• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.999-1008
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• 2023

Deformed fuel rods can cause a partial blockage of the flow area in a subchannel. Such flow blockage will influence the core coolant flow and further the core heat transfer during the reflooding phase and subsequent severe accidents. Nevertheless, most of the system analysis codes simulate the accident process based on the assumed flow blockage ratio, resulting in inconsistencies between simulated results and actual conditions. This paper aims to study the influence of flow blockage in severe accident scenario of the CAP1400 reactor. First, the flow blockage model of ISAA code is improved based on the FRTMB module. Then, the ISAA-FRTMB coupling system is adopted to model and calculate the QUENCH-LOCA-0 experiment. The correctness and validity of the flow blockage model are verified by comparing the peak cladding temperature. Finally, the DVI Line-SBLOCA accident is induced to analyze the influence of flow blockage on subsequent CAP1400 reactor core heat transfer and core degradation. From the results of the DVI Line-SBLOCA accident analysis, it can be concluded that the blockage ratio is in the range of 40%-60%, and the position of severe blockage is the same as that of cladding rupture. The blockage reduces the circulation area of the core coolant, which in turn impacts the heat exchange between the core and the coolant, leading to the early failure and collapse of some core assemblies and accelerating the core degradation process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1998.05a
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• pp.660-665
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• 1998

The feasibility study on conceptual design methodology for accelerator-driven sodium-cooled sub-critical transmutation reactors has been conducted to optimize the design parameters from the scale laws and validates reactor performance with the integrated code system. A 1000 MWth sodium-cooled sub-critical transmutation reactor has been scale and verified through the methodology in this paper, which is referred to advanced Liquid Metal Reactor (ALMR). a Pb-Bi target material and a partitioned fuel are the liquid phases, and they are cooled by the circulation of secondary Pb-Bi coolant and by primary sodium coolant, respectively. Overall key design parameters are generated from the scale laws and they are improved and validated by the intergrated code system. Intergrated Code System (ICS) consist of LAHET, HMCNP, ORIGEN2, and COMMIX codes and some files. Through ICS the target region, the core region, and thermal-hydraulic related are analyzed once-through. Results of conceptual design are attached in this paper.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.330-338
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• 2023

In this study, impacts of an enhanced-moderation Fuel Assembly (FA) named Truly Optimized PWR (TOP) lattice, which is modified based on the standard 17 × 17 PWR FA, are investigated in a natural circulation Soluble-Boron-Free (SBF) Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Two different TOP lattice designs are considered for the analysis; one is with 1.26 cm pin pitch and 0.38 cm fuel pellet radius, and the other is with 1.40 cm pin pitch and 0.41 cm fuel pellet radius. The NuScale core design is utilized as the base model and assumed to be successfully converted to an SBF core. The analysis is performed following the primary coolant circulation loop, and the reactor is modelled as a single channel for thermal-hydraulic analyses. It is assumed that the ratio of the core pressure drop to the total system pressure drop is around 0.3. The results showed that the reactor power could be increased by 2.5% and 9.8% utilizing 1.26/0.38 cm and 1.40/0.41 cm TOP designs, respectively, under the identical coolant inlet and outlet temperatures as the constraints.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.639-647
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• 2018

In this study, the effects of selecting water/silver nanofluid as both a coolant and a reactivity controller during the first operating cycle of a light water nuclear reactor are investigated. To achieve this, coupled neutronic-thermo-hydraulic analysis is employed to simulate the reactor core. A detailed VVER1000/446 reactor core is modeled in monte carlo code (MCNP), and the model is verified using the porous media approach. Results show that the maximum required level of silver nanoparticles is 1.3 Vol.% at the beginning of the cycle; this value drops to zero at the end of cycle. Due to substitution of water/boric acid with water/Ag nanofluid, reactor operation time at maximum power extends to 357.3 days, and the energy generation increases by about 27.3%. The higher negative coolant temperature coefficient of reactivity in the presence of nanofluid in comparison with the water/boric acid indicates that the reactor is inherently safer. Considering the safety margins in the presence of the nanofluid, minimum departure from nucleate boiling ratio is calculated to be 2.16 (recommendation is 1.75).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.4003-4013
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• 2021

