• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제43권6호
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• pp.547-556
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• 2011

Two computational methods for determining equilibrium states for the Mark-IV electrorefiner (ER) have been assessed to improve the current computational electrorefiner model developed at University of Idaho. Both methods were validated against measured data to better understand their effects on the calculation of the equilibrium compositions in the ER. In addition, a sensitivity study was performed on the effect of specific unknown activity coefficients-including sodium in molten cadmium, zirconium in molten cadmium, and sodium chloride in molten LiCl-KCl. Both computational methods produced identical results, which stayed within the 95% confidence interval of the experimental data. Furthermore, sensitivity to unavailable activity coefficients was found to be low (a change in concentration of less than 3 ppm).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권5호
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• pp.1895-1901
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• 2024

The fission model, G4ParaFissionModel, was enhanced in this study, mainly focusing on refining the energy dependence of the peak-to-valley ratio in the mass distribution and the energy dependence of the average total kinetic energy (TKE). The enhanced model was employed to investigate the characteristics of fission products from ²³⁵U(n, f) reaction. The calculated results, including fission yield, TKE distribution, prompt fission neutron and gamma spectra, were compared with both evaluated and experimental data. The comparison shows that these physical observables related nuclear data, which are of importance for developments of the nuclear power and physics, can be reasonably well reproduced.

• 대한전기학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한전기학회 1999년도 추계학술대회 논문집 학회본부 A
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• pp.450-454
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• 1999

In order to evaluate the integrity of nuclear power plants, J-integral calculation is crucial. For this purpose, finite element method is popularly used to obtain J-integral. However, high cost time consuming preprocess should be performed to design the finite element model of a cracked structure. Also, the J-integral should be verified by alternative method since it may differ depending on the calculation method. The objective of this paper is to develop a three-dimensional elastic-plastic J-integral analysis system which is named as EPAS. The EPAS program consists of an automatic mesh generator for a through-wall crack and a surface crack, a solver based on ABAQUS program, and a J-integral calculation program which provides DI(Domain Integral) and EDI(Equivalent Domain Integral) based J-integral calculation. Using the EPAS program, an optimized finite element model for a cracked structure can be generated and corresponding J-integral can be obtained subsequently.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권3호
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• pp.379-388
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• 2018

Models for the rate of atomization and deposition of droplets for stratified and annular flow in horizontal pipes are presented. The entrained fraction is the result of a balance between the rate of atomization of the liquid layer that is in contact with air and the rate of deposition of droplets. The rate of deposition is strongly affected by gravity in horizontal pipes. The gravitational settling of droplets is influenced by droplet size: heavier droplets deposit more rapidly. Model calculation and simulation results are compared with experimental data from various diameter pipes. Validation for the suggested models was performed by comparing the Safety and Performance Analysis Code for Nuclear Power Plants calculation results with the droplet experimental data obtained in various diameter horizontal pipes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.229-236
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• 2004

Radiation hardening is a multiscale phenomenon involving various processes over a wide range of time and length. We present a multiscale model for estimating the amount of radiation hardening in pressure vessel steel in the environment of a light water reactor. The model comprises two main parts: molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and a point defect cluster (PDC) model. The MD simulation was used to investigate the primary damage caused by displacement cascades. The PDC model mathematically formulates interactions between point defects and their clusters, which explains the evolution of microstructures. We then used a dislocation barrier model to calculate the hardening due to the PDCs. The key input for this multiscale model is a neutron spectrum at the inner surface of reactor pressure vessel steel of the Younggwang Nuclear Power Plant No.5. A combined calculation from the MD simulation and the PDC model provides a convenient tool for estimating the amount of radiation hardening.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권7호
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• pp.2377-2386
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• 2021

