• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제46권3호
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• pp.395-406
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• 2014

This study provides a fundamental understanding of a cold finger melt crystallization technique by exploring the heat and mass transfer processes of cold finger separation. A series of experiments were performed using a simplified LiCl-CsCl system by varying initial CsCl concentrations (1, 3, 5, and 7.5 wt%), cold finger cooling rates (7.4, 9.8, 12.3, and 14.9 L/min), and separation times (5, 10, 15, and 30 min). Results showed a potential recycling rate of 0.36 g/min with a purity of 0.33 wt% CsCl in LiCl. A CsCl concentrated drip formation was found to decrease crystal purity especially for smaller crystal formations. Dimensionless heat and mass transfer correlations showed that separation production is primarily influenced by convective transfer controlled by cooling gas flow rate, where correlations are more accurate for slower cooling gas flow rates.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제3권4호
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• pp.301-307
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• 2005

조사후 핵연료 가열(PIA장비)를 이용한 고연소도 UO2 사용후 핵연료의 산화 및 가열후 미세조직의 변화를 관찰하였다. 울진 2호기에서 한국원자력연구소 조사후시험시설로 이송된 국산 경수로용 고연소도 사용후 핵연료는 봉평균 연소도가 57,000 MWd/tU-rod avg.이였다. 본 시험에 사용된 시편은 국부연소도 65,000 MWd/tU UO2 소결체의 고형체 200 mg을 사용하였다. 본 시편을 사용후 핵 연료 가열(PIA) 시험장비를 이용하여 핫셀 내에서 3시간의 산화시험과 연속적으로 $1,400^{\circ}C$ 까지 가열하였다. 결정립경계까지의 산화를 위하여 $500^{\circ}C$에서 헬륨 50 ml, 표준공기 100 ml를 흔합한 산화분위기로 3시간을 유지하였다. 핵분열기체 방출거동을 알기위해 시험 전과정중에 85Kr의 방출량을 베타 측정기와 감마 측정기를 이용하여 실시간으로 측정 하였다. 가열시험이 종료된 후 전자주사현미경을 이용하여 미세구조의 변화를 관찰하였다. 시험결과 가열하는 동안 핵분열생성물은 UO2기지의 결정립경계와 표면으로 이동된 것을 관찰하였다. 이 시편은 환원과정을 통하여 재구조화 되었고, $5\~10\;{\mu}m$ 정도의 결정립크기를 가진 것으로 나타났다.

• 분석과학
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.94-98
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• 1999

Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer를 이용하여 핵연료봉으로부터 포집된 1기업이하 소량의 기체들로부터 그들의 조성과 동위원소비를 구하는 방법을 검토하였다. He, $N_2$, $O_2$, Ar, Kr, Xe의 개별기체와 혼합기체를 이용하여 기체압력과 조성비에 따른 검정곡선의 직선성을 조사하였다. Sample chamber와 analyser chamber 사이에 부착된 molecular leak의 영향을 조사하였으며, 시료와 유사한 조성을 갖는 혼합표준기체로부터 각 기체의 감도를 얻은 후 동일조건에서 시료를 분석하였다. 측정압력 범위에서 Kr과 Xe의 동위원소간 감도차는 크게 나타나지 않았다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.374-380
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• 1994

결정립계에 존재하는 핵분열기체의 기포가 소결체의 외부와 연결되는 정도를 모사할 수 있는 방법을 개발하였다. $UO_2$ 결정립의 형상을 TKD로 취급할 때, 결정립 Corner에서 자유 공간과 연결되는 핵분열 기체의 기포 비율을 결정립 Corner에 형성된 기포 반경의 함수로서 몬테 카를로 방법을 이용하여 계산하였다. 2차원적인 분석에도 불구하고, 본 방법은 모든 기포가 자유 공간과 완전히 연결된 순간에서 예측된 핵연료 팽윤과 측정된 핵연료 팽윤이 비교적 잘 일치함을 보였다. 그러나 핵분열기체 기포가 외부와 상호 연결된 정도를 좀 더 사실적으로 모사하려면 결정립 Corner의 기포를 3차원적으로 취급해야 한다.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 1999년도 추계학술발표회요약집
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• pp.248.1-248
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• 1999

Preliminary analysis of in-reactor thermal performance of three MOX fuel rods, which are going to be irradiated in the Halden reactor beginning in the first Quarter of the year 2000 under the framework of the OECD Halden Reactor Programme, have been conducted by using the computer code COSMOS to ensure their safe operation. Parametric studies have been carried out to investigate the effect of uncertainties on in-reactor behavior by considering the four kinds of uncertainties; thermal conductivity, linear power, manufacturing parameters, and model constants. The analysis shows that, in the case of annular MOX -1 fuel, calculation results for thermal performance vary widely depending on the selection of model constants for fission gas release (FGR). On the contrary, the thermal performance of solid MOX - 3 fuel does not depend on the choice of FGR constants to a large extent as MOX-I, because the fuel temperature is very high in the MOX-3 irrespective of the choice of FGR constants and hence the capacity of grain boundaries to retain gas atoms is not large enough to accommodate the number of gas atoms reaching the grain boundaries. It is planned that when the data on microstructure and thermal conductivity for each type of MOX fuel are available, new analysis will be made using these information. In addition, FGR model constants will be derived from the measured fuel centerline temperature, rod internal pressure and other related data.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.692-699
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• 2017

