• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.317-328
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• 2011

Pyroprocessing technology was developed in the beginning for metal fuel treatment in the US in the 1960s. The conventional aqueous process, such as PUREX, is not appropriate for treating metal fuel. Pyroprocessing technology has advantages over the aqueous process: less proliferation risk, treatment of spent fuel with relatively high heat and radioactivity, compact equipment, etc. The addition of an oxide reduction process to the pyroprocessing metal fuel treatment enables handling of oxide spent fuel, which draws a potential option for the management of spent fuel from the PWR. In this context, KAERI has been developing pyroprocessing technology to handle the oxide spent fuel since the 1990s. This paper describes the current status of pyroprocessing technology development at KAERI from the head-end process to the waste treatment. A unit process with various scales has been tested to produce the design data associated with the scale up. A performance test of unit processes integration will be conducted at the PRIDE facility, which will be constructed by early 2012. The PRIDE facility incorporates the unit processes all together in a cell with an Ar environment. The purpose of PRIDE is to test the processes for unit process performance, operability by remote equipment, the integrity of the unit processes, process monitoring, Ar environment system operation, and safeguards related activities. The test of PRIDE will be promising for further pyroprocessing technology development.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.21-36
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• 2008

High bum-up fuel technology has been developed through a national R&D program, which covers key technology areas such as claddings, $UO_2$ pellets, spacer grids, performance code, and fuel assembly tests. New cladding alloys were developed through alloy designs, tube fabrication, out-of-pile test and in-reactor test. The new Zr-Nb tubes are found to be much better in their corrosion resistance and creep strength than the Zircaloy-4 tube, owing to an optimized composition and heat treatment of the new Zr-Nb alloys. A new fabrication technology for large grain $UO_2$ pellets was developed using various uranium oxide seeds and a micro-doping of Al. The uranium oxide seeds, which were added to $UO_2$ powder, were prepared by oxidizing and heat-treating scrap $UO_2$ pellets. A $UO_2$ pellet containing tungsten channels was fabricated for a thermal conductivity enhancement. For the fuel performance analysis, new high burnup models were developed and implemented in a code. This code was verified by an international database and our own database. The developed spacer grid has two features of contoured contact spring and hybrid mixing vanes. Mechanical and hydraulic tests showed that the spacer grid is superior in its rodsupporting, wear resistance and CHF performance. Finally, fuel assembly test technology was also developed. Facilities for mechanical and thermal hydraulic tests were constructed and are now in operation. Several achievements are to be utilized soon by the Korea Nuclear Fuel and thereby contribute to the economy and safety of PWR fuel in Korea

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.178-187
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• 2021

Dual-cooled annular fuel allows a significant increase in power density while maintaining or improving safety margins. However, the dual-cooled design brings much higher Zircaloy charge in reactor core, which could cause a great threaten of hydrogen explosion during severe accidents. Hence, an innovative fuel combined dual-cooled annular geometry and SiC cladding was proposed for the first time in this study. Capabilities of fuel design and behavior simulation were developed for this new fuel by the upgrade of FROBA-ANNULAR code. Considering characteristics of both SiC cladding and dual-cooled annular geometry, the basic fuel design was proposed and preliminary proved to be feasible. After that, a design optimization study was conducted, and the optimal values of as-fabricated plenum pressure and gas gap sizes were obtained. Finally, the performance simulation of the new fuel was carried out with the full consideration of realistic operation conditions. Results indicate that in addition to possessing advantages of both dual-cooled annular fuel and accident tolerant cladding at the same time, this innovative fuel could overcome the brittle failure issue of SiC induced by pellet-cladding interaction.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.136-147
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• 2015

Dead-ended operation of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell(PEMFC) provides the simplification of fuel cell systems to reduce fuel consumption and weight of fuel cell. However, the water accumulation within the channel prohibits a uniform supply of fuel. Optimization of the purge strategy is required to increase the fuel cell efficiency since fuel and water are removed during the purge process. In this study, we investigated the average voltage output which depends on two interrelated conditions, namely, the supply gas pressure, purging valve open time. In addition, flow visualization was performed to better understand the water build-up on the anode side and cathode side of PEMFC in terms of a variety of the current density. We analyzed the correlation between the purge condition and water flooding.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.230-236
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• 2013

In this study, successive coating and co-sintering techniques have been used to fabricate LSM/GDC based cathode supported direct carbon fuel cells. The porous LSM/GDC cathode substrate, dense, thin and crack free GDC and ScSZ layers as bi-layer electrolyte, and a porous Ni/ScSZ anode layer was obtained by co-firing at $1400^{\circ}C$. The porous structure of LSM/GDC cathode substrate, after sintering at $1400^{\circ}C$, was obtained due to the presence of GDC phase, which inhibits sintering of LSM because of its higher sintering temperature. The electrochemical characterization of assembled cell was carried out with air as an oxidant and carbon particles in molten carbonate as fuel. The measured open circuit voltages (OCVs) were obtained to be more than 0.99 V, independent of testing temperature. The peak power densities were 116, 195 and $225mWcm^{-2}$ at 750, 800 and $850^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.815-824
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• 2016

