• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.1022-1028
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• 2024

A neutronics study of a supercritical CO₂-cooled fast reactor core for nuclear propulsion has been performed in this work. The thermal power of the reactor core is 30 MWth and a ceramic UO₂ fuel can be used to achieve a 20-year lifetime without refueling. In order to make a compact core with inherent safety features, the drum-type reactivity control system and folding-type shutdown system are adopted. In addition, we suggest a cold shutdown system using gadolinium as a spectral shift absorber (SSA) against flooding. Although there is a penalty of U-235 enrichment for the core embedded with the cold shutdown system, it effectively mitigates the increment of reactivity at the flooding of seawater. In this study, the neutronics analyses have been performed by using the continuous energy Monte Carlo Serpent 2 code with the evaluated nuclear data file ENDF/B-VII.1 Library. The supercritical CO₂-cooled fast reactor core is characterized in view of important safety parameters such as the reactivity worth of reactivity control systems, fuel temperature coefficient (FTC), coolant temperature coefficient (CTC), and coolant temperature-density coefficient (CTDC). We can say that the suggested core has inherent safety features and enough flexibility for load-following operation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.134-140
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• 2017

A well-performed core power control to track load changes is crucial in pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power stations. It is challenging to keep the core power stable at the desired value within acceptable error bands for the safety demands of the PWR due to the sensitivity of nuclear reactors. In this paper, a state-space model predictive control (MPC) method was applied to the control of the core power. The model for core power control was based on mathematical models of the reactor core, the MPC model, and quadratic programming (QP). The mathematical models of the reactor core were based on neutron dynamic models, thermal hydraulic models, and reactivity models. The MPC model was presented in state-space model form, and QP was introduced for optimization solution under system constraints. Simulations of the proposed state-space MPC control system in PWR were designed for control performance analysis, and the simulation results manifest the effectiveness and the good performance of the proposed control method for core power control.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.165-169
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• 2018

An assessment for determining N-16 activity concentrations during the operation condition of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission TRIGA Research Reactor was performed employing several governing equations. The radionuclide N-16 is a high energy (6.13 MeV) gamma emitter which is predominately created by the fast neutron interaction with O-16 present in the reactor core water. During reactor operation at different power level, the concentration of N-16 at the reactor bay region may increase causing radiation risk to the reactor operating personnel or the general public. Concerning the safety of the research reactor, the present study deals with the estimation of N-16 activity concentrations in the regions of reactor core, reactor tank, and reactor bay at different reactor power levels under natural convection cooling mode. The estimated N-16 activity concentration values with 500 kW reactor power at the reactor core region was $7.40{\times}10^5Bq/cm^3$ and at the bay region was $3.39{\times}10^5Bq/cm^3$. At 3 MW reactor power with active forced convection cooling mode, the N-16 activity concentration in the decay tank exit water was also determined, and the value was $4.14{\times}10^{-1}Bq/cm^3$.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.157-171
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• 1994

A general approach to the dynamic time-history analysis of the reactor core is presented in this paper as a part of the fuel assembly qualification program. Several detailed core models are set up to reflect the placement of the fuel assemblies within the core shroud. Peak horizontal responses are obtained for each model for the motions induced form earthquake. The dynamic responses such as fuel assembly deflected shapes and spacer grid impact loads are carefully investigated. Also, the sensitivity responses are obtained for the earthquake motions and the fuel assembly non-linear response characteristics are discussed.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.154-166
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• 2015

The in-core instrumentation measures core power distribution and coolant temperature in local regions of the core in pressurized water reactors. The installation types are distinguished by the designs of routing paths that exit either through reactor bottom mounted instrument nozzles or through reactor top mounted instrument nozzles. Although each type has unique advantages, it is generally known that top mounted design is more competitive with respect to emphasizing nuclear safety issues and ability to cope with severe accidents. The international nuclear vendors have provided various types of reactors with top mounted design. Nuclear power reactors in Korea, however, only have been designed to be applicable to the use of bottom mounted design, and it has been pointed out that the capabilities of Korean reactors against severe accidents should be further enhanced. The paper deals with technical issues on reactor internal and external design, in-core instrumentation, support assembly, sealing mechanism with nozzles, handling, and analytical issues in order to establish the ways of development.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.03a
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• pp.214-219
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• 2004

