• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제45권5호
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• pp.581-588
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• 2013

This paper deals with the Safety Analysis for $CANDU^{(R)}$ 6 nuclear reactors as affected by main Heat Transport System (HTS) aging. Operational and aging related changes of the HTS throughout its lifetime may lead to restrictions in certain safety system settings and hence some restriction in performance under certain conditions. A step in confirming safe reactor operation is the tracking of relevant data and their corresponding interpretation by the use of appropriate thermal-hydraulic analytic models. Safety analyses ranging from the assessment of safety limits associated with the prevention of intermittent fuel sheath dryout for a slow Loss of Regulation (LOR) analysis and fission gas release after a fuel failure are summarized. Specifically for fission gas release, the thermal-hydraulic analysis for a fresh core and an 11 Effective Full Power Years (EFPY) aged core was summarized, leading to the most severe stagnation break sizes for the inlet feeder break and the channel failure time. Associated coolant conditions provide the input data for fuel analyses. Based on the thermal-hydraulic data, the fission product inventory under normal operating conditions may be calculated for both fresh and aged cores, and the fission gas release may be evaluated during the transient. This analysis plays a major role in determining possible radiation doses to the public after postulated accidents have occurred.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권7호
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• pp.1749-1757
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• 2019

Predicting lower flammability limits (LFL) of hydrogen has become an ever-important task for safety of nuclear industry. While numerous experimental studies have been conducted, LFL results applicable for the harsh environment are still lack of information. Our aim is to develop a calculated non-adiabatic flame temperature (CNAFT) model to better predict LFL of hydrogen mixtures in nuclear power plant. The developed model is unique for incorporating radiative heat loss during flame propagation using the CNAFT coefficient derived through previous studies of flame propagation. Our new model is more consistent with the experimental results for various mixtures compared to the previous model, which relied on calculated adiabatic flame temperature (CAFT) to predict the LFL without any consideration of heat loss. Limitation of the previous model could be explained clearly based on the CNAFT coefficient magnitude. The prediction accuracy for hydrogen mixtures at elevated initial temperatures and high helium content was improved substantially. The model reliability was confirmed for $H_2-air$ mixtures up to $300^{\circ}C$ and $H_2-air-He$ mixtures up to 50 vol % helium concentration. Therefore, the CNAFT model developed based on radiation heat loss is expected as the practical method for predicting LFL in hydrogen risk analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권7호
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• pp.2606-2613
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• 2022

Spent resin often exceeds radiation limits for safe disposal, creating a need for commercial-scale treatment techniques to reduce resin radioactivity. In this study, the radiological safety of a commercialized spent resin treatment device with a treatment capacity of 1 ton/day was evaluated. The results confirm that the device is radiologically safe in the event of an accident. This device desorbs ¹⁴C from the spent resin, allowing disposal as low-level waste instead of intermediate-level waste. The device also reduces overall waste by recycling the extracted ¹⁴C. Potential accident scenarios were explored to enable dose assessments for both internal and external exposure while preventing further spillage of the device and processing the spilled resin. The scenarios involved the development of a surface fracture on the resin mixture separator and microwave systems, which were operated under pressure and temperature of 0-6 bar and 0-150 ℃, respectively. In the case of accidents with separator and microwave device, the maximum allowable working time of worker were derived, respectively, considering external and internal exposures. When wearing the respirator corresponding to APF 50, in the case of the microwave device accident scenario, the radiological safety was confirmed when the maximum worker worked within 132.1 h.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권10호
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• pp.3660-3671
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• 2022

A new methodology to derive a dose constraint for radioactive effluent from a unit of nuclear power plant (NPP) through retrospective assessment was developed to reflect operational flexibility in line with international standards. The new dose constraint can retain the safety margin between the offsite dose and the past dose constraints. As case studies, the new approach was applied to 24 Korean NPPs to address the limitations of the existing seven dose constraints that do not fully comply with current international radiation protection standards. Therefore, an effective dose constraint for Korean NPPs was proposed as no less than 0.15 mSv/y, which is comparable to the international practices and previous studies (0.05-0.3 mSv/y). Although the lower bound of the equivalent dose constraint was calculated as 0.17 mSv/y, it is not proposed in this study since the compliance with the derived effective dose constraint can prevent accompanied equivalent doses to any organs from exceeding equivalent dose limits. The new framework and the case studies are expected to contribute toward and support the revision of existing dose constraints for radioactive effluent from NPPs, ensuring better compliance with the current international safety standards as well as reflect the operational flexibility in practice.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• 제38권2호
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• pp.83-92
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• 2021

