• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.443-444
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.33-34
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• 2005

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.9
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• pp.1974-1982
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• 2020

Numerical prediction of fission product plateout and circulating coolant activities under normal operating conditions is crucial in the design of a high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR). The results are used for the maintenance and repair of the components as well as the safety analysis regarding early source terms under loss of coolant accident scenarios. In this work, a new computer code named POSCA (Plate-Out Surface and Circulating Activities) was developed based on a one-dimensional model to evaluate fission product plateout and circulating coolant activities within the primary circuit of a HTGR. The verification and validation of study for the POSCA code was done using available analytical results and two in-pile experiments (i.e., OGL-1 and VAMPYR-1). The results of the POSCA calculations show that POSCA is able to simulate plateout and circulating coolant activities in a HTGR with fast computation and reasonable accuracy.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.372-380
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• 1997

This paper describes experimental investigations of helium-air exchange flows through parti¬tioned opening and two-opening. Such exchange flows may occur following rupture accident of stand pipe in high temperature gas cooled reactor. A test vessel with the two types of small open¬ing on top of test cylinder is used for experiments. An estimation method of mass increment is developed and applied to measure the exchange flow rate. A technique of flow visualization by Mach-Zehnder interferometer is provided to recognize the exchange flows. In the case of exchange flow through the partitioned opening, flow passages of upward flow of the helium and downward flow of the air within the opening are separated by vertical partition, and the two flows interact out of entrance and exit of the opening. Therefore, an experiment of the exchange flow through two-opening is made to investigate effect of the fluids interaction of the partitioned opening sys¬tem. As a result of comparison of the exchange flow rates between the two types of the opening system, it is found that the exchange flow rate of the two-opening system is larger than that of the partitioned opening system due to absence of the effect of fluids interaction. Finally, the fluids interaction between the upward and downward flows through the partitioned opening is found to be an important factor on the helium-air exchange flow.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.1-6
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• 2012

A PHE (Process Heat Exchanger) in a nuclear hydrogen system is a key component required to transfer heat energy of $950^{\circ}C$ generated in a VHTR (Very High Temperature gas cooled Reactor) to the chemical reaction that yields a large quantity of hydrogen. A small-scale PHE prototype made of Hastelloy-X is being tested in a small-scale gas loop at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. Previous research on the high-temperature structural analysis of the small-scale PHE prototype had been performed only using parent material properties. In this study, high-temperature structural analysis using weld properties in weld zone was performed and the analysis results compared with the previous research.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.293-305
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• 2015

In this paper, we suggest the conceptual design of a water-cooled reactor system for a low-pressure inherent heat sink nuclear desalination plant (LIND) that applies the safety-related design concepts of high temperature gas-cooled reactors to a water-cooled reactor for inherent and passive safety features. Through a scoping analysis, we found that the current LIND design satisfied several essential thermal-hydraulic and neutronic design requirements. In a thermal-hydraulic analysis using an analytical method based on the Wooton-Epstein correlation, we checked the possibility of safely removing decay heat through the steel containment even if all the active safety systems failed. In a neutronic analysis using the Monte Carlo N-particle transport code, we estimated a cycle length of approximately 6 years under 200 $MW_{th}$ and 4.5% enrichment. The very long cycle length and simple safety features minimize the burdens from the operation, maintenance, and spent-fuel management, with a positive impact on the economic feasibility. Finally, because a nuclear reactor should not be directly coupled to a desalination system to prevent the leakage of radioactive material into the desalinated water, three types of intermediate systems were studied: a steam producing system, a hot water system, and an organic Rankine cycle system.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.39-44
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• 2015

