• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.73-86
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• 1999

The ion-exchange method for the purification of primary coolant has been used broadly in PWR(pressurized water reactor)-type nuclear power plants due to its high decontamination efficiency, simple system, and easy operation. However, its non-selective removal of metal and non-radionuclides shortens its life, resulting in the generation of a large amount of waste ion-exchange resin. In this study, the feasibility of electrodeionization (EDI) was investigated for the purification of primary cooling water using synthetic solutions under various experimental conditions as an alternative method for the ion exchange. The results shows that as the feed flow-rate increased, the removal efficiency increased and the power consumption decreased. The removal rate was observed as a 1000 decontamination factor(DF) at a nearly constant level. For the synthetic solution of 3 ppm TDS (Total Dissolved Solid), the power consumption was 40.3 mWh/L at 2.0 L/min of feed flow rate. The higher removal rate of metal species and lower power consumption were obtained with greater resin volume per diluting compartment. However, the flow rate of the EDI process decreased with the elapsed time because of the hydrodynamic resistivity of resin itself and resin fouling by suspended solids. Thus, the ion-exchange resin was replaced by an ion-conducting spacer in order to overcome the drawback. The system equipped with the ion-conducting spacer resolved the problem of the decreasing flow rate but showed a lower efficiency in terms of the power consumption, the removal rate of metal species and current efficiency. In the repeated batch operation, it was found that the removal efficiency of metal species was stably maintained at DF 1000.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.237-247
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• 1993

Activity ratio of two radioactive primary fission products which had sufficiently different half-lives was expressed as functions of cooling time and irradiation histories in which average burnup, irradiation time, cycle interval time and the dominant fissile material of the spent fuel were included. The gamma-ray spectra of 36 samples from 6 spent PWR fuel assemblies irradiated in Kori unit-1 reactor were obtained by a spectrometric system equipped with a high purity germanium gamma-ray detector. Activity ratio $^{l44}$Ce $^{l37}$Cs, analyzed from each spectrum, was used for the calculation of cooling time. The results show that the radioactive fission products $^{l44}$Ce and $^{l37}$Cs are considered as useful monitors for cooling time determination because the estimated cooling time by detection of activity ratio $^{l44}$Ce $^{l37}$Cs agreed well with the operator declared cooling time within relative difference of $\pm$5 % despite the low counting rate of the gamma-ray of $^{l44}$Ce (about 10$^{-3}$ count per second). For the samples with several different irradiation histories, the determined cooling time by modeled irradiation history showed good agreement with that by known irradiation history within time difference of $\pm$0.5 year. From this result, it would be expected to be possible to estimate reliably the cooling time of spent nuclear fuel without the exact information about irradiation history. The feasibility study on identification of and/or sorting out spent nuclear fuel by applying the technique for cooling time determination was also performed and the result shows that the detection of activity ratio $^{l44}$Ce $^{l37}$Cs by gamma-ray spectrometry would be usefully applicable to certify spent nuclear fuel for the purpose of safeguards and management in a facility in which the samples dismantled or cut from spent fuel assemblies are treated, such as the post irradiation examination facility.mination facility.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.141-154
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• 1984

An analysis is presented of key phenomena and scenario which imply some general trends for beyond design-basis-accident in Kori-1 PWR dry containment. The study covers a wide range of severe accident sequences initiated by small break LOCA. The MARCH computer code, with KAERI modifications was used in this analysis. The major emphasis of the paper are two folds, 1) the phenomenologic understanding of severe accident and 2) a study of H2 combustion and debris/ water interactions in a specific small break LOCA for Kori-1 plant. The sensitivity studies for the specific plant data and thermal interaction modelings used in the SASA were performed. The results show that if hydrogen burning does occur at low concentration, the resulting peak pressure does not exceed the design value, while the lower concentration assumption results in repeated burning due to the continuing H$_2$ generation. For debris/water interaction, the particle size has no effect on the magnitude of peak pressure for the amount of water assumed to be in the reactor cavity. But, the occurrence of peak pressure is considerably delayed in case of using the dryout correlation. The peak containment pressure predicted from the hydrogen combustion and steam pressure spite during full core meltdown scenario does not present a severe threat to the containment integrity.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.301-316
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• 1995

