• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.56-66
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• 2005

In response to the increasing emphasis being placed on the importance of international cooperation as part of global efforts to cope with growing non proliferation, and security, concerns in the nuclear field, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, appointed an international group of experts to consider possible multilateral approaches to the nuclear fuel cycle. The mandate of the Expert Group was three fold: ${\bullet}$ To identify and provide an analysis of issues and options relevant to multilateral approaches to the front and back ends of the nuclear fuel cycle; ${\bullet}$ To provide an overview of the policy, legal, security, economic, institutional and technological incentives and disincentives for cooperation in multilateral arrangements for the front and back ends of the nuclear fuel cycle; and ${\bullet}$ To provide a brief review of the historical and current experiences and analyses relating to multilateral fuel cycle arrangements relevant to the work of the Expert Group. The overall purpose was to assess MNAs in the framework of a double objective: strengthening the international nuclear non proliferation regime and making the peaceful uses of nuclear energy more economical and attractive. The Group identifies options for MNAs - options in terms of policy, institutional and legal factors - for those parts of the nuclear fuel cycle of greatest sensitivity from the point of view of proliferation risk. It also reflects the Groups deliberations on the corresponding benefits and disadvantages (pros and cons) of the various options and approaches. Although the Expert Group was able to agree to forward the resulting report to the Director General, it is important to note that the report does not reflect agreement by all of the experts on any of the options, nor a consensus assessment of their respective value. It is intended only to present options for MNAs, and to reflect on the range of considerations which could impact on the desirability and feasibility of those options.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.102-106
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• 2015

The performance of Li-B alloy as anode for molten salt electrolysis was firstly investigated. The crystalline phase of the prepared Li-B alloy was identified as $Li_7B_6$. The potential profile of Li-B alloy anode was monitored during the electrodeposition of $Nd^{3+}$ onto an LCC (liquid cadmium cathode) in molten LiCl-KCl salt at $500^{\circ}C$. The potential of Li-B alloy was increased from -2.0 V to -1.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl by increasing the applied current from 10 to $50mA{\cdot}cm^{-2}$. It was found that not only the anodic dissolution of Li to $Li^+$ but also the dissolution of the atomic lithium ($Li^0$) into the LiCl-KCl eutectic salt was observed, following the concomitant reduction of $Nd^{3+}$ by the $Li^0$ in Li-B alloy. It was expected that the direct reduction could be restrained by maintaining the anode potential higher that the deposition potential of neodymium.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.205-210
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• 2013

Cycle-to-cycle variation has long been recognized as limiting the range of operating conditions of spark ignition engines, in particular, under lean and highly diluted operation conditions. At a part load, some of the cycles tend to knock, while others may have incomplete combustion by the time the exhaust valve opens. An experimental study has been performed in order to evaluate the relative contribution of several relevant parameters on the cyclic variability in spark ignition engines. In general, the stability of engine operation is improved with fuel injector according to the optimal injection timing, but the stability of engine operation at idle is not improved compared with a practical gasoline engine. In this study, we investigated the relationship of the effect of operating conditions for the stability at low speed and load.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.7
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• pp.2625-2632
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• 2024

In this study, we investigated the possibility of employing accident tolerant fuel (ATF) in VVER-1200/V491 assembly without gadolinium-containing fuel rods using the Monte Carlo code Serpent 1.1.7 with ENDF/B-VII cross-section library. The analysis involves assembly design with reflective boundary conditions. To compare the neutronic performances, U-5Mo, U-7.5Mo, U-10Mo, and U-15Mo fuels were chosen in addition to ordinary UO₂ fuel. The concentration of ¹³⁵Xe, ¹⁴⁹Sm, fissile and fertile isotopes with burnup, reactivity feedback with fuel temperature variation, and β eff values were calculated. The results indicate that the fuel cycle length increases by 54.27% for U-5Mo, 32.6% for U-7.5Mo, and 13.8% for U-10Mo, while it decreases by 16.4% for U-15Mo fuel. Additionally, the effect of ⁹⁵Mo content in natural Mo was investigated by reducing the ⁹⁵Mo concentration. According to the results, each proposed fuel's fuel cycle length extended when the depletion ratio of ⁹⁵Mo increased. Additionally, the calculations for reactivity feedback guarantee safe operating conditions for all U-xMo fuels.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.451-458
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to compare the economics between a diesel propulsion vessel and a LNG fuel propulsion vessel through the analysis of the present value using the LCC(Life Cycle Cost) method. This study is also to judge the economics for long-term operation of a LNG fuel propulsion vessel as a result of analysis about the equivalent uniform annual cost. In particular, LCC method was strengthened by sensitivity analysis based on combined interest rate which is considering discount rate and inflation rate simultaneously.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2004.02a
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• pp.150-164
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• 2004