The VHTR (Very High Temperature gas-cooled nuclear Reactor) has been considered as a major heat source and the most safe generation IV type reactor for mass hydrogen production to prepare for the hydrogen economy era. The VHTR satisfies goals for the GIF (Generation IV International Forum) policy such as sustainablility, economics, reliability and proliferation resistance and physical protection, and safety. As a part of a VHTR economic analysis, we have studied the VHTR construction cost and operation and maintenance cost. However, it is somewhat difficult to expect the ripple effect on the whole industry due to the lack of information about Inter-industries relationship. In many case, the ripple effect are based on experts' knowledge or uncertain qualitative assumptions. As a result, we propose quantitative analysis techniques for ripple effects such as the production inducement effect, added value inducement effect, and employment inducement effect for VHTR 600MWt${\times}$4 modules construction and operation ripple effect based on NOAK (Nth Of A Kind). Because inducement effect values have been published annually, we predict inducement effect's relation function and estimated values including production inducement effect value, added value inducement effect value, and employment inducement effect value using time series and estimated values are verified with published inducement effects' value. This paper presents a new method for the ripple effect and preliminary ripple effect consequence using a time series analysis and inter-industry table. This ripple effect analysis techniques can be applied to effect expectation analysis as well as other type reactor's ripple effect analysis including VHTR for process heat.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.2792-2800
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• 2022

In the core of the WWR-K reactor, a long-term irradiation of tristructural isotopic (TRISO)-coated fuel particles (CFPs) with a UO₂ kernel was carried out under high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR)-like operating conditions. The temperature of this TRISO fuel during irradiation varied in the range of 950-1100 ℃. A fission per initial metal atom (FIMA) of uranium burnup of 9.9% was reached. The release of gaseous fission products was measured in-pile. The release-to-birth ratio (R/B) for the fission product isotopes was calculated. Aspects of fuel safety while achieving deep fuel burnup are important and relevant, including maintaining the integrity of the fuel coatings. The main mechanisms of fuel failure are kernel migration, silicon carbide corrosion by palladium, and gas pressure increase inside the CFP. The formation of gaseous fission products and carbon monoxide leads to an increase in the internal pressure in the CFP, which is a dominant failure mechanism of the coatings under this level of burnup. Irradiated fuel compacts were subjected to electric dissociation to isolate the CFPs from the fuel compacts. In addition, nondestructive methods, such as X-ray radiography and gamma spectrometry, were used. The predicted R/B ratio was evaluated using the fission gas release model developed in the high-temperature test reactor (HTTR) project. In the model, both the through-coatings of failed CFPs and as-fabricated uranium contamination were assumed to be sources of the fission gas. The obtained R/B ratio for gaseous fission products allows the finalization and validation of the model for the release of fission products from the CFPs and fuel compacts. The success of the integrity of TRISO fuel irradiated at approximately 9.9% FIMA was demonstrated. A low fuel failure fraction and R/B ratios indicated good performance and reliability of the studied TRISO fuel.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2007

Hydrogen and electricity are expected to dominate the world energy system in the long term. The world currently consumes about 50 million metric tons of hydrogen per year, with the bulk of it being consumed by the chemical and refining industries. The demand for hydrogen is expected to increase, especially if the U.S. and other countries shift their energy usage towards a hydrogen economy, with hydrogen consumed as an energy commodity by the transportation, residential and commercial sectors. However, there is strong motivation to not use fossil fuels in the future as a feedstock for hydrogen production, because the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is a byproduct and fossil fuel prices are expected to increase significantly. An advanced reactor technology receiving considerable international interest for both electricity and hydrogen production, is the modular helium reactor (MHR), which is a passively safe concept that has evolved from earlier high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) designs. For hydrogen production, this concept is referred to as the H2-MHR. Two different hydrogen production technologies are being investigated for the H2-MHR; an advanced sulfur-iodine (SI) thermochemical water splitting process and high-temperature electrolysis (HTE). This paper describes pre-conceptual design descriptions and economic evaluations of full-scale, nth-of-a-kind SI-Based and HTE-Based H2-MHR plants. Hydrogen production costs for both types of plants are estimated to be approximately $2 per kilogram.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.323-327
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• 2020

In this study, the neutronic calculation to obtain tritium breeding ratio (TBR) in a deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion power reactor using Monte Carlo MCNPX is done. In addition, by using COMSOL software, an efficient cooling system is designed. In the proposed design, it is adequate to enrich up to 40% ⁶Li. Total tritium breeding ratio of 1.12 is achieved. The temperature of helium as coolant gas never exceed 687℃. As regards the tolerable temperature of beryllium (650℃), the design of blanket module is done in the way that beryllium temperature never exceed 600℃. The main feature of this design indicates the temperature of helium coolant is higher than other proposed models for blanket module, therefore power of electricity generation will increase.