• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한기계학회 2001년도 춘계학술대회논문집D
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• pp.821-827
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• 2001

As one of the advanced design features of the Korea next generation reactor, direct vessel injection (DVI) system is being considered instead of conventional cold leg injection (CLl) system. It is known that the DVI system greatly enhances the reliability of the emergency core cooling (ECC) system. However, there is still a dispute on its performance in terms of water delivery to the reactor core during the reflood period of a large-break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). Thus, experimental validation is under progress. In this paper, a new scaling method, using time and velocity reduced linear scaling law, is suggested for the design of a scaled-down experimental facility to investigate the direct ECC bypass phenomena in PWR downcomer.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 1998년도 춘계학술발표회논문집(1)
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• pp.590-595
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• 1998

차세대 원자로(KNGR : Korea Next Generation Reactor)에는 새로운 안전개념으로서 피동형 안전주입탱크(Safety Injection Tank. SIT)의 도입을 고려하고 있는데, 이러한 피동형 유량조절기능은 안전주입탱크내의 유체기구(Fluidic device)인 볼텍스챔버(vortex chamber)에 의해 이루어진다. 볼텍스챔버는 내부에서 발생되는 와류강도에 따라 유동저항의 강도가 달라짐을 이용하여 유량을 피동적으로 조절할 수 있는 유체기구이다. 본 연구에서는 볼텍스챔버의 유동특성을 관찰하기 위하여 소규모 실험장치를 구축하고, 이를 이용하여 실험을 수행하였다. 본 연구는 두 단계로 수행되었다. 제1단계 실험에서는 볼텍스챔버의 기하학적 특성이 안전주입탱크의 안전주입수 방출특성에 미치는 영향에 대한 거시적 관점에서의 연구로서. 볼텍스챔버의 기하학적 변수(유입구 및 방출구의 직경)가 안전주입수의 방출과정에서 발생되는 SIT 내의수위 거동, 안전주입수의 방출유량 특성등에 미치는 영향에 대해 중점적으로 고찰하였다 제2단계 실험에서는 1단계 실험에서 관찰된 안전주입탱크의 여러 가지 방출특성과 볼텍스챔버 내부 유동장의 유동특성과의 관련성을 규명하기 위해 PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry)를 이용하여 볼텍스챔버의 기하학적 변수에 따른 유동장 내부의 국소 유속분포를 측정하였다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.395-409
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• 2000

Parametric studies were performed to assess the sensitivity in determining the maximum in-vessel heat removal capability from the core material relocated into the lower plenum of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV）during a core melt accident. A fraction of the sensible heat can be removed during the molten jet delivery from the core to the lower plenum, while the remaining sensible heat and the decay heat can be transported by rather complex mechanisms of the counter-current flow limitation (CCFL) and the critical heat flux (CHF）through the irregular, hemispherical gap that may be formed between the freezing oxidic debris and the overheated metallic RPV wall. It is shown that under the pressurized condition of 10MPa with the sensible heat loss being 50% for the reactors considered in this study, i.e. TMI-2, KORI-2 like, YGN-3&4 like and KNGR like reactors, the heat removal through the gap cooling mechanism was capable of ensuring the RPV integrity as much as 30% to 40% of the total core mass was relocated to the lower plenum. The sensitivity analysis indicated that the cooling rate of debris coupled with the sensible heat loss was a significant factor The newly proposed heat removal capability map (HRCM) clearly displays the critical factors in estimating the maximum heat removal from the debris in the lower plenum. This map can be used as a first-principle engineering tool to assess the RPV thermal integrity during a core melt accident. The predictive model also provided ith a reasonable explanation for the non-failure of the test vessel in the LAVA experiments performed at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), which apparently indicated a cooling effect of water ingression through the debris-to-vessel gap and the intra-debris pores and crevices.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.91-100
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• 2005

Kyung-hee Thorium Fuel (KTF), a heterogeneous thorium-based seed and blanket design concept for pressurized light water reactors, is being studied as an alternative to enhance proliferation resistance and fuel cycle economics of PWRs. The proliferation resistance characteristics of the KTF assembly design were evaluated through parametric studies using neutronic performance indices such as Bare Critical Mass (BCM), Spontaneous Neutron Source rate (SNS), Thermal Generation rate (TG), and Radio-Toxicity. Also, Fissile Economic Index (FEI), a new index for gauging fuel cycle economy, was suggested and applied to optimize the KTF design. A core loaded with optimized KTF assemblies with a seed-to-blanket ratio of 1: 1 was tested at the Korea Next Generation Reactor (KNGR), ARP-1400. Core design characteristics for cycle length, power distribution, and power peaking were evaluated by HELIOS and MASTER code systems for nine reload cycles. The core calculation results show that the KTF assembly design has nearly the same neutronic performance as those of a conventional $UO_2$ fuel assembly. However, the power peaking factor is relatively higher than that of conventional PWRs as the maximum Fq is 2.69 at the M$9^{th}$ equilibrium cycle while the design limit is 2.58. In order to assess the economic potential of a heterogeneous thorium fuel core, the front-end fuel cycle costs as well as the spent fuel disposal costs were compared with those of a reference PWR fueled with $UO_2$. In the case of comprising back-end fuel cycle cost, the fuel cycle cost of APR-1400 with a KTF assembly is 4.99 mills/KWe-yr, which is lower than that (5.23 mills/KWe-yr) of a conventional PWR. Proliferation resistance potential, BCM, SNS, and TG of a heterogeneous thorium-fueled core are much higher than those of the $UO_2$ core. The once-through fuel cycle application of heterogeneous thorium fuel assemblies demonstrated good competitiveness relative to $UO_2$ in terms of economics.

• 한국방사성폐기물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국방사성폐기물학회 2004년도 Proceedings of the 4th Korea-China Joint Workshop on Nuclear Waste Management
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• pp.140-142
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• 2004

Since the April of 1978, Korea has strongly relied on the nuclear energy for electricity generation. As of today, eighteen nuclear power plants are in operation and ten are to be inaugurated by 2015. The installed nuclear capacity is 15, 716 MW as of the end of 2002, representing 29.3% of the nation's total installed capacity. The nuclear share in electricity remains around 38.9 at the end of 2002, reaching at the level of 119 billion kWh's. New power reactors, KSNP's (Korea Standard Nuclear Power Plant) are fully based on the domestic technologies. More advanced reactors such as KNGR (Korea Next Generation Reactor) will be commercialized soon. Even though the front end nuclear cycle enjoys one of the best positions in the world, there have been some chronical problems in the back end fuel cycle. That's the one of the reason why we need more active R&D programs in Korea and active international and regional cooperation in this area. The everlasting NIMBY problem hinders the implementation of the nation's radioactive waste management program. We expect that the storage capacity for the LILW(Low and Intermediate Level radioactive Waste) will be dried out soon. The situation for the spent fuel storage is also not so favorable too. The storage pools for spent fuel are being filled rapidly so that in 2008, some AR pools cannot accommodate any more new spent nuclear fuels. The Korean Government in strong association with utilities and national academic and R&D institutes have tried its best effort to secure the site for a LILW repository and a AFR site. Finally, one local community, Buan in Jeonbook Province, submitted the petition for the site. At the end of the last July, the Government announced that the Wido, a small island in Buan, is suitable for the national complex site. The special force team headed by Dr IS Chang, president of KAERI teamed with Government officials and many prominent scholars and journalists agreed that by the evidences from the preliminary site investigation, they could not find any reason for rejecting the local community's offer.