• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.637-643
• /
• 2022

Uranium and plutonium are required to be accounted in spent fuel head-end and major recovery area in pyro-process for safeguards purpose. The possibility of neutron resonance technique, as a nondestructive analysis, was simulated on isotopic fissile analysis for large scale process. Neutron resonance technique has advantage to distinguish uranium from plutonium directly in mixture. Simulation was performed on U235 and Pu239 assay in spent fuel and for scoping examination of assembly type. The resonance energies were determined for U235 and Pu239. The linearity in the neutron transmission was examined for the selected resonance energies. In addition, the limit for detection was examined by changing sample density, thickness and content for actual application. Several factors were proposed for neutron production and the moderated neutron source was simulated for effective and efficient transmission measurement. From the simulation results, neutron resonance technique is promising to analyze U235 and Pu239 for spent fuel assembly. An accurate fissile assay will contribute to an increased safeguards for the pyro-processing system and international credibility on the reuse of fissile materials in the fuel cycle.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.2
• /
• pp.408-420
• /
• 2023

Beryllium oxide (BeO) is being re-emphasized and utilized in Micro Modular Reactors (MMR) because of its prominent nuclear and high temperature properties in recent years. The implications of the research about effects of neutron irradiation on the microstructure and properties of BeO are significant. This article comprehensively reviews the effects of neutron irradiation on BeO and proposes the maximum permissible neutron doses at different temperatures for BeO without cracks in appearance according to the data in the previous literature. This maximum permissible neutron dose value has important reference significance for the experimental study of BeO. The effects of neutron irradiation on the thermal conductivity and flexural strength of BeO are also discussed. In addition, microstructure evolution of irradiated BeO during post-irradiation annealing is summarized. This review article has important implications for the application of BeO in MMR.

• Journal of IKEEE
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.61-67
• /
• 2016

In this paper, a hardware design method is proposed for high speed high precision neutron radiation measurements. Our system is fabricated to use a high performance A/D Converter for digital data conversion of high precision and high speed analog signals. Using a neutron sensor, incident neutron radiation particles are detected; a precision microcurrent measurement module is also included: this module allows for more precise and rapid neutron radiation measurement design. The high speed high precision neutron measurement hardware system is composed of the neutron sensor, variable high voltage generator, microcurrent precision measurement component, embedded system, and display screen. The neutron sensor detects neutron radiation using high density polyethylene. The variable high voltage generator functions as a 0 ~ 2KV variable high voltage generator that is robust against heat and noise; this generator allows the neutron sensor to perform normally. The microcurrent precision measurement component employs a high performance A/D Converter to precisely and swiftly measure the high precision high speed microcurrent signal from the neutron sensor and to convert this analog signal into a digital one. The embedded system component performs multiple functions including neutron radiation measurement for high speed high precision neutron measurements, variable high voltage generator control, wired and wireless communications control, and data recording. Experiments using the proposed high speed high precision neutron measurement hardware shows that the hardware exhibits superior performance compared to that of conventional equipment with regard to measurement uncertainty, neutron measurement rate, accuracy, and neutron measurement range.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.27 no.12
• /
• pp.2061-2063
• /
• 2006

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.633-646
• /
• 2020

Imaging and scattering techniques using thermal neutrons allow to analyze complex specimens in scientific and industrial researches. Owing to this advantage, there have been a considerable demand for neutron facilities in the industrial sector. Among neutron sources, an accelerator driven compact neutron source is the only one that can satisfy the various requirements-construction budget, facility size, and required neutron flux-of industrial applications. In this paper, a target, moderator, and reflector (TMR) system for low-energy proton-accelerator driven compact thermal neutron source was designed via Monte Carlo simulations. For 10-30 MeV proton beams, the optimal conditions of the beryllium target were determined by considering the neutron yield and the blistering of the target. For a non-borated polyethylene moderator, the neutronic properties were verified based on its thickness. For a reflector, three candidates-light water, beryllium, and graphite-were considered as reflector materials, and the optimal conditions were identified. The results verified that the neutronic intensity varied in the order beryllium > light water > graphite, the compacter size in the order light water < beryllium < graphite and the shorter emission time in the order graphite < light water < beryllium. The performance of the designed TMR system was compared with that of existing facilities and were laid between performance of existing facilities.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.327-335
• /
• 2003

