• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제40권1호
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• pp.9-20
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• 2008

Since plutonium accounts for 40-50% of the power produced by uranium fuels, spent fuel contains only residual plutonium. Management of this plutonium is one of the aspects influencing the choice of a fuel cycle back-end option: reprocessing, direct disposal or wait-and-see. Different grades and qualities of plutonium exist depending from their specific generation conditions; all are valuable fissile material. Safeguard authorities watch the inventories of civil plutonium, but access to those data is restricted. Independent evaluations have led to an estimated current inventory of 220t plutonium in total (spent fuel, separated civil plutonium and military plutonium). If used as MOX fuel, it would be sufficient to feed all the PWRs and BWRs worldwide during 7 years or to deploy a FBR park corresponding to 150% of today' s installed nuclear capacity worldwide, which could then be exploited for centuries with the current stockpile of depleted and spent uranium. The energy potential of plutonium deteriorates with storage time of spent fuel and of separated plutonium, due to the decay of $^{241}Pu$, the best fissile isotope, into americium, a neutron absorber. The loss of fissile value of plutonium is more pronounced for usage in LWRs than in FBR. However, keeping the current plutonium inventory for an expected future deployment of FBRs is counterproductive. Recycling plutonium reduce the required volume for final disposal in an underground repository and the cost of final disposal. However, the benefits of utilizing an energy resource and of reducing final disposal liabilities are not the only aspects that determine the choice of a back-end policy.

• 한국방사성폐기물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국방사성폐기물학회 2018년도 추계학술논문요약집
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• pp.104-104
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• 2018

Kori Unit 1 is the first permanent shutdown nuclear power plant in Korea and it is on June 18th, 2017. Spent fuel assemblies began to be discharged from the reactor core to the spent fuel pool(SFP) within one week after shutdown of Kori unit 1 and the campaign was completed on June 27th, 2017. The total number of spent nuclear fuel assemblies in SFP of Kori Unit-1 is 485 and their discharging date is different respectively. So, decay heat was evaluated considering the actual enrichment, operation history and cooling time of the spent fuel assemblies stored in SFP of the Kori Unit-1. The code used in the evaluation is the ORIGEN-based CAREPOOL system developed by KHNP. Decay heat calculation of PWR fuel is based on ANSI/ANS 5.1-2005, "Decay heat power in light water reactors" and ISO-10645, "Nuclear energy - Light water reactors - Calculation of the decay heat power in nuclear fuels. Also, we considered the contribution of fission products, actinide nuclides, neutron capture and radioactive material in decay heat calculation. CAREPOOL system calculates the individual and total decay heat of all of the spent fuel assemblies in SFP of Kori Unit-1. As a result, the total decay heat generated in SFP on June 28th, 2017 when the spent fuel assemblies were discharged from the reactor core, is estimated to be about 4,185.8 kw and to be about 609.5 kw on September 1st, 2018. It was also estimated that 119.6 kw is generated in 2050 when it is 32 years after the permanent shutdown. Figure 1 shows the trend of total decay heat in SFP of Kori Unit-1.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제11권4호
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• pp.333-349
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• 2013

최근 국내에서도 원전 부지 내에 건설된 습식저장조의 용량이 곧 포화될 것으로 예상되어 사용후핵연료의 건식저장에 관한 논의가 활발하다. 이 논문에서는 앞으로 다양하게 논의될 저장시스템의 안전성과 함께 장기 건식저장 시 발생하는 사용후핵연료의 특성 및 건전성 변화에 대해 이제까지 국내외에서 연구 보고된 내용들을 면밀히 검토하고 향후 추구해야 할 연구방향을 제시하고자 하였다. 조사 결과 건식저장 기간 동안 진행될 수 있는 여러 피복관 열화기구 중에서 가장 대표적인 기구는 크립 변형과 수소화물에 의한 영향이었으며, 이들이 사용후핵연료 장기 건식저장 시 규제기술기준의 주요 근간을 이루고 있는 것으로 분석되었다. 한편 과거에는 피복관의 크립 변형이 가장 중요한 열화기구로 평가되었으나, 최근의 연구 결과를 통해 수소화물에 의한 영향이 더 심각한 것으로 드러났고 이는 미국의 규제기준과 새로운 온도 범위를 제시하고 있는 일본의 규제기준에서 확인할 수 있었다. 그러나, 아직까지 수소화물에 의한 영향이 발생하는 응력과 온도 조건을 명확히 규명할 수 있는 연구 자료가 충분하지 못하며, 나아가 사용후핵연료의 취급 시 거동에 대한 연구도 지속적으로 수행해야 할 부분으로 드러났다. 따라서 국내 사용후핵연료 특성에 맞는 건식저장조건을 수립하기 위해서는 국내에서도 본격적인 연구를 통해 이들 자료에 대한 충분한 생산과 평가 및 분석이 뒤따라야 할 것으로 판단된다.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.559-570
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• 2023