The determination of the shape and rising velocity of gas bubbles in a liquid pool is of great importance in analyzing the radioactive aerosol emissions from nuclear power plant accidents in terms of the fission product release rate and the pool scrubbing efficiency of radioactive aerosols. This article suggests a simple parameterization for the gas bubble rising velocity as a function of the volume-equivalent bubble diameter; this parameterization does not require prior knowledge of bubble shape. This is more convenient than previously suggested parameterizations because it is given as a single explicit formula. It is also shown that a bubble shape diagram, which is very similar to the Grace's diagram, can be easily generated using the parameterization suggested in this article. Furthermore, the boundaries among the three bubble shape regimes in the $E_o-R_e$ plane and the condition for the bypass of the spheroidal regime can be delineated directly from the parameterization formula. Therefore, the parameterization suggested in this article appears to be useful not only in easily determining the bubble rising velocity (e.g., in postulated severe accident analysis codes) but also in understanding the trend of bubble shape change due to bubble growth.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권12호
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• pp.2880-2886
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• 2020

A small leak occurring on the surface of a fuel rod due to damage exposes UO₂ to a steam atmosphere. During this time, fission gas trapped inside the fuel rod leaks out, and the gas leakage can be increased due to UO₂ oxidation. Numerous studies have focused on the steam oxidation and its thermodynamic calculation in UO₂. However, the thermodynamic calculation of the UO₂ oxidation in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) environment has not been studied extensively. Moreover, the kinetics of the oxidation of UO₂ pellet also has not been investigated. Therefore, in this study, the thermodynamics of UO₂ oxidation under steam injection due to a damaged fuel rod in a PWR environment is studied. In addition, the diminishing radius of the UO₂ pellet with time in the PWR environment was calculated through an experiment simulating the initial time of steam injection at the puncture.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권11호
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• pp.4049-4061
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• 2022

TRISO-coated particle fuel is widely used in high temperature gas cooled reactors and other advanced reactors. The performance of coated fuel particle is one of the fundamental bases of reactor safety. The failure probability of coated fuel particle should be evaluated and determined through suitable fuel performance models and methods during normal and accident condition. In order to better facilitate the design of coated particle fuel, a new TRISO fuel performance code named FRAT (Fission product Release Analysis Tool) was developed. FRAT is designed to calculate internal gas pressure, mechanical stress and failure probability of a coated fuel particle. In this paper, FRAT was introduced and benchmarked against IAEA CRP-6 benchmark cases for coated particle failure analysis. FRAT's results agree well with benchmark values, showing the correctness and satisfactory applicability. This work helps to provide a foundation for the credible application of FRAT.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권8호
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• pp.2616-2628
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• 2021

The results of effective irradiation swelling in a wide range of burnup levels are numerically obtained for an inert matrix fuel, which are verified with DART model. The fission gas swelling of fuel particles is calculated with a mechanistic model, which depends on the external hydrostatic pressure. Additionally, irradiation and thermal creep effects are included in the inert matrix. The effects of matrix creep strains, external hydrostatic pressure and temperature on the effective irradiation swelling are investigated. The research results indicate that (1) the above effects are coupled with each other; (2) the matrix creep effects at high temperatures should be involved; and (3) ranged from 0 to 300 MPa, a remarkable dependence of external hydrostatic pressure can be found. Furthermore, an explicit multi-variable mathematic model is established for the effective irradiation swelling, as a function of particle volume fraction, temperature, external hydrostatic pressure and fuel particle fission density, which can well reproduce the finite element results. The mathematic model for the current volume fraction of fuel particles can help establish other effective performance models.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.257-266
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• 1999

A simplified statistical methodology is developed in order to both reduce over-conservatism of deterministic methodologies employed for PWR fuel rod internal pressure (RIP) calculation and simplify the complicated calculation procedure of the widely used statistical methodology which employs the response surface method and Monte Carlo simulation. The simplified statistical methodology employs the system moment method with a deterministic approach in determining the maximum variance of RIP The maximum RIP variance is determined with the square sum of each maximum value of a mean RIP value times a RIP sensitivity factor for all input variables considered. This approach makes this simplified statistical methodology much more efficient in the routine reload core design analysis since it eliminates the numerous calculations required for the power history-dependent RIP variance determination. This simplified statistical methodology is shown to be more conservative in generating RIP distribution than the widely used statistical methodology. Comparison of the significances of each input variable to RIP indicates that fission gas release model is the most significant input variable.