• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.218-227
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• 1986

Studies were conducted to determine the extent of oxidation and same of the mechanical property changes of Zircaloy-4 fuel cladding after it was exposed to hot steam environment. The purpose of these tests was to provide some informations on the embrittlement behavior of CANDU type fuel cladding, which could be experienced under the loss-of-coolant accident conditions. The Zircaloy fuel cladding tubes were exposed in a steam environment at the temperature of 90$0^{\circ}C$, 1,00$0^{\circ}C$. The growth of the ZrO$_2$ layer combined with an oxygen rich $\alpha$-phase layer into the Zircaloy tube material was found as a function of time t and temperature of steam exposure, E=1.1√Dt+0.002 where D is a temperature dependent diffusion coefficient. The tensile strength of the specimens exposed for a short period increased but decreased continuously with further exposure. The circumferential elongation was drastically changed with the exposure time while the hoop strength did't decrease greatly. The X-ray measurement of preferred orientation of the Zircaloy tube material indicated that grains in the as received tube were oriented such that the poles of the basal (0001) planes were predominantly radial, while the poles of the basal plane in the tube materials heattreated at 1,00$0^{\circ}C$ were oriented tangentially. It appears that this reoriented texture may contribute to lessening the decrease of the hoop strength of the heat treated Zircaloy tube material.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.4 s.235
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• pp.600-605
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• 2005

In this study, the ring tensile test at high temperature was suggested to evaluate the hoop tensile properties of small tube such as the cladding in the nuclear reactor Using the Arsene's ring model, the ring tensile test was performed and the test data were calibrated. From the result of the ring test with strain gauge and the numerical analysis with 1/8 model, LCRR(load-displacement conversion relationship of ring specimen) was determined. We could obtain the hoop tensile properties by means of applying the LCRR to the calibrated data of the ring tensile test. A few difference was observed in view of the shape of fractured surface and the fracture mechanism between at the high temperature and at the room temperature.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.149-158
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• 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.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.18-24
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• 2020

When a damage occurs in the nuclear fuel burning in the reactor, fission products that should be in the nuclear fuel rod are released into the reactor coolant. In this case, sipping test, a series of non-destructive inspection methods, are used to find leakage in nuclear fuel assemblies during the power plant overhaul period. In addition, the sipping test is also used to check the integrity of the spent fuel for moving to an intermediate dry storage, which is carried out as the first step of nuclear decommissioning, . In this paper, the principle and characteristics of the sipping test are described. The structure of the sipping inspection equipment is largely divided into a suction device that collects fissile material emitted from a damaged assembly and an analysis device that analyzes their nuclides. In order to make good use of the sipping technology, the radioactive level behavior of the primary system coolant and major damage mechanisms in the event of nuclear fuel damage are also introduced. This will be a reference for selecting an appropriate sipping method when dismantling a nuclear power plant in the future.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.249-257
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• 2015

A fuel assembly consists of fuel rods composed of pellets (UO2) and a cladding tube (Zircaloy). The role of the fuel rods in the reactor is to generate heat by nuclear fission, as well as to retain fission products during operation. A simulation method using a computer program was used to evaluate the safety of the nuclear fuel rods. This computer program has been called the fuel performance code. In the analysis of a light water reactor fuel rod, the gap conductance, which depended on the distance between the pellets and cladding tube, mainly influenced the thermomechanical behavior of the fuel rod. In this work, a 3D gap element was proposed to simulate the thermo-mechanical behavior of the nuclear fuel rod, considering the gap conductance. To implement the proposed 3D gap element, a 3D thermo-mechanical module was also developed using FORTRAN90. The asymmetric characteristics of the nuclear fuel rod, such as the MPS (missing pellet surface) and eccentricity, were simulated to evaluate the proposed 3D gap element.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.681-688
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• 2014