The aim of this study is to ensure the structural integrity of a canister to be used in a dry storage system currently being developed in Korea. Based on burnup and cooling periods, the canister is designed with 24 bundles of spent nuclear fuel stored inside it. It is a cylindrical structure with a height of 4,890 mm, an internal diameter of 1,708 mm, and an inner length of 4,590 mm. The canister lid is fixed with multiple seals and welds to maintain its confinement boundary to prevent the leakage of radioactive waste. The canister is evaluated under different loads that may be generated under normal, off-normal, and accident conditions, and combinations of these loads are compared against the allowable stress thresholds to assess its structural integrity in accordance with NUREG-2215. The evaluation result shows that the stress intensities applied on the canister under normal, off-normal, and accident conditions are below the allowable stress thresholds, thus confirming its structural integrity.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권7호
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• pp.1563-1570
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• 2017

In order to perform dry interim storage and transportation of the spent-fuel assemblies of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, dual-purpose casks can be utilized. The effectiveness of different neutron-shield materials for the dual-purpose cask was analyzed through a set of calculations carried out using the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code. The dose rate for the dual-purpose cask utilizing the recently developed materials of $epoxy/clay/B_4C$ and $epoxy/clay/B_4C/carbon$ fiber was less than the allowable radiation level of 2 mSv/h at any point and 0.1 mSv/h at 2 m from the external surface of the cask. By utilization of $epoxy/clay/B_4C$ instead of an ethylene glycol/water mixture, the dose rates on the side surface of the cask due to neutron sources and consequent secondary gamma rays will be reduced by 17.5% and 10%, respectively. The overall dose rate in this case will be reduced by 11%.

• 분석과학
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• 제16권6호
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• pp.450-457
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• 2003

사용후핵연료 내 U 및 동위원소 정량분석을 동위원소 희석 질량분석법 (isotope dilution mass spectrometry, IDMS)으로 수행하였다. 시료는 산화우라늄 사용후핵연료 시료를 $HNO_3$(1+1) 또는 이 용액과 14 M $HNO_3-0.05M$ HF 혼합용액으로 용해한 후 막 거르게 ($1.2{\mu}m$)로 여과하여 준비하였다. 시료 및 스파이크를 첨가한 시료 중의 U은 AG lX8 음이온교환 수지관에서 0.1 M HCl 용액으로 용리하였다. 시료 중의 총 U 량과 성분 동위원소 ($^{234}U$, $^{235}U$, $^{236}U$ 및 $^{238}U$)의 조성은 $^{233}U$을 스파이크로 이용하는 동위원소 희석 질량분석법으로 정량하였다. 제조한 U-233 스파이크 용액은 천연 및 감손 U을 이용한 역동위원소 희석 질량분석법 (reverse isotope dilution mass spectrometry, R-IDMS)으로 표정하였다. 동위원소 희석 질량분석법에 의한 핵연료시료 중의 총 U 량 측정결과를 전위차 적정으로 측정한 결과와 비교하였을 때 0.34% 평균 상대오차 범위에서 일치하였다.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제18권spc호
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• pp.63-74
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• 2020

The operational safety assessment is an important part of a safety case for the deep geological repository of spent fuels. It consists of different stages such as the identification of initiating events, event tree analysis, fault tree analysis, and evaluation of exposure doses to the public and radiation workers. This study develops a probabilistic safety assessment method for the operational safety assessment and establishes an assessment framework. For the event and fault tree analyses, we propose the advanced information management system for probabilistic safety assessment (AIMS-PSA Manager). In addition, we propose the Radiological Safety Analysis Computer (RSAC) program to evaluate exposure doses to the public and radiation workers. Furthermore, we check the applicability of the assessment framework with respect to drop accidents of a spent fuel assembly arising out of crane failure, at the surface facility of the KRS⁺ (KAERI Reference disposal System for SNFs). The methods and tools established through this study can be used for the development of a safety case for the KRS⁺ system as well as for the design modification and the operational safety assessment of the KRS⁺ system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.48-55
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• 1989