experimental and computational studies ore carried out to investigate the natural convection of the single phase flow in a tank with a heated horizontal plate facing downward. This is a simplified model for investigations of the influence of a core melt at the bottom of a reactor vessel on the thermal hydraulic behavior in a oater filled cavity surrounding the vessel. In this case the vessel is simulated by a hexahedron insulated box with a heated plate Horizontally mounted at the bottom of the box. The box with the heated plate is installed in a water filled hexahedron tank. Coolers are immersed in the U-type water volume between the box and the tank. Although the multicomponent flows exist more probably below the heated plate in reality, present study concentrates on the single phase flow in a first step prior to investigating the complicated multicomponent thermal hydraulic phenomena. In the present study, in order to get a better understanding for the natural convection characteristics below the heated plate, the velocity and temperature are measured by LDA(Laser Doppler Anemometry) and thermocouples, respectively. And How fields are visualized by taking pictures of the How region with suspended particles. The results show the occurrence of a very effective circulation of the fluid in the whole How area as the heater and coolers are put into operation. In the remote region below the heated plate the new is nearly stagnant, and a remarkable temperature stratification can be observed with very thin thermal boundary. Analytical predictions using the FLUTAN code show a reasonable matching of the measured velocity fields.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.131-138
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• 2013

The high damping rubber bearings contributed to reduce a seismic force transmitted to upper structures, the material properties of rubber changes with time and the rubber with age-related degradation can affect the seismic response of structures and equipments. Therefore the seismic response of structure considering age-related degradation of isolators should be evaluated. In this paper, the stiffness and damping for isolators were defined using the aging data proposed by other researchers. The reactor containment building and the auxiliary building were selected to conduct the nonlinear analysis and the natural frequency, maximum responses, floor response spectrum(FRS) were evaluated with time using the four earthquakes with different frequency contents. According to the analysis results, the seismic responses are increased by the age-related degradation of isolators and the detail inspections should be conducted up to 20 years because it was presented that the change of FRS was high during this period.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.131-142
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• 1999

By using the Korean demographic data and the modified relative risk projection model given in the Committee on the Biological Effect of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) report-V under the U.S. National Academy of Science, the radiogenic excess risk in Korean population has been evaluated. On the basis of this risk, a safety goal for the safe operation of domestic nuclear power plants has been further derived in terms of personal dose. The baseline risk of death due to all causes in Korea and the trivial risk level, which the society considers safe, were estimated to be $5.2{\times}10^{-3}$ and $5.2{\times}10^{-6}$, respectively. The radiogenic excess cancer risk in Korea has been estimated to be $5.2{\times}10^{-3}$ for tie case of acute exposure to 0.1 Gy and $3.7{\times}10^{-3}$ for the case of chronic lifetime exposure to 1.0 mGy/y. On the basis of these risks estimate, the resulting safety goal for one year opeation of a reactor was 0.05 mSv, which is quite identical with the ALARA guideline prescribed by the USNRC in the Appendix I, 10CFR50.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• 제41권8호
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• pp.531-536
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• 2017

Nano/micro technology is currently applied to improve solid surface wettability, with recent research studies indicating that nanostructures can improve surface wettability in the hydrophilic direction, and liquid spreading (propagation) is generated by capillary wicking. The majority of the existing research involves qualitative analysis of the spreading phenomena, owing to the difficulty in conducting small-scale analysis (nanostructures). In this study, the droplet interfacial behavior on silicon surfaces with micro/nano/micro-nano structures is experimentally investigated. The interfacial behavior is directly visualized using synchrotron X-ray imaging (side view). The spreading phenomena occur on structured surfaces, and the liquid interface behaviors on the surfaces differ. The liquid film thickness is uniform during spreading on the microstructured surface, but not on the nano case which shows a gentle slope. These combined spreading shapes were observed on a micro-nano structured surface, and liquid propagation was enhanced when the micro- and nano-structures are combined.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제44권4호
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• pp.128-148
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• 2019

