• 한국유체기계학회 논문집
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• 제18권6호
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• pp.5-11
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• 2015

In a pressurized water reactor (PWR), control rod assembly (CRA) falls into the guide tubes of a fuel assembly due to gravity for scram. Various theoretical approaches and numerical analyses have been performed because its shape is simple and its design was completely developed several decades ago. A control rod assembly for a sodium-cooled faster reactor (SFR) which is geometrically more complicated is being actively developed in Korea nowadays. Drop time and impact velocity of a CRA are important parameters with respect to reactivity insertion time and the mechanical robustness of a CRA and a guide duct. In this paper, computational method considering simultaneously the equation of motion for rigid body and the Navier-Stokes equations for fluid is suggested and verified by comparison with theoretical analysis results. Through this valuable CFD analysis method, drop time and impact velocity of initially designed SFR CRA are evaluated before performing scram tests with it.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제48권2호
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• pp.572-594
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• 2016

As one of the Gen-IV nuclear energy systems, a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) is being developed at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. As a long-term national research project, advanced radiation resistant oxide dispersion strengthened steel (ARROS) is being developed as an in-core fuel cladding tube material for a SFR in the future. In this paper, the current status of ARROS development is reviewed and its future prospective is discussed.

• 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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• 제47권3호
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• pp.306-314
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• 2015

This paper examines the difference in the value of the nuclear fuel cycle cost calculated by the deterministic and probabilistic methods on the basis of an equilibrium model. Calculating using the deterministic method, the direct disposal cost and Pyro-SFR (sodium-cooled fast reactor) nuclear fuel cycle cost, including the reactor cost, were found to be 66.41 mills/kWh and 77.82 mills/kWh, respectively (1 mill = one thousand of a dollar, i.e., $10^{-3}$ $). This is because the cost of SFR is considerably expensive. Calculating again using the probabilistic method, however, the direct disposal cost and Pyro-SFR nuclear fuel cycle cost, excluding the reactor cost, were found be 7.47 mills/kWh and 6.40 mills/kWh, respectively, on the basis of the most likely value. This is because the nuclear fuel cycle cost is significantly affected by the standard deviation and the mean of the unit cost that includes uncertainty. Thus, it is judged that not only the deterministic method, but also the probabilistic method, would also be necessary to evaluate the nuclear fuel cycle cost. By analyzing the sensitivity of the unit cost in each phase of the nuclear fuel cycle, it was found that the uranium unit price is the most influential factor in determining nuclear fuel cycle costs.

• 기계저널
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• 제50권3호
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• pp.28-31
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• 2010

이 글에서는 제4세대(Generation-IV) 원자로시스템의 자원활용 측면에서 핵연료 주기와 관련하여 새롭게 부각되고 있는 소듐냉각고속로(SFR: Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor)의 개발 목적 및 설계 특성을 기술하고 원자로 구조관점에서 가압경수로(PWR)와 비교 설명한다.

• 한국방사성폐기물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국방사성폐기물학회 2009년도 학술논문요약집
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• pp.51-52
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• 2009

Recently, several industrial countries using the fission energy have given attention to the Gen-IV SFR (sodium-cooled fast reactor) for achieving sustainable nuclear energy systems. In this context, an SFR is currently developed at the design concepts study stage in the Republic of Korea [Kim & Hahn 200909]. The sustainability of systems means economic, environment-friendly, proliferation-resistant, and safer systems. More specifically, this sustainability can be accomplished in terms of resource recycling and radioactive waste reduction. In the present work, the objective of fuel cycle cost modeling is to identify the impact of various conceptual options as a cost reduction measure for the Gen-IV SFR at the design concepts study stage. It facilitates the selection of several reasonable fuel cycle pathways for the future Gen-IV SFR from an economic viewpoint.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권5호
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• pp.1874-1889
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• 2022

