• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.1021-1024
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• 2004

During demonstrations of a process conditioning spent nuclear fuels, it may be necessary to transport modularized parts of process equipment out of a hot cell because of modules' failure or completion of demonstrations. It may be not easy to transport modules because modules will be contaminated. For this purpose, we have developed a prototype of a device transporting radioactive contaminated materials. We have analyzed conditions of a hot cell and requirements of the device, designed and manufactured a scaled-down prototype of the device, and done some performance tests such as running on the rail, running on the flat floor, and carrying capability of a sliding upper part. From the tests, it has been shown that running on the rail and floor was smooth but the sliding part was deflected if the sliding distance was long. These result will be reflected to a design of the improved transporting device which will be used during demonstrations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.2288-2297
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• 2023

Current designs of both large reactor units and small modular reactors utilize a nuclear fuel with increasing enrichment. This increasing demand for better nuclear fuel utilization is a challenge for nuclear fuel handling facilities. The operation with higher enriched fuels leads to reduced reserves to legislative and safety criticality limits of spent fuel transport, storage and final disposal facilities. Design changes in these facilities are restricted due to a boron content in steel and aluminum alloys that are limited by rolling, extrusion, welding and other manufacturing processes. One possible solution for spent fuel pools and casks is the burnup credit method that allows decreasing very high safety margins associated with the fresh fuel assumption in spent fuel facilities. This solution can be supplemented or replaced by an alternative solution based on placing the neutron absorber material directly into the fuel assembly, where its efficiency is higher than between fuel assemblies. A neutron absorber permanently fixed in guide tubes decreases system reactivity more efficiently than absorber sheets between the fuel assemblies. The paper summarizes possibilities of fixed neutron absorbers for various nuclear fuel and fuel handling facilities. Moreover, an absorber material was optimized to propose alternative options to boron. Multiple effective absorbers that do not require steel or aluminum alloy compatibility are discussed because fixed absorbers are placed inside zirconium or steel cladding.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.1166-1167
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• 2005

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.214-225
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• 2003

A teleoperated manipulator system has been developed for remote handling of the spent fuel bundles. A heavy-duty power manipulator with high reduction ratio joints is used for the slave manipulator in the developed system since the handling tasks of the spent fuel bundles need power. Also, the universal type master manipulator, which has force reflecting capability, is used for precise remote manipulation. The power manipulators so frequently occur the control input saturation that the precise control performances are not achieved due to the windup phenomenon. An advanced bilateral control scheme compensating for the saturation is applied to the teleoperated manipulator system. The validity of the developed system is verified by the grid cutting and fuel transportation tasks from the mockup spent fuel bundle.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.05a
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• pp.23-24
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• 2018

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.1540-1554
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• 2023

To use nuclear energy sustainably, spent nuclear fuel, classified as high-level radioactive waste and inevitably discharged after electricity generation by nuclear power plants, must be managed safely and isolated from the human environment. In Korea, the land area is limited and the amount of high-level radioactive waste, including spent nuclear fuels to be disposed, is relatively large. Thus, it is particularly necessary to maximize disposal efficiency. In this study, a high-efficiency deep geological repository concept was developed to enhance disposal efficiency. To this end, design strategies and requirements for a high-efficiency deep geological repository system were established, and engineered barrier modules with a disposal canister for pressurized water reactor (PWR)-type and pressurized heavy water reactor type Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU) plants were developed. Thermal and structural stability assessments were conducted for the repository system; it was confirmed that the system was suitable for the established strategies and requirements. In addition, the results of the nuclear safety assessment showed that the radiological safety of the new system met the Korean safety standards for disposal of high-level radioactive waste in terms of radiological dose. To evaluate disposal efficiency in terms of the disposal area, the layout of the developed disposal areas was assessed in terms of thermal limits. The estimated disposal areas were 2.51 km² and 1.82 km² (existing repository system: 4.57 km²) and the excavated host rock volumes were 2.7 Mm³ and 2.0 Mm³ (existing repository system: 4.5 Mm³) for thermal limits of 100 ℃ and 130 ℃, respectively. These results indicated that the area and the excavated volume of the new repository system were reduced by 40-60% compared to the existing repository system. In addition, methods to further improve the efficiency were derived for the disposal area for deep geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel. The results of this study are expected to be useful in establishing a national high-level radioactive waste management policy, and for the design of a commercial deep geological repository system for spent nuclear fuels.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.169-179
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• 2011

There are two types of nuclear reactors in Korea and they are PWR type and CANDU type. The safe management of the spent fuels from these reactors is very important factor to maintain the sustainable energy supply with nuclear power plant. In Korea, a reference disposal system for the spent fuels has been developed through a study on the direct disposal of the PWR and CANDU spent fuel. Recently, the research on the demonstration and the efficiency analyses of the disposal system has been performed to make the disposal system safer and more economic. PWR spent fuels which include a lot of reusable material can be considered being recycled and a study on the disposal of HLW from this recycling process is being performed. CANDU spent fuels are considered being disposed of directly in deep geological formation, since they have little reusable material. In this study, based on the Korean Reference spent fuel disposal System (KRS) which was to dispose of both PWR type and CANDU type, the more effective CANDU spent fuel disposal systems were developed. To do this, the disposal canister for CANDU spent fuels was modified to hold the storage basket for 60 bundles which is used in nuclear power plant. With these modified disposal canister concepts, the disposal concepts to meet the thermal requirement that the temperature of the buffer materials should not be over $100^{\circ}C$ were developed. These disposal concepts were reviewed and analyzed in terms of disposal effective factors which were thermal effectiveness, U-density, disposal area, excavation volume, material volume etc. and the most effective concept was proposed. The results of this study will be used in the development of various wastes disposal system together with the HLW wastes from the PWR spent fuel recycling process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.1188-1189
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• 2004

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.304.1-304.1
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• 2003

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.185-186
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• 2005