The HANARO, a multi-purpose research reactor of 30 MWth, open-tank-in-pool type, has been under normal operation since its initial criticality in February, 1995. The HANARO is composed of inlet plenum, grid plate, core channel with flow tubes and chimney. The reactor core channel is located at about twelve m (12 m) depth of the reactor pool and cold by the upward flow that the coolant enters the lower inlet of the plenum, rises up through the grid plate and the core channel and exit through the outlet of chimney. A guide tube is extended from the reactor core to the top of the reactor chimney for easily un/loading a target under the reactor normal operation. But active coolant through the core can be Quickly raised up to the top of the chimney through the guide tube by jet flow. This paper is described an analytical analysis to study the flow behavior through the guide tube under reactor normal operation and unloading the target. As results, it was conformed through the analysis results that the flow rate, about fourteen kilogram per second (14 kg/s) suppressed the guide tube jet and met the design cooling flow rate in a circular flow tube, and that the fission moly target cooling flow rate met the minimum flow rate to cool the target.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.1-6
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• 2005

The HANARO, a multi-purpose research reactor of 30 MWth, open-tank-in-pool type, has been under normal operation since its initial criticality in February, 1995. The HANARO is composed af inlet plenum, grid plate, core channel with flow tubes and chimney. The reactor core channel is located at about twelve meters (12 m) depth of the reactor pool and cooled by the upward flow that the coolant enters the lower inlet of the plenum, rises up through the grid plate and the core channel and comes out from the outlet of chimney. A fission moly guide tube is extended from the reactor core to the top of the reactor chimney for easily loading a fission moly target under the reactor normal operation. But active coolant through the core can be quickly raised up to the top of the chimney through the guide tube by jet flow. This paper describes an analytical analysis that is the study of the flow behavior through the guide tube under reactor normal operation and unloading the target. As results, it was conformed through the analysis results that the flow rate, reduced to about fourteen kilogram per second (14 kg/s) from the original flow rate of sixteen point three kilogram per second (16.3 kg/s) did not show the guide tube jet.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.1835-1840
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• 2004

The HANARO, a multi-purpose research reactor of 30 MWth, open-tank-in-pool type, has been under normal operation since its initial criticality in February, 1995. The HANARO is composed of inlet plenum, grid plate, core channel with flow tubes and chimney. The reactor core channel is located at about twelve meters (12 m) depth of the reactor pool and cooled by the upward flow that the coolant enters the lower inlet of the plenum,. rises up through the grid plate and the core channel and comes out from the outlet of chimney. A guide tube is extended from the reactor core to the top of the reactor chimney for easily un/loading a target under the reactor normal operation. But active coolant through the core can be quickly raised up to the top of the chimney through the guide tube by a jet flow. This paper describes an analytical analysis that is the study of the flow behavior through the guide tube under reactor normal operation and unloading the target. As results, it was conformed through the analysis results that the guide jet is suppressed under the top of the chimney after modifying the orifice diameter of 37.5 mm to 31 mm.

• International Journal of Safety
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.7-11
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• 2008

In this paper, a Magnetic Core Reactor (MCR) which forms a part of the DC reactor type three-phase high-Tc superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) has been developed. This SFCL is more economical than other types with three coils since it uses only one high-Tc superconducting (HTS) coil. When DC reactor type three-phase high-Tc SFCL is developed using just one coil, fewer power electronic devices and shorter HTS wire are needed. The SFCL proposed in this paper needs a power-linking device to connect the SFCL to the power system. The design concept for this device was sprang from the fact that the magnetic energy could be changed into the electrical energy and vice versa. Ferromagnetic material is used as a path of magnetic flux. When high-Tc superconducting DC reactor is separated from the power system by using SCRs, this device also limits fault current until the circuit breaker is opened. The device mentioned above was named Magnetic Core Reactor (MCR). MCR was designed to minimize the voltage drop and total losses. Majority of the design parameters was tuned through experiments with the design prototype. In the experiment, the current density of winding conductor was found to be $1.3\;A/mm^2$, voltage drop across MCR was 20 V and total losses on normal state was 1.3 kW.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.7
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• pp.1417-1428
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• 2020

The design of a nuclear reactor core requires basic thermal-hydraulic information concerning the heat transfer regime at which onset of nucleate boiling (ONB) will occur, the pressure drop and flow rate through the reactor core, the temperature and power distributions in the reactor core, the departure from nucleate boiling (DNB), the condition for onset of flow instability (OFI), in addition to, the critical velocity beyond which the fuel elements will collapse. These values depend on coolant velocity, fuel element geometry, inlet temperature, flow direction and water column above the top of the reactor core. Enough safety margins to ONB, DNB and OFI must-emphasized. A heat transfer package is used for calculating convection heat transfer coefficient in single phase turbulent, transition and laminar regimes. The main objective of this paper is to study the possibility of power upgrading of WWR-S research reactor from 2 to 10 MW_th. This study presents a one-dimensional mathematical model (axial direction) for steady-state thermal-hydraulic design and analysis of the upgraded WWR-S reactor in which two types of plate fuel elements are employed. FOR-CONV computer program is developed for the needs of the power upgrading of WWR-S reactor up to 10 MW_th.