• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2004.02a
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• pp.238-244
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• 2004

The relationship between the leaching and gap inventory of spent fuel has been studied. When a specimen of J44H08 spent PWR fuel with 38 GWD/MTU has been leached in the synthetic granitic groundwater in Ar atmosphere, the released fraction of cesium was increased rapidly up to 0.7% at around 500 days and stayed below 0.8% until 3 years. This 0.7% of cesium might be released from the gap in this fuel. The measurement of gap inventory with C15I08 spent PWR fuel, having 35 GWD/MTU and 0.22% of fission gas release, was also determined near 0.6% for the cesium, which is a similar fraction of cesium released from the leaching experiment with J44H08 fuel. Its gap inventories of strontium and iodine were about 0.03 and less than 0.2% respectively. Respective fractions of cesium and strontium in grain boundary of C15I08 were 0.78, 0.09%.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2005

Delaying and objection for the construction of storage spent-fuel disposal has prompted to consider expanding on-site storage of spent reactor fuel since it can eliminate the need for costly and difficult shipping and control of the spent fuel completely under the direction of the owner-utility. The dry storage unit developed in Canada can accommodate Korea heavy water reactor fuel elements and become a candidate for the Korean market. In this paper, finite element analysis were carried out in order to investigate the structural behavior of the nuclear spent fuel dry storage system, which is subjected to impact loads such as collision of a truck load and dropping of flask under the irregular operation.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.spc
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• pp.1-19
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• 2020

Based on the current high-level radioactive waste management basic plan and the analysis results of spent nuclear fuel characteristics, such as dimensions and decay heat, an improved geological disposal concept for spent nuclear fuel from domestic nuclear power plants was proposed in this study. To this end, disposal container concepts for spent nuclear fuel from two types of reactors, pressurized water reactor (PWR) and Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU), considering the dimensions and interim storage method, were derived. In addition, considering the cooling time of the spent nuclear fuel at the time of disposal, according to the current basic plan-based scenarios, the amount of decay heat capacity for a disposal container was determined. Furthermore, improved disposal concepts for each disposal container were proposed, and analyses were conducted to determine whether the design requirements for the temperature limit were satisfied. Then, the disposal efficiencies of these disposal concepts were compared with those of the existing disposal concepts. The results indicated that the disposal area was reduced by approximately 20%, and the disposal density was increased by more than 20%.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.365-369
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• 2022

Operating and decommissioning nuclear power plants generates radioactive waste. This radioactive waste can be categorized into several different levels, for example, low, intermediate, and high, according to the regulations. Currently, low and intermediate-level waste are stored in conventional 200-liter drums to be disposed. However, in Korea, the disposal of intermediate-level radioactive waste is virtually impossible as there are no available facilities. Furthermore, large-sized intermediate-level radioactive waste, such as reactor internals from decommissioning, need to be segmented into smaller sizes so they can be adequately stored in the conventional drums. This segmentation process requires additional costs and also produces secondary waste. Therefore, this paper suggests repurposing the no-longer-used spent nuclear fuel casks. The casks are larger in size than the conventional drums, thus requiring less segmentation of waste. Furthermore, the safety requirements of the spent nuclear fuel casks are severer than those of the drums. Hence, repurposed spent nuclear fuel casks could better address potential risks such as dropping, submerging, or a fire. In addition, the spent nuclear fuel casks need to be disposed in compliance with the regulations for low level radioactive waste. This cost may be avoided by repurposing the casks.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.571-576
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• 2023

The initial development plans for the six reactor designs, soon after the release of Generation IV International Forum (GIF) TRM in 2002, were characterized by high ambition [1]. Specifically, the sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) and very-high temperature reactor (VHTR) gained significant attention and were expected to reach the validation stage by the 2020s, with commercial viability projected for the 2030s. However, these projections have been unrealized because of various factors. The development of reactor designs by the GIF was supposed to be influenced by events such as the 2008 global financial crisis, 2011 Fukushima accident [2, 3], discovery of extensive shale oil reserves in the United States, and overly ambitious technological targets. Consequently, the momentum for VHTR development reduced significantly. In this context, the aims of this study were to compare and analyze the development progress of the six Gen IV reactor designs over the past 20 years, based on the GIF roadmaps published in 2002 and 2014. The primary focus was to examine the prospects for the reactor designs in relation to spent nuclear fuel burning in conjunction with small modular reactor (SMR), including molten salt reactor (MSR), which is expected to have spent nuclear fuel management potential.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.432-441
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• 2007