본 논고에서는 국내의 PWR 및 CANDU 사용후 핵연료로부터 발생하는 붕괴열의 장기적인 거동을 보다 손쉽게 분석하기 위하여 붕귀열을 추정할 수 있는 간단한 근사식을 도출하였다. 근사식의 장기적인 붕괴열 추정에서 ORIGEN 2코드 결과와의 차이를 줄이고 중요한 변수 조건하에서도 붕괴열을 추정할 수 있도록 하기 위하여 민감도 분석을 수행하였다. 그 결과로서 얻어진 근사식은 사용후 핵연료의 이력자료중 중요변수인 연도를 포함함으로써 3~500년정도의 냉각시간 범위내에서는 임의의 연소도를 가진 사용후 핵연료의 붕괴열이라도 추정할 수 있게 되었다. 그리고 대표적으로 30, 37 및 40 GWD/MTU등의 연소도를 갖는 사용후 핵연료의 붕괴열 추정에 있어서는 1년부터 $10^{5}$ 년까지의 냉각시간에 따라 ORIGEN2 ,코드의 결과와 $\pm$10%이내의 차이를 보이고 있어 사용후 핵연료 관리를 위한 관련시설의 열적설계 및 평가 등과 같은 공학적 목적에 유용하게 사용될 수 있을 것이다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제48권4호
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• pp.997-1001
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• 2016

Conductive ceramics are being developed to replace current Pt anodes in the electrolytic reduction of spent oxide fuels in pyroprocessing. While several conductive ceramics have shown promising electrochemical properties in small-scale experiments, their long-term stabilities have not yet been investigated. In this study, the chemical stability of conductive $La_{0.33}Sr_{0.67}MnO_3$ in $LiCl-Li_2O$ molten salt at $650^{\circ}C$ was investigated to examine its feasibility as an anode material. Dissolution of Sr at the anode surface led to structural collapse, thereby indicating that the lifetime of the $La_{0.33}Sr_{0.67}MnO_3$ anode is limited. The dissolution rate of Sr is likely to be influenced by the local environment around Sr in the perovskite framework.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제46권4호
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• pp.547-556
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• 2014

Korea expects a shortage in storage capacity for spent fuels at reactor sites. Therefore, a need for more metal and/or concrete casks for storage systems is anticipated for either the reactor site or away from the reactor for interim storage. For the purpose of interim storage and transportation, a dual purpose metal cask that can load 21 spent fuel assemblies is being developed by Korea Radioactive Waste Management Corporation (KRMC) in Korea. At first the gamma and neutron flux for the design basis fuel were determined assuming in-core environment (the temperature, pressure, etc. of the moderator, boron, cladding, $UO_2$ pellets) in which the design basis fuel is loaded, as input data. The evaluation simulated burnup up to 45,000 MWD/MTU and decay during ten years of cooling using the SAS2H/OGIGEN-S module of the SCALE5.1 system. The results from the source term evaluation were used as input data for the final shielding evaluation utilizing the MCNP Code, which yielded the effective dose rate. The design of the cask is based on the safety requirements for normal storage conditions under 10 CFR Part 72. A radiation shielding analysis of the metal storage cask optimized for loading 21 design basis fuels was performed for two cases; one for a single cask and the other for a $2{\times}10$ cask array. For the single cask, dose rates at the external surface of the metal cask, 1m and 2m away from the cask surface, were evaluated. For the $2{\times}10$ cask array, dose rates at the center point of the array and at the center of the casks' height were evaluated. The results of the shielding analysis for the single cask show that dose rates were considerably higher at the lower side (from the bottom of the cask to the bottom of the neutron shielding) of the cask, at over 2mSv/hr at the external surface of the cask. However, this is not considered to be a significant issue since additional shielding will be installed at the storage facility. The shielding analysis results for the $2{\times}10$ cask array showed exponential decrease with distance off the sources. The controlled area boundary was calculated to be approximately 280m from the array, with a dose rate of 25mrem/yr. Actual dose rates within the controlled area boundary will be lower than 25mrem/yr, due to the decay of radioactivity of spent fuel in storage.