The ionization degree of hydrogen is crucial in the physics of the plasma in the solar chromosphere. It specifically limits the range of plasma temperatures that can be determined from the Hα line. Given that the chromosphere greatly deviates from the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) condition, precise determinations of hydrogen ionization require the solving of the full set of non-LTE radiative transfer equations throughout the atmosphere, which is usually a formidable task. In many cases, it is still necessary to obtain a quick estimate of hydrogen ionization without having to solve for the non-LTE radiative transfer. Here, we present a simple method to meet this need. We adopt the assumption that the photoionizing radiation field changes little over time, even if physical conditions change locally. With this assumption, the photoionization rate can be obtained from a published atmosphere model and can be used to determine the degree of hydrogen ionization when the temperature and electron density are specified. The application of our method indicates that in the chromospheric environment, plasma features contain more than 10% neutral hydrogen at temperatures lower than 17,000 K but less than 1% neutral hydrogen at temperatures higher than 23,000 K, implying that the hydrogen temperature determined from the Hα line is physically plausible if it is lower than 20,000 K, but may not be real, if it is higher than 25,000 K. We conclude that our method can be readily exploited to obtain a quick estimate of hydrogen ionization in plasma features in the solar chromosphere.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권2호
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• pp.530-545
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• 2023

As an alternative to conventional management options for a lot of concrete waste from decommissioning of nuclear power plants, a set of scenarios for controlled recycling of decommissioning concrete waste as engineered barriers of a radioactive waste repository was proposed, and a comprehensive safety assessment model and framework covering both pre-and post-closure phases was newly developed. The new methodology was applied to a reference vault-type repository, and the ratios of derived concentration limits to unconditional clearance levels of eighteen radionuclides for controlled recycling were provided for three sets of dose criteria (0.01, 1, and 20 mSv/y for the pre-closure and 0.01 mSv/y for the post-closure phases). It turns out that decommissioning concrete waste whose concentration is much higher than the unconditional clearance level can be recycled even when the dose criterion 0.01 mSv/y is applied. Moreover, a case study on ABWR bio-shield shows that the fraction of recyclable concrete waste increases significantly by increasing the dose criterion for the radiation worker in the pre-closure phase or the duration of storage prior to recycling. The results of this study are expected to contribute to demonstrating the feasibility of controlled recycling of a lot of decommissioning concrete waste within nuclear sectors.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.237-243
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• 1995

파라핀 왁스를 사용하여 건조된 농축폐액을 고화시킬 경우, 방사선적 가수분해에 의해 발생할 가능성이 있는 수소가스의 발생량을 추정하여 보았다 분석결과에 의하면, 코발트 60의 방사선 에너지에 의해 방사선적 가수분해가 주로 발생함을 알 수 있다. 200리터 드럼중 120 리터가 파라핀으로 채워졌다고 가정할 때 수소가스 발생은 초기에 $4.4{\times}10^2cm^3yr^1$이고 100년이 경과한 후는 $7.2cm^3yr^1$로 줄어든다. 수소에 의한 발화점을 25년이 경과한 후 도발할 가능성이 있으나, 폭발한계에는 1000년 이내에 도달할 가능성이 없다. 안전성 관련 주요 한계점에 도달하는 시기는 드럼내 파라핀 왁스의 채움 정도에 매우 민감하게 영향을 받는다 드럼내 공간의 감소시, 발화점에 도달 시간이 줄어듬을 알 수 있다.

• 한국연소학회지
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.34-41
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• 2015

Oxy-methane nonpremixed flames diluted with $CO_2$ were investigated to clarify impact of radiation heat loss and chemical effects of additional $CO_2$ to oxidizer stream on flame extinction. Flame stability maps were presented with functional dependencies of critical diluents mole fraction upon global strain rate at several oxidizer stream temperatures in $CH_4-O_2/N_2$, $CH_4-O_2/CO_2$, and $CH_4-O_2/CO_2/N_2$ counterflow flames. The effects of radiation heat loss on the critical diluent mole fractions for flame extinction are not significant even at low strain rate in nonpremixed $CH_4-O_2/N_2$ diffusion flame, whereas those are significant at low strain rate and are negligible at high strain rate (> $200s^{-1}$) in $CH_4-O_2/CO_2$ and $CH_4-O_2/CO_2/N_2$ counterflow flames. Chemical effects of additional $CO_2$ to oxidizer stream on the flame extinction curves were appreciable in both $CH_4-O_2/CO_2$ and $CH_4-O_2/CO_2/N_2$ flames. A scaling analysis based on asymptotic solution of stretched flame extinction was applied. A specific radical index, which could reflect the OH population in main reaction zone via controlling the mixture composition in the oxidizer stream, was identified to quantify the chemical kinetic contribution to flame extinction. A good correlation of predicted extinction limits to those calculated numerically were obtained via the ratio between radical indices and oxidizer Lewis numbers for the target and baseline flames. This offered an effective approach to estimate extinction strain rate of nonpremixed oxy-methane flames permitting air infiltration when the baseline flame was taken to nonpremixed $CH_4-O_2/N_2$ flame.