Image processing methods for an extraction of a nuclear fuel rod image and visualization methods of the RGB color data were studied with a sectional image of spent fuel assembly. The fuel rod images could be extracted by using a histogram analysis, an edge detection and RGB rotor data. In these results, a size of the spent fuel assembly could be measured by using a histogram analysis method and a shape of the spent fuel rod could be observed by using an edge detection method. Finally, a various analyses were established for status of the spent fuel assembly by realized various 3D images for the color data in an image of a spent fuel assembly.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.609-613
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• 2003

The confinement of a storage system to accommodate spent fuel and radioactive material must be designed and estimated so that the storage system is safe during a storage period. The confinement can be estimated by calculation of the allowable leakage rate in compliance with ANSI Nl4.5 or ISO 12807. Accordingly, the allowable leakage rate was estimated in compliance with ISO 12807 in the case of storage of 24 PWR spent fuels and 24-conditioned spent fuels. In the case of the 24 PWR spent fuel assemblies, the allowable leakage rate was estimated as $7.43{\times}10_{-11}m_3/s$, in the case of the 24 conditioned spent fuel assemblies, the allowable leakage rate was estimated as $1.80{\times}10_{-10}m_3/s$. Therefore, the confinement condition in the storage of the conditioned spent fuel is easier than that for the storage of the PWR spent fuel.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.85-94
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• 2007

The Korean nuclear fuel cycle was modeled by the dynamic analysis method, which was applied to the once-through and alternative fuel cycles. First, the once-through fuel cycle was analyzed based on the Korean nuclear power plant construction plan up to 2015 and a postulated nuclear demand growth rate of zero after 2015. Second, alternative fuel cycles including the direct use of spent pressurized water reactor fuel in Canada deuterium uranium reactors (DUPIC), a sodium-cooled fast reactor and an accelerator driven system were assessed and the results were compared with those of the once-through fuel cycle. The once-through fuel cycle calculation showed that the nuclear power demand would be 25 GWe and the amount of the spent fuel will be ${\sim}65000$ tons by 2100. The alternative fuel cycle analyses showed that the spent fuel inventory could be reduced by more than 30% and 90% through the DUPIC and fast reactor fuel cycles, respectively, when compared with the once-through fuel cycle. The results of this study indicate that both spent fuel and uranium resources can be effectively managed if alternative reactor systems are timely implemented along with the existing reactors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.1457-1462
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• 2017

Unsteady thermal processes in storage containers with spent nuclear fuel were modeled. The daily fluctuations of outer ambient temperatures were taken into account. The modeling approach, which is based on the solving of conjugate and inverse heat transfer problems, was verified by comparison of measured and calculated temperatures in outer channels. The time delays in the reaching of maximal temperatures for each spent fuel assembly were calculated. Results of numerical investigations show that daily fluctuation of outer temperatures does not have a large influence on the maximal temperatures of stored spent fuel, so that fluctuation can be neglected and only daily average temperature should be considered for safety estimation using the "best estimation" approach.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.214-225
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• 2003

A teleoperated manipulator system has been developed for remote handling of the spent fuel bundles. A heavy-duty power manipulator with high reduction ratio joints is used for the slave manipulator in the developed system since the handling tasks of the spent fuel bundles need power. Also, the universal type master manipulator, which has force reflecting capability, is used for precise remote manipulation. The power manipulators so frequently occur the control input saturation that the precise control performances are not achieved due to the windup phenomenon. An advanced bilateral control scheme compensating for the saturation is applied to the teleoperated manipulator system. The validity of the developed system is verified by the grid cutting and fuel transportation tasks from the mockup spent fuel bundle.