• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제40권4호
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• pp.311-318
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• 2008

In modem power reactors, nuclear fuels have recently reached 55,000 MWd/MtU from the initial average burnup of 35,000 MWd/MtU to reduce the fuel cycle cost and waste volume. At such high burnups, a fuel pellet produces fission products proportional to the burnup and creates a typical high burnup structure around the periphery region of the pellet, producing the so called 'rim effect'. This rim region of a highly burnt fuel is known to be ca. $200\;{\mu}m$ in width and is known to affect the fuel integrity. To characterize the local burnup in the rim region, solid sampling in the micro meter region by laser ablation is needed so that the distribution of isotopes can be determined by ICP-MS. For this procedure, special radiation shielding is required for personnel safety. In this study, we installed a radiation shielded laser ablation ICP-MS system, and a performance test of the developed system was conducted to evaluate the safe operation of instruments.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권8호
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• pp.2477-2487
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• 2021

To improve safety analysis technology for a nuclear reactor containment considering an interaction between a reactor coolant system (RCS) and containment, this study aims at an experimental investigation on the integrated simulation of the RCS and containment, with an integral effect test facility, ATLAS-CUBE. For a realistic simulation of a pressure and temperature (P/T) transient, the containment simulation vessel was designed to preserve a volumetric scale equivalently to the RCS volume scale of ATLAS. Three test cases for a steam line break (SLB) transient were conducted with variation of the initial condition of the passive heat sink or the steam flow direction. The test results indicated a stratified behavior of the steam-gas mixture in the containment following a high-temperature steam injection in prior to the spray injection. The test case with a reduced heat transfer on the passive heat sink showed a faster increase of the P/T inside the containment. The effect of the steam flow direction was also investigated with respect to a multi-dimensional distribution of the local heat transfer on the passive heat sink. The integral effect test data obtained in this study will contribute to validating the evaluation methodology for mass and energy (M/E) and P/T transient of the containment.

• 대한금속재료학회지
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• 제48권5호
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• pp.410-416
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• 2010

Studies were carried out to establish the technology for sodium-clad compatibility and to analyze the compatibility behavior of the Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) cladding material under a flowing sodium environment. The natural circulation facility caused by the thermal convection of the liquid sodium was constructed and the 316-series stainless steels were exposed at $650{^{\circ}C}$ liquid sodium for 1458 hours. The weight change and related microstructural change were analyzed. The results showed that the quasi-dynamic facility represented by the natural convection exhibited similar results compared to the conventional dynamic facility. Selective leaching and local depletion of the chromium, re-distribution of the carbide, and the decarburization process took place in the 316-series stainless steel under a flowing sodium environment. This process decreased as the sodium flowed along the channel, which was caused by the change in the dissolved oxygen and carbon activity in the liquid sodium.

• 한국방사성폐기물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국방사성폐기물학회 2004년도 Proceedings of the 4th Korea-China Joint Workshop on Nuclear Waste Management
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• pp.165-169
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• 2004

It was studied on the reductive extraction between the eutectic salt and Bi metal phases. The solutes were zirconium and the rare earth elements, where zirconium was used as the surrogate for the transuranic(TRU) elements. All the experiments were performed in a glove box filled with argon gas. Two types of experimental conditions were used -high and low initial solute concentrations in salt. Li-Bi alloy was used as a reducing agent to reduce the high chemical activity of Li. The reductive extraction characteristics were examined using ICP, XRD and EPMA analysis. Zirconium was successfully separated from the rare earth elements by the reductive extraction method. The LiF-NaF-KF system was favorable among the fluoride salt systems, whereas the LiCl-KCl system was favorable among the chloride salt systems. When the solute concentrations were high, intermetallic compounds were found near the salt-metal interface.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권3호
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• pp.947-957
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• 2023

Curved cylindrical structures such as elbows have a non-uniform thickness distribution due to their fabrication process, and as a result have a number of complex mode shapes, including circumferential and axial nodal patterns. In nuclear power plants, material degradation is induced in pipes by flow accelerated erosion and corrosion, causing the wall thickness of carbon steel elbows to gradually thin. The corresponding frequencies of each mode shape vary according to the wall thinning state. Therefore, the thinning state can be estimated by monitoring the varying modal characteristics of the elbow. This study investigated the varying modal characteristics of artificially thinned carbon steel elbows for each thinning state using numerical simulation and experimental methods (MRIT, Multiple Reference Impact Test). The natural frequencies of specified mode shapes were extracted, and results confirmed they linearly decreased with increasing thinning. In addition, by comparing single FRF (Frequency Response Function) data with the results of MRIT, a concise and cost effective thinning estimation method was suggested.

