• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제43권2호
• /
• pp.149-158
• /
• 2011

Metal waste generated from the pyroprocessing of 10 MtU of spent fuel was classified by comparing the specific activity of a relevant radionuclide with the limit value of the specific activity specified in the Korean acceptance criteria for a lowand intermediate-level waste repository. A Korean Optimized Fuel Assembly design with a 17${\times}$17 array, an initial enrichment of 4.5 weight-percent, discharge burn-up of 55 GWD/MtU, and a 10-year cooling time was considered. Initially, the mass and volume of each structural component of the assembly were calculated in detail, and a source term analysis was subsequently performed using ORIGEN-S for these components. An activation cross-section library generated by the KENO-VI/ORIGEN-S module was utilized for top-end and bottom-end pieces. As a result, an Inconel grid plate, a SUS plenum spring, a SUS guide tube subpart, SUS top-end and bottom-end pieces, and an Inconel top-end leaf spring were determined to be unacceptable for the Gyeongju low- and intermediate-level waste repository, as these waste products exceeded the acceptance criteria. In contrast, a Zircaloy grid plate and guide tube can be placed in the Gyeongju repository. Non-contaminated Zircaloy cladding occupying 76% of the metal waste was found to have a lower level of specific activity than the limit value. However, Zircaloy cladding contaminated by fission products and actinides during the decladding process of pyroprocessing was revealed to have 52 and 2 times higher specific activity levels than the limit values for alpha and $^{90}Sr$, respectively. Finally, it was found that 88.7% of the metal waste from the 17${\times}$17 Korean Optimized Fuel Assembly design should be disposed of in a deep geological repository. Therefore, it can be summarized that separation technology with a higher decontamination factor for transuranics and strontium should be developed for the efficient management of metal waste resulting from pyroprocessing.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국원자력학회 2001년도 춘계학술발표회요약집
• /
• pp.383.2-383
• /
• 2001

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국원자력학회 1998년도 추계학술발표회요약집
• /
• pp.306-306
• /
• 1998

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국원자력학회 1999년도 춘계학술발표회요약집
• /
• pp.349-349
• /
• 1999

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제51권2호
• /
• pp.495-500
• /
• 2019

When a new fuel is developed, various mechanical properties are absolutely necessary for a safety analysis of the fuel for the licensing and prediction of its mechanical behavior during operation and accident conditions. In this paper, a mechanically equivalent surrogate plate of U-Mo dispersion fuel is presented using tungsten, substitute material of U-Mo particle. A surrogate plate, composed of tungsten/aluminum dispersion meat and aluminum alloy cladding, is manufactured with the same fabrication process with that of fuel plate except that a tungsten powder is used instead of U-Mo powder. A modal test showed that the surrogate plate and fuel plate have similar dynamic characteristics, and a tensile test demonstrated the similarity of the material property up to the yield strength range. The conducted tests proved that the surrogate tungsten plate has equivalent mechanical behaviors with that of a fuel plate, which leads to the acceptable use of a surrogate fuel assembly using tungsten/aluminum dispersion meat in various mechanical tests. The surrogate fuel assembly can be utilized for various out-of-pile characteristic tests, which are necessary for the licensing achievement of a research reactor that uses U-Mo dispersion fuel as a driver.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제55권6호
• /
• pp.2195-2205
• /
• 2023

One of the salient nuclear fuel performance parameters for new fuel types under development is changes in fuel thickness. To test the new commercially fabricated U-10Mo monolithic plate-type fuel, an irradiation experiment was designed that consisted of multiple mini-plate capsules distributed within the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) core, the mini-plate 1 (MP-1) experiment. Each capsule contains eight mini-plates that were either fueled or "dummy" plates. Fuel thickness changes within a fuel assembly can be characterized by measuring the gaps between the plates ultrasonically. The channel gap probe (CGP) system is designed to measure the gaps between the plates and will provide information that supports qualification of U-10Mo monolithic fuel. This study will discuss the design and the results from the use of a custom-designed CGP system for characterizing the gaps between mini-plates within the MP-1 capsules. To ensure accurate and repeatable data, acceptance and calibration procedures have been developed. Unfortunately, there is no "gold" standard measurement to compare to CGP measurements. An effort was made to use plate thickness obtained from post-irradiation measurements to derive channel gap estimates for comparison with the CGP characterization.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제54권2호
• /
• 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.

• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 대한기계학회 2001년도 춘계학술대회논문집E
• /
• pp.482-487
• /
• 2001

A CFD study was conducted to evaluate the nuclear fuel assembly coolant mixing that is promoted by the flow-mixing vanes on the grid spacer. Four mixing vanes (split vane, swirl vane, twisted vane, hybrid vane) were chosen in this study. A single subchannel of one grid span is modeled using the flow symmetry. The three mixing vanes other than swirl vane generate a large crossflow between the subchannels and a skewed elliptic swirling flow in the subchannel near the grid spacer. The swirl vane induces a circular swirling flow in the subchannel and a negligible crossflow. The split vane and the twisted vane were predicted to result in relatively larger pressure drop across the grid spacer. Since the average turbulent kinetic energy in the subchannel rapidly decreases to a fully developed level downstream of the spacer, turbulent mixing caused by the mixing vanes appears to be not as effective as swirling flow mixing in the subchannel. In summary, the CFD analysis represented the overall characteristics of coolant mixing well in a nuclear fuel assembly with the flow mixing vanes on the grid spacer. The CFD study is therefore quite useful for the development of an advanced flow-mixing vane.

• 대한기계학회논문집A
• /
• 제36권12호
• /
• pp.1653-1661
• /
• 2012

본 논문에서는 냉각유동에 의한 SMART 핵연료집합체의 압력강하변화 및 구조특성을 연구하였다. 난류 모델인 BSL 레이놀즈 응력 모델로서 냉각수의 유동을 모델링하여 유체고체연계 해석을 수행하였다. 우선, 지지격자체에 지지된 핵연료봉의 진동해석을 수행하여 실험 결과와 비교하였는데 실험에서의 고유진동수는 48 Hz 로서 시뮬레이션 값과 2% 의 오차를 발생하였다. 핵연료집합체의 압력강하는 한국원자력연구원에서 수행한 실험적 값과 비교하여 8%의 오차가 발생하였고 해석의 타당성을 증명하였다. 유체해석에서는 집합체를 통과하는 각 구간의 유체 속도와 이차유동에 의한 와류생성과정을 관찰하였다. 마지막으로 진동해석과 유체해석의 연계를 통하여 유체유발진동에 의한 연료봉의 변위 값을 관찰하고 최대 변위가 발생하는 곳의 변위 PSD 를 계산하였다.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국원자력학회 1996년도 춘계학술발표회논문집(2)
• /
• pp.254-259
• /
• 1996

The hydraulic tests for 16$\times$16 JDFA were performed to obtain the pressure loss coefficients using the FACTS. The pressure loss coefficients are calculated by converting the each properties of experimental values for inlet region, mixing vane grid, outlet region and core region by performing a power fit of the pressure loss coefficient values to the corresponding Reynolds number. The test results are compared with the existing calculated values and evaluated by using the CALOPR code in terms of pressure drop. It is turned out that the differences between the test results and the calculated values are about by 3.8% for the pressure loss coefficients and by 8.5% for the pressure drop.