The commercially available neutron survey meter, the REM500, which uses a tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) and the self-constructed TEPC were used to determine the microdosimetric quantities of several neutron calibration fields at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). Microdosimetric spectra, absorbed dose, dose equivalent as well as quality factor were derived and compared with several neutron fields which were produced by using the shadow objects to make neutron scattered and being used as a kind of realistic neutron calibration fields at KAERI. The response of REM500 as a function of mean energy was evaluated with these neutron fields using the counts measured and the predetermined reference value. The response of the self-made TEPC and the REM500 was compared using one of the neutron calibration filelds of a $^{252}Cf$ source. The reference quantities of scattered neutron calibration fields were determined using a Bonner Sphere (BS). The value of frequency-mean lineal energy, dose-mean lineal energy and quality factor of two $^{252}Cf$ sources (unmoderated and $D_2O$ moderated) were determined to check the differences in the reference neutron fields between KAERI and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL, USA) and the results were in good agreement within 1%. It means that there is no big difference in dosimetric quantifies of neutron calibration fields of two laboratories.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2007.05b
• /
• pp.3418-3422
• /
• 2007

The neutron imaging technique was used to investigate the water discharge characteristics at PEMFC. Prior to investigation of water discharge characteristics, the linear attenuation coefficient for water at Neutron Radiography Facility (NRF) was calibrated. The feasibility test apparatus was consisted of pressurized air and water in order to simulate the actual operating PEMFC. The feasibility tests have been performed at 1-parallel serpentine type with 100 $cm^2$ active area and different air flow rate (1, 2, and 4 lpm). The total water volume variations at each condition were calculated from the neutron images. The water at channel is well discharged as soon as supplying the pressurized air into the PEMFC. However, because the water at MEA isn't removed the total water volume is constant after 150. Therefore more effective method is needed in order to discharge water at MEA, and the neutron imaging technique is helpful for it.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.49 no.7
• /
• pp.1369-1378
• /
• 2017

The present paper reports the development of a computational code based on the Adaptive Group of Ink Drop Spread (AGIDS) for reconstruction of the neutron noise sources in reactor cores. AGIDS algorithm was developed as a fuzzy inference system based on the active learning method. The main idea of the active learning method is to break a multiple input-single output system into a single input-single output system. This leads to the ability to simulate a large system with high accuracy. In the present study, vibrating absorber-type neutron noise source in an International Atomic Energy Agency-two dimensional reactor core is considered in neutron noise calculation. The neutron noise distribution in the detectors was calculated using the Galerkin finite element method. Linear approximation of the shape function in each triangle element was used in the Galerkin finite element method. Both the real and imaginary parts of the calculated neutron distribution of the detectors were considered input data in the developed computational code based on AGIDS. The output of the computational code is the strength, frequency, and position (X and Y coordinates) of the neutron noise sources. The calculated fraction of variance unexplained error for output parameters including strength, frequency, and X and Y coordinates of the considered neutron noise sources were $0.002682{\sharp}/cm^3s$, 0.002682 Hz, and 0.004254 cm and 0.006140 cm, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.497-505
• /
• 2003

This paper describes a computational approach to the quantification of primary damage under irradiation and demonstrates the effect of neutron energy spectra on the formation of the displacement cascade. The development of displacement cascades in ${\alpha}-Iron$ has been simulated using the MOLDY code - a molecular dynamics code for simulating radiation damage. The primary knock-on atom energy, key input to the MOLDY code, was determined from the SPECTER code calculation on two neutron spectra. The two neutron spectra include; (i) neutron spectrum in the instrumented irradiation capsule of the high-flux advanced neutron application reactor (HANARO), and (ii) neutron spectrum at the inner surface of the reactor pressure vessel steel for the Younggwang nuclear power plant No.5 (YG 5). Minor differences in the normalized neutron spectra between the two spectra produce similar values of PKA energy, which are 4.7 keV for HANARO and 5.3 keV for YG 5. This similarity implies that primary damage to the components of the commercial nuclear reactors should be well simulated by irradiation in the HANARO. Moreover, the application of the MD calculations corroborates this statement by comparing cascades simulation results.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.590-595
• /
• 2003

An Exponential experiment system which is composed of a neutron detector, a signal analysis system and a neutron source, Cf-252 has been installed in order to experimentally determine the neutron effective multiplication factor for a PWR spent fuel assembly. The axial background neutron flux is measured in a preliminary performance test. From the results, the spacer grid position is determined to be consistent with the design specifications within a 2.3% relative error. The induced fission neutron for four of the assemblies is also measured by scanning the neutron source, Cf-252 or the neutron detector. The exponential decay constants have been evaluated by the application of the Poisson regression to the net induced fission neutron counts. The measured keffs determined on the basis of the exponential decay constants of Cl5 appeared to be 0.541, 0.540, 0.597 and 0.556, respectively, which are comparable with 0.55195$\pm$0.00232 of the MCNP calculation.