Massive environmental monitoring has been conducted continuously since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power accident in March of 2011 by different monitoring methods that have different features together with migration studies of radiocesium in diverse environments. These results have clarified the characteristics of radiological environments and their temporal change around the Fukushima site. At three months after the accident, multiple radionuclides including radiostrontium and plutonium were detected in many locations; and it was confirmed that radiocesium was most important from the viewpoint of long-term exposure. Radiation levels around the Fukushima site have decreased greatly over time. The decreasing trend was found to change variously according to local conditions. The air dose rates in environments related to human living have decreased faster than expected from radioactive decay by a factor of 2-3 on average; those in pure forest have decreased more closely to physical decay. The main causes of air dose rate reduction were judged to be radioactive decay, movement of radiocesium in vertical and horizontal directions, and decontamination. Land-use categories and human activities have significantly affected the reduction tendency. Difference in the air dose rate reduction trends can be explained qualitatively according to the knowledge obtained in radiocesium migration studies; whereas, the quantitative explanation for individual sites is an important future challenge. The ecological half-lives of air dose rates have been evaluated by several researchers, and a short-term half-life within 1 year was commonly observed in the studies. An empirical model for predicting air dose rate distribution was developed based on statistical analysis of an extensive car-borne survey dataset, which enabled the prediction with confidence intervals. Different types of contamination maps were integrated to better quantify the spatial data. The obtained data were used for extended studies such as for identifying the main reactor that caused the contamination of arbitrary regions and developing standard procedures for environmental measurement and sampling. Annual external exposure doses for residents who intended to return to their homes were estimated as within a few millisieverts. Different forms of environmental data and knowledge have been provided for wide spectrum of people. Diverse aspects of lessons learned from the Fukushima accident, including practical ones, must be passed on to future generations.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• 제14권10호
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• pp.713-718
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• 2004

To study the dynamic strain aging behavior of Zr-0.4Sn-1.5Nb-0.2Fe sample tube for nuclear fuel cladding in the range of pressurized water reactor (PWR) operation temperature, the tensile tests of the tube specimens, which had been finally heat-treated at $470^{\circ}C\;and\;510^{\circ}C$, had been carried out with the strain rate $1.67{\times}10^{-2}/s\;and\;8.33{\times}10^{-5}/s$ at the various temperatures from room temperature to $500^{\circ}C$. It was observed that the elongation of the specimens got shortened as the temperature increased from $200^{\circ}C\;to\;340^{\circ}C$. The specimens that were finally heat-treated at $470^{\circ}C$ showed a plateau more remarkably on the plot of yield strength-temperature than those heat-treated at $510^{\circ}C$. In the range of $310\sim400^{\circ}C$, the strain rate sensitivity of the specimens finally heat-treated at $510^{\circ}C$ was $30.4\%\sim33.7\%$ lower but the work hardening exponent index of the specimens was a little higher than that without dynamic strain aging effect.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제5권1호
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• pp.44-54
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• 1973

In order to clarify an effective procedure of labelling organic chloro compounds by $^{38}$ Cl, phenyl chloro derivatives(7 kinds), chloro nitrobenzenes(6 kinds), chloro anisoles(2 kinds), chloro anilines(3 kinds), chloro toluenes(3 kinds), benzyl cholorides(4 kinds), and other comparing samples(3 kinds) were irradiated in the TRIGA Mark-II research reactor and the inorganic $^{38}$ Cl yields were compared with the irradiation times after extracting the inorganic portion with an aqueous solution of alkali. It was found that the relative change between the inorganic $^{38}$ Cl yield and the irradiadiation time depends a great deal on the state of the sample, and a solid sample gave a lower and steady inorganic yield. The inorganic $^{38}$ Cl yield was decreased in the order of phenyl chloro derivatives < chloro tol uene$^{38}$ Cl yield of homo functional compounds and the number of chlorine atoms on the benzene ring. Generally, poly chloro substituted derivatives could give a higher yield than those of less chloro substituted. The results were discussed and the feasibility of these results for labelling purpose was criticized.