In this study, we evaluate the thermal-hydraulic performance and economics of Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger (PCHE) according to the channel types and associated shape variables for the design of recuperators with Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFRs). To perform the evaluations with variables such as the Reynolds number, channel types, tube diameter, and shape variables, a code for the heat exchanger is developed and verified through a comparison with experimental results. Based on the code, the volume and pressure drop are calculated, and an economic assessment is conducted. The zigzag type, which has bending angle of 80° and a tube diameter of 1.9 mm, is the most economical channel type in a SFR using CO₂ as the working fluid. For a SFR using N₂, we recommend the airfoil type with vertical and horizontal numbers of 1.6 and 1.1, respectively. The airfoil type is superior when the mass flow rate is large because the operating cost changes significantly. When the mass flow rate is small, volume is a more important design parameter, therefore, the zigzag type is suitable. In addition, we conduct a sensitivity analysis based on the production cost of the PCHE to identify changes in optimal channel types.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권9호
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• pp.3864-3871
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• 2024

In case of a hypothetical severe accident in a Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR), coolability of the debris bed in the post-accident phase plays a vital role in mitigating the accident and ensuring the structural integrity of the reactor vessel. Few numerical studies are reported in literature, in which the boiling heat transfer in debris bed is expressed as equivalent heat conduction using similarity law between heat conduction and two-phase heat transfer. However, these studies assumed steady state mass conservation for the boiling zone and neglected the gravity force. Hence, a detailed study has been carried out for various particle sizes and porosities of SFR debris to investigate the influence of above considerations. The effect of gravity on debris bed coolability is studied using steady state model of Lipinski, which showed that gravity has a non-negligible effect, for particle size of 0.3 mm and porosity of 0.5. However, the gravitation force was found to have a negligible effect in dryout heat flux estimation for the bottom cooled configuration. A transient numerical model is developed for simulating the boiling phenomena in debris beds and validated with the published experimental results. The assumption of steady state mass conservation is verified by carrying out transient analysis, which indicated early prediction of the dryout inception. For time dependent heat generation case, the unsteady mass conservation predicted higher DHF compared to constant heat generation.

• 대한기계학회논문집A
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• 제41권5호
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• pp.375-380
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• 2017

본 논문은 한국원자력연구원에서 개발 중인 소듐냉각 고속로 핵연료의 연료봉 하단 마개에 있는 관통구멍과 마운팅 레일의 원기둥 형상과의 접촉부에 발생하는 접촉 손상을 예측하기 위한 가속시험 방법을 연구한 것이다. 가속시험 조건으로서 연료봉의 유체유발진동수 및 진폭을 유한요소 해석을 통하여 구하였다. 약 35000 시간의 연료봉 수명기간을 고려한 가속시험 시간을 결정하기 위해 일반 기계부품류의 신뢰성 평가 방법을 적용하였으며, 이때 가장 보수적인 형상 모수와 원자로 내에서의 연료봉 파손허용 개수 기준 및 연료봉 피복관 재료인 HT-9강의 피로수명 데이터를 이용하였다. 시편의 개수를 5개로 하였을 때, 최종적으로 계산된 가속 시험시간은 각 시편 당 16.5시간이었다. 가속시험 후 전체 시편에 어떠한 접촉손상도 관찰되지 않을 때 연료봉의 수명기간 중 $B_{0.004}$ 수명이 신뢰수준 99%로 보장되는 것으로 평가하였다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권10호
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• pp.3928-3942
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• 2022

Thermal striping is a complex thermal-hydraulic phenomenon caused by fluid temperature fluctuations that can also cause high-cycle thermal fatigue to the structural wall of sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs). Numerical simulations using large-eddy simulation (LES) were performed to predict and evaluate the characteristics of the temperature fluctuations related to thermal striping in the upper internal structure (UIS) of the prototype generation-IV sodium-cooled fast reactor (PGSFR). Specific monitoring points were established for the fluid region near the control rod driving mechanism (CRDM) guide tubes, CRDM guide tube walls, and UIS support plates, and the normalized mean and fluctuating temperatures were investigated at these points. It was found that the location of the maximum amplitude of the temperature fluctuations in the UIS was the lowest end of the inner wall of the CRDM guide tube, and the maximum value of the normalized fluctuating temperatures was 17.2%. The frequency of the maximum temperature fluctuation on the CRDM guide tube walls, which is an important factor in thermal striping, was also analyzed using the fast Fourier transform analysis. These results can be used for the structural integrity evaluation of the UIS in SFR.