According to the Korean long-term plan for nuclear technology development, KAERI is conducting a few R&D projects related to the proliferation-resistant back-end fuel cycle. The R&D activities for the back-end fuel cycle are reviewed in this work, especially focusing on the study of the partitioning and transmutation(P&T) of long-lived radionuclides. The P&T study is currently being carried out in order to develop key technologies in the areas of partitioning and transmutation. The partitioning study is based on the development of pyroprocessing such as electrorefining and electrowinning because they can be adopted as proliferation-resistant technologies in the fuel cycle. In this study, various behaviors of the electrodeposition of uranium and rare earth elements in the LiCl-KCl electrorefining system have been examined through fundamental experimental work. As for the transmutation system, KAERI is studying the HYPER (HYbrid Power Extraction Reactor), a kind of subcritical reactor which will be connected with a proton accelerator. Up to now, a conceptual study has been carried out for the major elemental systems of the subcritical reactor such as core, transuranic fuel, long-lived fission product target, and the Pb-Bi cooling system, etc. In order to enhance the transmutation efficiency of the transuranic elements as well as to strengthen the reactor safety, the reactor core was optimized by determining its most suitable subcriticality, the ratio of height/diameter, and by introducing the concepts of optimum core configuration with a transuranic enrichment as well as a scattered reloading of the fuel assemblies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.73-73
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• 2009

There are many factors to evaluate nuclear fuel cycle such as safety, public acceptance, economics, etc.. Transparency, proliferation, environment issues, public acceptance and safety are essential to expansion of nuclear industry and proliferation resistance is one of key constraints in the deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems. Proliferation resistance is being considered as one of the most important factors in assessing advanced and innovative nuclear systems. IAEA defmes proliferation resistance as characteristics of nuclear energy system that impedes the diversion or undeclared production of nuclear material [1]. Barriers to proliferation is consist of intrinsic and extrinsic barriers(institutional measures). Intrinsic barriers are characterized in material barriers and technical barriers in general. Material barriers is intrinsic, or inherent, qualities of materials that reduce the inherent desirability or attractiveness of the material as an explosive. Isotopic, chemical, radiological, mass and bulk, detectability barriers are considered as material barriers attributes [2]. Proliferation resistance is examined for several nuclear fuel cycles based on previous study which is focused on the intrinsic barriers [3-4]. Pyroprocessing and DUPIC are considered as reprocessing technologies in Korea and the PWR direct disposal is considered. Comparative assessments of the proliferation attributes and merits of different fuel cycle systems will be performed and the optimal back-end fuel cycle and strategy will be proposed.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.72-78
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• 2018

With growing concerns over air pollutions attributed to shipping activities, the international maritime organization has enacted a series of stringent regulations. In particular, MARPOL Annex IV Reg. 16 requires sulfur contents from exhaust gases of marine engines to be progressively reduced. To comply with this regulation, three feasible options have been introduced: using LNG as a marine fuel, using heavy fuel oil with the scrubber system, and using the marine gas oil (a type of low sulfur fuel oil). For the objectives of this paper, the holistic environmental impacts pertinent to these options were investigated and compared in ways that the flows of energy and emission were tracked and quantified through the life cycle of the ship. Research findings obtained from a case study with a large bulk carrier showed that the use of the scrubber system to purify heavy fuel oil would produce relatively fewer amounts of emissions attributing to global warming than other two options. On the other than, the use of LNG would be the way to operate the ship in a cleaner way in terms of reducing the acidification, eutrophication, and photochemical effects. Throughout the analysis, the excellence of life cycle assessment was proven to shift the environmental impact of marine systems from the short-term view to the long-term one.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.351-359
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• 2016

The Korean Prototype Gen-IV sodium-cooled fast reactor (PGSFR) is supposed to be loaded with a relatively-costly low-enriched U fuel, while its envisaged transuranic fuels are not available for transmutation. In this work, the U-enrichment reduction by improving the neutron economy is pursued to save the fuel cost. To improve the neutron economy of the core, a new reflector material, PbO, has been introduced to replace the conventional HT9 reflector in the current PGSFR core. Two types of PbO reflectors are considered: one is the conventional pin-type and the other one is an inverted configuration. The inverted PbO reflector design is intended to maximize the PbO volume fraction in the reflector assembly. In addition, the core radial configuration is also modified to maximize the performance of the PbO reflector. For the baseline PGSFR core with several reflector options, the U enrichment requirement has been analyzed and the fuel depletion analysis is performed to derive the equilibrium cycle parameters. The linear reactivity model is used to determine the equilibrium cycle performances of the core. Impacts of the new PbO reflectors are characterized in terms of the cycle length, neutron leakage, radial power distribution, and operational fuel cost.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.82-89
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• 2006

The redox behaviors of anode-supported flat tube for solid oxide fuel cell has been studied. The mass change of the extruded NiO/YSZ anode flat tube during redox cycling was examined by thermogravimetric analysis(TGA). The result of TGA was shown a rapidly mass change in the range of $455\;-\;670^{\circ}C$ and the reoxidation of the NiO/YSZ anode was almost completed at $750^{\circ}C$. The starting temperature of reoxidation and the maximum temperature of oxidation rate decreased with increasing the reoxidation cycle, which is attributed to the increased porosity caused by volume change. Bending strengths of the NiO/YSZ anode after redox cycling were 96 - 80 MPa and the bending strength decreased slightly with increasing the redox cycle. On the other hand, the bending strength of the NiO/YSZ anode with electrolyte showed 130 MPa after first redox cycling but decreased rapidly with increasing the redox cycle. From the results of the bending test and the microstructure observation, we conclude that the crack initiation of the electrolyte-coated NiO/YSZ anode was induced easily at interface of electrolyte/anode tube and propagated cross the electrolyte.