To model the atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides released from nuclear accident is very important for nuclear emergency. But the uncertainty of model parameters, such as source term and meteorological data, may significantly affect the prediction accuracy. Data assimilation (DA) is usually used to improve the model prediction with the measurements. The paper proposed a parameter bias transformation method combined with Lagrangian puff model to perform DA. The method uses the transformation of coordinates to approximate the effect of parameters bias. The uncertainty of four model parameters is considered in the paper: release rate, wind speed, wind direction and plume height. And particle swarm optimization is used for searching the optimal parameters. Twin experiment and Kincaid experiment are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed method can effectively increase the reliability of model prediction and estimate the parameters. It has the advantage of clear concept and simple calculation. It will be useful for improving the result of atmospheric dispersion model at the early stage of nuclear emergency.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권9호
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• pp.1990-1997
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• 2020

To support the safe operation of the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR), a thermo-hydraulic transient model using the RELAP5/Mod3.2 code was simulated. The model was verified by comparing the results with the measured and the previously calculated data. The comparisons consisted of comparing the MNSR parameters under normal constant power operation and reactivity insertion transients. Reactivity Insertion Accident (RIA) for three different initial reactivity values of 3.6, 6.0, and 6.53 mk have been simulated. The calculated peaks of the reactor power, fuel, clad and coolant temperatures in hot channel were calculated in this model. The reactor power peaks were: 103 kW at 240 s, 174 kW at 160 s and 195 kW at 140 s, respectively. The fuel temperature reached its maximum value of 116 ℃ at 240 s, 124 ℃ at 160 s and 126 ℃ at 140 s respectively. These calculation results ensured the high inherently safety features of the MNSR under all phases of the RIAs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권4호
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• pp.1280-1286
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• 2023

MgF₂ as a moderator material has been extensively used in the beam shaping assembly (BSA) that plays an important role in the boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Regarded as important for applications, the thermal neutron scattering data of MgF₂ were calculated, based on the phonon expansion model. The structural properties of MgF₂ were researched by the VASP code based on the ab-initio methods. The PHONOPY code was employed to calculate the phonon density of states. Furthermore, the NJOY code was used to calculate the thermal neutron scattering data of MgF₂. The calculated inelastic cross sections plus absorption cross sections are in agreement with the available experimental data. The neutron transport in the BSA has been simulated by using a hybrid Monte-Carlo-Deterministic code NECP-MCX. The results indicated that compared with the calculation of the free gas model, the thermal neutron flux and epithermal neutron flux at the BSA exit port calculated by using the thermal neutron scattering data of MgF₂ were reduced by 27.7% and 8.2%, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권5호
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• pp.1261-1271
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• 2019

Droplet size and distribution are important parameters determining venturi scrubber performance. In this paper, we proposed physical models for a maximum stable droplet size prediction and upper limit log-normal (ULLN) distribution parameters. For the proposed maximum stable droplet size prediction model, a Eulerian-Lagrangian framework and a Reitz-Diwakar breakup model are solved simultaneously using CFD calculations to reflect the effect of multistage breakup and droplet acceleration. Then, two ULLN distribution parameters are suggested through best fitting the previously published experimental data. Results show that the proposed approach provides better predictions of maximum stable droplet diameter and Sauter mean diameter compared to existing simple empirical correlations including Boll, Nukiyama and Tanasawa. For more practical purpose, we developed the simple, one dimensional (1-D) calculation of Sauter mean diameter.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제42권2호
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• pp.211-218
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• 2010

An analysis model on debris transport in the containment floor of pressurized water reactors is developed in which the flow field is calculated by Eulerian conservation equations of mass and momentum and the debris particles are traced by Lagrange equations of motion using the pre-determined flow field data. For the flow field calculation, two-dimensional Shallow Water Equations derived from Navier Stokes equations are solved using the Finite Volume Method, and the Harten-Lax-van Leer scheme is used for accuracy to capture the dry-to-wet interface. For the debris tracing, a simplified two-dimensional Lagrangian particle tracking model including drag force is developed. Advanced schemes to find the positions of particles over the containment floor and to determine the position of particles reflected from the solid wall are implemented. The present model is applied to calculate the transport fraction to the Hold-up Volume Tank in Advanced Power Reactors 1400. By the present model, the debris transport fraction is predicted, and the effect of particle density and particle size on transport is investigated.