• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.2088-2095
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• 2023

The safety of nuclear installations is largely determined by the tightness of fuel elements cladding. As the Fukushima nuclear accident showed, the main task in case of loss of power supply is to ensure reliable removal of residual heat release from spent fuel pool (SFP) with irradiated fuel assemblies (IFAs). The paper presents the results of calculated-experimental studies and thermal-hydraulic modeling of temperature storage modes of IFAs in SFP. Experimental studies of SFP's temperature regime and calculated evaluation of residual heat removal due to the thermal conductivity of building structures surrounding the SFP were performed. To ensure the safe operation of research reactors, it's necessary to know the IFA's residual heat power (RHP) in the reactor and SFP, which is determined depending on the operating time of fuel assemblies (FAs) and the IFAs calculated holding time. The FAs operating time depends on the reactor energy output. The IFAs calculated holding time is determined by the fuel burnup, U-235 mass in the fuel, and reactor utilization factor. The IFAs fuel burnup was calculated using the MCU-PTR program. Also presented are the RHP's calculation results using some of the empirical dependencies. The concept of a passive heat removal system (PHRS) based on thermosyphon's operating principle was proposed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.7
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• pp.1148-1153
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• 2018

The Leaking Fuel Experiment test facility was designed to simulate the activity release from spent leaking fuel rods under steady state and transient conditions in the spent fuel pool. The experimental rig included an electrically heated fuel rod with different defects and a cooling system. The fission product transport was simulated by potassium-chloride. The conductivity changes of the water in the cooling system were measured to provide information about the amount of released solution. Defects of different sizes and positions were applied, together with a wide range of rod powers to simulate decay heat. The produced data can be used for predicting the activity release from leaking fuel under storage conditions and for the interpretation of fuel examination procedures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.654-659
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• 2020

The reliability of the spent fuel pool instrument is very important for the security of nuclear power plant, especially during the earthquake. The effect of the fluid force on the vibration characteristics of the flexible tube of the spent fuel pool instrument needs comprehensive analysis. In this paper, based on the potential flow theory, the hydrodynamic pressures acting on the flexible tube were obtained. A mathematical model of a flexible tube was constructed to obtain the dynamic response considering the effects of seismic load and fluid force, and a computer code was written. Based on the mathematical model and computer code, the maximum stresses of the flexible tube in both safe shutdown earthquake and operating basis earthquake events on the spent fuel pool with three typical water levels were calculated, respectively. The results show that the fluid force has an obvious effect on the stress and strain of the flexible tube in both safe shutdown earthquake and operating basis earthquake events.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2015

In many nuclear power plant sites in Korea, high density storage racks were installed in the spent fuel pool to expand the spent fuel storage capacity. Nevertheless, the capability of the Hanbit nuclear site will be saturated by 2024. Also, 10 NPPs will reach their design life expiration date by 2029. In the case of the US, SFPI (Spent Fuel Pool Island) operated temporarily as a spent fuel storage option before spent nuclear fuels were transported to an interim storage facility or a final disposal facility. As a spent fuel storage option after shutdown during decommissioning, the SFPI concept can be expected to have the following effects: reduced occupational exposure, lower cost of operation, strengthened safety, and so on. This paper presents a case study associated with the regulations, operating experiences, and systems of SFPI in the US. In conclusion, the following steps are recommended for applying SFPI during decommissioning in Korea: confirmation of design change scope of SFPI and expected final cost, the submission of a decommissioning plan which is reflected in SFPI improvement plans, safety assessment using PSR, application of an operating license change for design change, regulatory body review and approval, design change, inspection by the regulatory body, education and commissioning for SFPI, SFPI operation and periodic inspection, and dismantling of SFPI.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.107-113
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• 1995

Spent fuel storage pool should maintain its structural integrity and the safety of stored spent fuels against design earthquake load. In this study, the seismic response analysis of the pool with LRB isolation system is performed for two different earthquakes. To investigate the seismic response of the base isolated pool, the analysis results are compared with the responses of conventional type. In conclusion, the base-isolation system is effective to reduce the seismic forces transmitted to the superstructure and the responses, and to secure the safety of the storage pool and stored spent fuel.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.476-483
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• 2017