During the long-term cooling (LTC) phase of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) in a pressurized water reactor (PWR), water is supplied from the containment sump to the reactor coolant system (RCS) by the flooded sump water to the Reactor Vessel (RV) through the broken pipes. As part of the technical efforts for resolving GSI-191 [( Reid and Crytzer, May. 2007) 1, consideration is needed for the consequences of debris penetrating the sump screen and propagating downstream into the RV. Injection of debris (fiberglass) into the RV during the LTC recirculation phase needs special attention to assure that reactor core cooling is maintained. The point of concern is the potential for debris to adversely affect the reactor core flow paths or heat transfer [2]. However, all the experiments for proving the coolability of RV have been done with the assumption of the most of debris would be transferred to the RV and the bottom nozzle of the FAs. The purpose of the tests is to quantify the amount of the debris that would be accumulated at the lower plenum and the debris that passes through the FAs since non-conservatism of other researches assumptions that have been used in the past experimental or analytical programs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.1022-1028
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• 2024

A neutronics study of a supercritical CO₂-cooled fast reactor core for nuclear propulsion has been performed in this work. The thermal power of the reactor core is 30 MWth and a ceramic UO₂ fuel can be used to achieve a 20-year lifetime without refueling. In order to make a compact core with inherent safety features, the drum-type reactivity control system and folding-type shutdown system are adopted. In addition, we suggest a cold shutdown system using gadolinium as a spectral shift absorber (SSA) against flooding. Although there is a penalty of U-235 enrichment for the core embedded with the cold shutdown system, it effectively mitigates the increment of reactivity at the flooding of seawater. In this study, the neutronics analyses have been performed by using the continuous energy Monte Carlo Serpent 2 code with the evaluated nuclear data file ENDF/B-VII.1 Library. The supercritical CO₂-cooled fast reactor core is characterized in view of important safety parameters such as the reactivity worth of reactivity control systems, fuel temperature coefficient (FTC), coolant temperature coefficient (CTC), and coolant temperature-density coefficient (CTDC). We can say that the suggested core has inherent safety features and enough flexibility for load-following operation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.186-195
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• 1997

When asymmetric thermal-hydraulic conditions occur between cold legs, the core inlet temperature will be nonuniform if the coolant is not mixed perfectly in the lower plenum. These uneven core inlet conditions may induce the change in core power distribution. Thus realistic prediction of thermal mixing is important in such abnormal conditions. In this study, reactor internals, which are scaled down as to conserve the flow area ratio, are set up in the model of KORI Unit 1 with the scaling factor of 1/710 by volume and coolant temperatures are measured beneath the lower core plate. Based on experimental results, the ability of COMMIX-1B code to simulate the coolant mixing phenomena in the lower plenum is estimated. The results show that complete mixing never occurs in any conditions and the mixing pattern is characterized according to the plant type.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.695-700
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• 1997

To enhance the safety of nuclear power plants, implementation of accident management has been suggested as one of most important programs. Specially, accident management strategies are suggested as one of key elements considered in development of the accident management program. In this study, generally applicable accident management strategies to domestic nuclear power plants are identified through reviewing several accident management programs for the other countries and considering domestic conditions. Identified strategies are as follows; 1) Injection into the Reactor Coolant System, 2) Depressurize the Reactor Coolant System, 3) Depressurize the Steam Generator, 4) Injection into the Steam Generator, 5) Injection into the Containment, 6) Spray into the Containment, 7) Control Hydrogen in the Containment. In addition, the systems and instrumentation necessary for the implementation of .each strategy are also investigated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.922-932
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• 2024

This paper presents the design features and preliminary design analysis results of the Wielenga Innovation Static Salt Reactor (WISSR). The WISSR incorporates features that make it both flexible and inherently safe. It is based on innovative technology that controls a nuclear reactor by moving molten salt fuel into or out of the core. The reactor is a low-pressure, fast spectrum transuranic (TRU) burner reactor. Inherent shutdown is achieved by a large negative reactivity feedback of the liquid fuel and by the expansion of fuel out of the core. The core is made of concentric, thin annular fuel chambers containing molten fuel salt. A molten salt coolant passes between the concentric fuel chambers to cool the core. The core has both fixed and variable volume fuel chambers. Pressure, applied by helium gas to fuel reservoirs below the core, pushes fuel out of a reservoir and up into a set of variable volume chambers. A control system monitors the density and temperature of the fuel throughout the core. Using NaCl-(TRU,U)Cl₃ fuel and NaCl-KCl-MgCl₂ coolant, a road-transportable compact WISSR core design was developed at a power level of 1250 MWt. Preliminary neutronics and thermal-hydraulics analyses demonstrate the technical feasibility of WISSR.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.253.1-253
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• 2001