The fuel assembly for pressurized water reactor (PWR) consists of fuel rod bundle, spacer grid and bottom/top end fittings. The cooling water in high pressure and temperature is introduced in lower plenum of reactor core and directed to upper plenum through the subchannel which is formed between the fuel rods. The main thermal-hydraulic performance parameters for the PWR fuel are pressure drop and critical heat flux in normal operating condition, and quenching time in accident condition. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has been developing an advanced PWR fuel, dual-cooled annular fuel and accident tolerant fuel for the enhancement of fuel performance and the localization. For the key thermal-hydraulic technology development of PWR fuel, the KAERI LWR fuel team has conducted the experiments for pressure drop, turbulent flow mixing and heat transfer, critical heat flux(CHF) and quenching. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was also performed to predict flow and heat transfer in fuel assembly including the spent fuel assembly in dry cask for interim repository. In addition, the research cooperation with university and nuclear fuel company was also carried out to develop a basic thermal-hydraulic technology and the commercialization.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.921-928
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• 2013

A future nuclear energy system is being developed at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), the system involves a Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR) linked with the pyro-process. The pyro-process produces a source material to fabricate a SFR fuel rod. Therefore, an isotopic fissile content assay is very important for fuel rod safety and SFR economics. A new technology for an analysis of isotopic fissile content has been proposed using a lead slowing down spectrometer (LSDS). The new technology has several features for a fissile analysis from spent fuel: direct isotopic fissile assay, no background interference, and no requirement from burnup history information. Several calculations were done on the designed spectrometer geometry: detection sensitivity, neutron energy spectrum analysis, neutron fission characteristics, self shielding analysis, and neutron production mechanism. The spectrum was well organized even at low neutron energy and the threshold fission chamber was a proper choice to get prompt fast fission neutrons. The characteristic fission signature was obtained in slowing down neutron energy from each fissile isotope. Another application of LSDS is for an optimum design of the spent fuel storage, maximization of the burnup credit and provision of the burnup code correction factor. Additionally, an isotopic fissile content assay will contribute to an increase in transparency and credibility for the utilization of spent fuel nuclear material, as internationally demanded.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.12
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• pp.937-944
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• 2011

Studies have been carried out in order to reduce fuel-cladding chemical interaction (FCCI) behavior of metallic fuel in sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFR) using an electroplating technique. A $20{\mu}m$ thick Cr layer has been plated by the electrochemical method in the Sargent bath over the HT9 (12Cr-1Mo) clad material and diffusion couple tests of the U-10Zr metallic fuel as well as the rare earth alloy (70Ce-29La) have been conducted. The results show that the Cr plating can prevent FCCI behavior along the fuel-clad interface. However, cracks developed through the thickness during plating, which resulted in the migration of some fuel constituents. Variation of bath temperature, application of pulse current, and post heat treatment have been conducted to control such cracks. We found out that some conditions like the pulse current and the post heat treatment enhanced the layer property by reducing the internal cracks and improving the diffusion couple test.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.303-311
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• 2019

Reversible solid oxide fuel cell (RSOFC) has become a prospective device for energy storage and hydrogen production. Many studies have been conducted around the world focusing on system efficiency improvement and realization. The system should have not only high efficiency but also a certain level of simplicity for stable operation. External waste steam utilization was proved to remarkably increase the efficiency at solid oxide electrolysis system. In this study, RSOFC system coupled with waste steam was proposed and optimized in term of simplicity and efficiency. Ejector for fuel recirculation is selected due to its simple design and high stability. Three system configurations using ejector for fuel recirculation were investigated for performance of design condition. In parametric study, the system efficiencies at different current density were analyzed. The system configurations were simulated using validated lumped model in EBSILON(R) program. The system components, balance of plants, were designed to work in both electrolysis and fuel cell modes, and their off-design characteristics were taken into account. The base case calculation shows that, the system with suction pump results in slightly lower efficiency but stack can be operated more stable with same inlet pressure of fuel and air electrode.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.23-28
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• 2007

Wood fuel must be dried before combustion to minimize the energy loss. Sawdust of Japanese red pine was dried in a direct contact thermal screw dryer to investigate the drying characteristics of sawdust as a raw material for bio-fuel. Average drying rate and energy efficiency was 1.4%/min and 69.23% at $100^{\circ}C$, respectively, and those at $120^{\circ}C$ was 2.1%/min and 71.03%, respectively.