The decay heat that is produced by nuclear reactor spent fuel must be cooled in a spent fuel storage pool. A wickless heat pipe or a vertical two-phase closed thermosyphon (TPCT) is used to remove this decay heat. The objective of this research is to investigate the thermal performance of a prototype model for a large-scale vertical TPCT as a passive cooling system for a nuclear research reactor spent fuel storage pool. An experimental investigation and numerical simulation using RELAP5/MOD 3.2 were used to investigate the TPCT thermal performance. The effects of the initial pressure, filling ratio, and heat load were analyzed. Demineralized water was used as the TPCT working fluid. The cooled water was circulated in the water jacket as a cooling system. The experimental results show that the best thermal performance was obtained at a thermal resistance of $0.22^{\circ}C/W$, the lowest initial pressure, a filling ratio of 60%, and a high evaporator heat load. The simulation model that was experimentally validated showed a pattern and trend line similar to those of the experiment and can be used to predict the heat transfer phenomena of TPCT with varying inputs.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.231-236
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• 2011

When the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident occurred in March of 2011, a hydrogen explosion in the reactor building at the 4th unit of Fukushima plants led to a big surprise because the full core of the unit 4 reactor had been moved and stored underwater at the spent nuclear fuel storage pool for periodic maintenance. It was because the possible criticality in the fuel storage pool by coolant loss may yield more severe situation than the similar accident happened inside the reactor vessel. Fortunately, it was assured to be evitable to an anxious situation by a look of water filled in the storage pool later. In the paper, the safety state of the spent fuel storage pool and rack structures of the domestic nuclear plants would be roughly reviewed and compared with the Fukushima plant case by engineering viewpoint of potential severe accidents.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.19-31
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• 1994

The objective of this study is to conduct a thermal-hydraulic analysis on the spent fuel pool and to evaluate a parametric effect for the thermal-hydraulic analysis of spent fuel pool. The selected parameters are the Reynolds Number and the gap flow through the oater gap between fuel cell and fuel bundle. The simplified flow network for a path of fuel cells is used to analyze the natural circulation phenomenon. In the flow network analysis, the pressure drop for each assembly from the entrance of the fuel rack to the exit of the fuel assembly is balanced by the driving head due to the density difference between the pool fluid and the average fluid in each spent fuel assembly. The governing equations ore developed using this relation. But, since the parameters(flow rate, pressure loss coefficient, decay heat, density)are coupled each other, iteration method is used to obtain the solution. For the analysis of the YGN 3&4 spent fuel rack, 12 channels are considered and the inputs such as decay heat and pressure loss coefficient are determined conservatively. The results show the thermal-hydraulic characteristics(void fraction, density, boiling height)of the YGN 3&4 spent fuel rack. There occurs small amount of boiling in the cells. Fuel cladding temperature is lower than 343.3$^{\circ}C$. The evaluation of parametric effect indicates that flow resistances by geometric effect are very sensitive to Reynolds number in the transition region and the gap flow is negligible because of the larger flow resistance in the gap flow path than in the fuel bundle.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.4731-4742
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• 2022

RBMK fuel assemblies differ from other LWR FA due to a specific arrangement of the fuel rods, the low enrichment, and the used burnable absorber - erbium. Therefore, there is a challenge to adapt modeling tools, developed for other LWR types, to solve RBMK problems. A set of 10 different depletion simulation schemes were tested to estimate the impact on reactivity and spent fuel composition of possible SCALE code options for the neutron transport modelling and the use of different nuclear data libraries. The simulations were performed using cross-section libraries based on both, VII.0 and VII.1, versions of ENDF/B nuclear data, and assuming continuous energy and multigroup simulation modes, standard and user-defined Dancoff factor values, and employing deterministic and Monte Carlo methods. The criticality analysis with burn-up credit was performed for the SFP loaded with RBMK-1500 FA. Spent fuel compositions were taken from each of 10 performed depletion simulations. The criticality of SFP is found to be overestimated by up to 0.08% in simulation cases using user-defined Dancoff factors comparing the results obtained using the continuous energy library (VII.1 version of ENDF/B nuclear data). It was shown that such discrepancy is determined by the higher U-235 and Pu-239 isotopes concentrations calculated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.8-19
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• 1993

The natural convection model of the consolidated system has been developed to make sure the removal of decay heat generated in the spent fuel for the loss of forced cooling accident. The numerical technique employed was based on the ADI scheme. The calculation of heat generation rate in the spent fuel was peformed by the ANS-79 decay heat model, and the nonuniform surface heat flux is assumed with a chopped sine curve for the conservative decay heat generation input. The sensitivity study was performed to examine the possibility of the pool bulk boiling by varying the various parameters, i.e. inter-fuel spacing ratio, heat generation power, and radius of the fuel rod. The application results of this model show that the natural circulation flow through compacted spent fuel bundles enables the pool temperature to control in a safe and effective manner, after the required cooling time. The corresponding acceptance criteria of the cooling time for rearranging the spent fuel rods were also found.