• 분석과학
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• 제19권5호
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• pp.407-414
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• 2006

An X-ray diffractometer for spatially resolved X-ray diffraction measurements was developed to identify phase in the narrow (micron-scaled) region of high burn-up fuels and some nuclear materials. The micro-XRD was composed of an X-ray microbeam alignment system and a sample micro translation system instead of a normal slit and a fixed sample stage in a commercial XRD. The X-ray microbeam alignment system was fabricated with a microbeam concentrator having two Ni deposited mirrors, a vertical positioner, and a tilt table for the generation of a concentrated microbeam. The sample micro translation system was made with a sample holder and a horizontal translator, allowing movement of a specimen at $5{\mu}m$ steps. The angular intensity profile of the microbeam generated through a concentrator was symmetric and not distorted. The size of the microbeam was $4,000{\times}20{\mu}m$ and the spatial resolution of the beam was $47{\mu}m$ at the sample position. When the diffraction peaks were measured for a $UO_2$ pellet specimen by this system, the reproducibility ($2{\Theta}={\pm}0.01^{\circ}$) of the peaks was as good as a conventional X-ray diffractometer. For the cross section of oxidized titanium metal, not only $TiO_2$ in an outer layer but also TiO near an oxide-metal interface was observed.

• 한국산업정보학회논문지
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.1-12
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• 2018

본 논문은 듀얼 에너지 X-ray 검색기의 영상을 이용한 물질의 추정 방법 알고리즘을 제안한다. 물질 추정 알고리즘으로 많이 사용되는 기존 4가지 분별 곡선 이외에 로그 함수를 사용한 새로운 분별곡선을 이용하여 물질을 분류한다. 여기에 기존의 선형 보간을 이용한 원자번호 추정 방법이 아닌 확률분포를 이용한 원자번호 추정 방법을 제시한다. 확률분포를 이용한 가중치 계산에는 근접한 두 기준물질을 사용하는 방법과 모든 기준물질을 사용하는 방식, 2가지 방식을 실험하였다. 확률분포를 가중치로 사용하여 물질의 원자번호를 추정 할 경우 기존의 방법보다 더 정확한 원자번호 추정 결과를 나타내었다. 추정된 원자번호를 육안으로 확인하기 위하여 HSI 모델을 이용하여 결과영상에 채색하였다.

• 비파괴검사학회지
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.1-6
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• 2006

폐수처리시설의 응집조를 대상으로 0.392MeV의 감마선을 방출하는 In-113m을 추적자로 이용하여 체류시간분포(RTD; residence time distribution)를 측정하였다. 계측 결과는 CFSTR (constant flow stirred tank reactor) 모델을 바탕으로 구축한 K-RTD 프로그램을 이용하여 수학적으로 분석하였으며, 이를 바탕으로 혼합 특성을 규명하고자 하였다 모델에 의한 시뮬레이션 결과를 계측결과와 맞추는 과정에서 유체 거동의 특성을 표현하는 인자들을 계산하였으며, 이들 인자에 의한 시뮬레이션 결과는 실험결과에 매우 성공적으로 부합하였다. 또한 향후 본 실험에서 관찰된 bypass flow의 성분을 이론적 모델에 포함시키고 이를 분석하며 혼합조의 효율에 영향을 미치는 요소들에 대한 추가 연구의 필요성을 확인하였다.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.21-26
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• 2007

본 논문은 몬테칼로 시뮬레이션을 이용하여 대단위 감마선 조사시설 (IR-221)에 대한 선량률 평가 및 선량 분포를 해석하고, 이러한 방법을 통해 방사선 조사 품질을 향상시키는 것을 목적으로 하고 있다. 몬테칼로 시뮬레이션은 MCNP4B 코드를 이용하여 계산하였고, 이를 검증하기 위해 알라닌 선량계를 이용하여 전체 309개 지점에 대하여 흡수선량을 측정하였다. 계산 값과 측정치의 차이는 대략 ${\pm}5%$범위를 벗어나지 않음으로써 MCNP4B 코드가 IR-221 감사선 조사시설의 선량분포를 해석하는데 있어서 유효한 수단임을 알 수 있었다. 감마선 조사시설에 대한 도시메트리는 보통 많은 인력과 시간을 필요로 하지만, 몬테칼로 계산을 통해 이러한 손실을 줄일 수 있고, 무엇보다도 방사선 조사 품질을 향상시켜, 결국 방사선 조사 대상물에 대한 신뢰도를 확보하는 데에도 이바지 할 것으로 기대된다.

• 한국전산유체공학회지
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.84-91
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• 2015

SMART adopts, very unique facility, an FMHA to enhance the thermal and flow mixing capability in abnormal conditions of some steam generators or reactor coolant pumps. The FMHA is important for enhancing thermal mixing of the core inlet flow during a transient and even during accidents, and thus it is essential that the thermal mixing characteristics of flow of the FMHA be understood. Investigations for the mixing characteristics of the FMHA had been performed by using experimental and CFD methods in KAERI. In this study, the temperature distribution at the core inlet region is investigated for several abnormal conditions of steam generators using the commercial code, FLUENT 12. Simulations are carried out with two kinds of FMHA shapes, different mesh resolutions, turbulence models, and steam generator conditions. The CFD results show that the temperature deviation at the core inlet reduces greatly for all turbulence models and steam generator conditions tested here, and the effect of mesh refinement on the temperature distribution at the core inlet is negligible. Even though the uniformity of FMHA outlet hole flow increases the thermal mixing, the temperature deviation at the core inlet is within an acceptable range. We numerically confirmed that the FMHA applied in SMART has an excellent mixing capability and all simulation cases tested here satisfies the design requirement for FMHA thermal mixing capability.