Hydride reorientation behaviors of PWR cladding tubes under typical interim dry storage conditions were investigated with the use of as-received 250 and 485ppm hydrogen-charged Zr-Nb alloy cladding tubes. In order to evaluate the effect of typical cool-down processes on the radial hydride precipitation, two terminal heat-up temperatures of 300 and $400^{\circ}C$, as well as two terminal cool-down temperatures of 200 and $300^{\circ}C$, were considered. In addition, two cooling rates of 2.5 and $8.0^{\circ}C/min$ during the cool-down processes were taken into account along with zero stress or a tensile hoop stress of 150MPa. It was found that the 250ppm hydrogen-charged specimen experiencing the higher terminal heat-up temperature and the lower terminal cool-down temperature generated the highest number of radial hydrides during the cool-down process under 150MPa hoop tensile stress, which may be explained by terminal solid hydrogen solubilities for precipitation, and dissolution and remaining circumferential hydrides at the terminal heat-up temperatures. In addition, the slower cool-down rate generates the larger number of radial hydrides due to a cooling rate-dependent, longer residence time at a relatively high temperature that can accelerate the radial hydride nucleation and growth.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.218-222
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• 2018

An oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) layer was formed on Zircaloy-4 tubes by a laser beam scanning process to increase mechanical strength. Laser beam was used to scan the yttrium oxide ($Y_2O_3$)-coated Zircaloy-4 tube to induce the penetration of $Y_2O_3$ particles into Zircaloy-4. Laser surface treatment resulted in the formation of an ODS layer as well as microstructural phase transformation at the surface of the tube. The mechanical strength of Zircaloy-4 increased with the formation of the ODS layer. The ring-tensile strength of Zircaloy-4 increased from 790 to 870 MPa at room temperature, from 500 to 575 MPa at $380^{\circ}C$, and from 385 to 470 MPa at $500^{\circ}C$. Strengthening became more effective as the test temperature increased. It was noted that brittle fracture occurred at room temperature, which was not observed at elevated temperatures. Resistance to dynamic high-temperature bursting improved. The burst temperature increased from 760 to $830^{\circ}C$ at a heating rate of $5^{\circ}C/s$ and internal pressure of 8.3 MPa. The burst opening was also smaller than those in fresh Zircaloy-4 tubes. This method is expected to enhance the safety of Zr fuel cladding tubes owing to the improvement of their mechanical properties.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.106-108
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• 2005

The instrumented fuel irradiation test at a research reactor is needed to evaluate the performance of the developed nuclear fuel. The fuel elements can be designed to measure the center line temperature of fuel pellets during the irradiation test by using temperature sensor. The thermal sensor was composed of thermocouple and sensor sheath. Micro-laser welding technology was adopted to seal between seal tube and sensor sheath with thickness of 0.15 mm. The soundness of welding area has to be confirmed to prevent fission gas of the fuel from leaking out of the element during the fuel irradiation test. In this study, fundamental data for micro-laser welding technology was proposed to seal temperature sensor sheath of the instrumented fuel element. And, micro-laser welding for dissimilar metals between sensor sheath and seal tube was characterized by investigating welding conditions. Moreover, the micro-laser welding technology is closely related to advanced industry. It is expected that the laser material processing technology will be adopted to various a pplications in the industry.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.144-148
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• 2006

The experimental investigation was performed to find the associated changes in characteristics of fretting wear with various water temperatures. The fretting wear tests were carried out using the zirconium alloy tubes and the grids with increasing the water temperature. The tube materials in water of $20^{\circ}C,\;50^{\circ}C\;and\;80^{\circ}C$ were tested with the applied load of 20 N and the relative amplitude of $200{\mu}m$. The worn surfaces were observed by SEM, EDX analysis and 2D surface profiler. As the water temperature increased, the wear volume was decreased, but oxide layer was increased on the worn surface. The abrasive wear mechanism was observed at water temperature of $20^{\circ}C$ and adhesive wear mechanism occurred at water temperature of $50^{\circ}C,\;80^{\circ}C$. As the water temperature increased, surface micro-hardness was decreased, but wear depth and wear width were decreased due to increasing stick phenomenon. Stick regime occurred due to the formation of oxide layer on the worn surface with increasing water temperatures

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.322-323
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• 2005