• 대한방사선기술학회지:방사선기술과학
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.387-394
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• 2010

보건의료 분야에서 방사선은 의료기기 등의 멸균을 목적으로 빠르게 기존 방법을 대체하고 있으며 국제적으로, 정립된 엄격한 품질기준을 적용하고 있다. 방사선 멸균의 품질관리는 조사된 제품의 흡수선량이 요구 조건 및 기준에 부합하고 있음을 보증하는 것인데, $Co^{60}$ 동위원소를 이용하는 감마선 조사와는 달리 기계 전기적 방법에 따른 전자빔 조사는 더욱 많은 공정인자에 대해 기술적인 접근 방법이 필요하다. 국내에서는 2000년대 초반부터 전자빔 가속기의 보급이 시작되어 연구 및 산업분야에 이용되고 있으나 국제적 품질체계에 부합한 흡수선량의 품질에 관련된 연구는 매우 미흡한 실정이다. 서울방사선서비스는 2008년 10 MeV, 8 kW 사양의 대단위 전자빔 조사시설을 설치, 운영하기 시작하였는데, 전자빔 가속기, 제품운송장치, 안전장치, 기록관리 및 하위 구성장치가 통합시스템을 구성하여 우수제조기준에서 요구하는 공정품질 및 제품추적이 가능하도록 설계되었다. EN ISO11137로 대표되는 국제 표준의 이행을 위해서는 표준이 의도하는 바를 정확히 이해하고 장치의 설계기준부터 운영단계 별로 요구되는 품질시험을 정해진 절차 및 기준에 부합하도록 수행하여야 한다. 본 연구에 사용된 조사시설의 설계 시방을 제시하고 이를 구현하는데 필요한 핵심 장치의 설계 기준 및 특징에 대해 소개하였다. 또한 흡수선량 품질보증이라는 목적을 달성하기 위해 다양한 공정인자에 대한 품질시험결과를 제시하고 제시된 기준과 비교, 평가하였다.

• 대한방사선치료학회지
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.207-216
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• 2014

목 적 : 모나코 치료계획 시스템은 몬테카를로 알고리즘을 기반으로 선량을 구현하는 대표적인 시스템이다. 모나코 치료계획 시스템에서 치료계획 완성 후, 같은 조건으로 최적화를 재 실시하여 처음과는 다른 치료계획이 만들어질 때 본 연구는 이러한 차이를 줄이는 방법을 제시하고자 한다. 대상 및 방법 : 모나코 치료계획 시스템은 세기변조방사선치료나 용적변조방사선치료를 위한 역 선량계산을 실시할 때, 두 단계를 거쳐 최적화를 실시한다. 본 연구는 우선 최적화 두 단계를 모두 실시하여 선량으로 완성된 치료계획을, 최적화 조건을 바꾸지 않고 일반적인 1단계부터 2단계까지 순차적 최적화를 실시하였다. 이때 2단계에선 펜슬 빔과 몬테카를로 알고리즘을 각각 적용하여 실험을 실시하였다. 두 가지 알고리즘의 치료계획 모두 처음 완성된 치료계획과 최적화를 재 실시한 치료계획을 비교하고 선량 측정기를 이용하여 치료선량을 평가하였다. 두 번째는 초기 완성된 치료계획에 대하여 최적화를 재 실시할 때 단계적으로 실시하여 치료계획을 완성하고 선량을 측정하였다. 결 과 : 초기 완성된 치료계획에서 동일한 조건으로 일반적인 최적화를 다시 실시한 결과는 동일하지 않았다. 치료계획시스템의 비교에서 보면 유사한 선량-용적 히스토그람은 유사한 경향을 나타내지만 최고선량, 선량 균질도 및 제한 선량 등은 최적화 조건을 만족 시키지 못하는 다른 값을 보였다. 또한 선량측정비교에서도 20%이상 다르게 나타냈다. 또한 선량 알고리즘이 달라져도 다른 측정 값이 나왔다. 반면, 단계적 최적화를 실시 할 경우에는, 초기 치료계획과 비교하였을 때 종양 및 정상 장기의 선량 분포가 5% 이하의 차이를 보였다. 결 론 : 치료계획의 최적화 과정은 수 많은 시행 착오를 수행하며 궁극적인 해를 찾아가는 과정이다. 이때 초기 치료계획의 완성만을 신뢰하며 최적화를 실시하면 또 다른 치료계획이 만들어 질 수 있다. 유사한 경향을 보이긴 하지만, 반드시 최적화 조건을 만족한다고 볼 수 없기 때문에, 최적화 과정을 재 실시할 경우에는 반드시 단계적인 최적화 과정을 통하여 선량분포를 확인하면서 순차적으로 최적화 조건을 적용해야 할 것이다.