for the CANFLEX and standard bundles are none and 5889 TBq, respectively The significant reduction of the number of failed fuel elements and FPR for the CABFKEX fuel bundle is attributed to the lower linear power of the CANFLEX fuel bundle compared with the standard fuel bundle.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.340-351
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• 1991

Experimental studies were conducted on a l/5.03 scale reactor flow model of the Yong-gwang Nuclear Units 3 and 4. The purpose of the flow model test was to estimate the hydraulic effect in the reactor vessel due to the relative size difference between the ABB-CE's System 80 and the YGN 3&4 reactors. The flow model was designed according to the principle of similarity. Obtained from the test were the core inlet flow distribution, the core exit pressure deviations, and the segmental and overall pressure losses across the flow path from the reactor vessel inlet to outlet nozzle. These data will be used to provide input data for the core thermal margin analysis and to verify the analytical hydraulic design method.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2004

DME(Dimethyl Ether) was directly produced from the synthesis gas using the slurry phase reactor. The catalyst for DME production prepared two types (A type; Cu:Zn:Al=57:33:10, B type; Cu:Zn:Al=40:45:15, molar ratio). It was evaluated for the effect of the reaction medium oil using the small size slurry phase reactor. DME production yield and the methanol selectivity decreased in the order: n-hexadecane oil> mineral oil> therminol oil. The long-term test of DME production was carried out using A and B type catalyst, and n-hexadecane oil and mineral oil, respectively. It was confirmed that the use of A type for the catalyst and n-hexadecane for the reaction medium oil was very useful for the viewpoint of the DME production form the synthesis gas.