• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.197-201
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• 2012

Annual dose at the boundary of the interim storage facility at normal condition was calculated to estimate the site area of the facility of PWR spent nuclear fuel. In this work, source term was generated by ORIGEN-ARP for 4.5 wt% initial enrichment, 45,000 MWd/MTU burnup and 10 years cooling time. Modeling of the storage facilities and radiation shielding evaluations were conducted by MCNP code depending on the storage capacity. In the case of the centralized storage system, the required site area was found to have the radius of more than 700 m.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.547-556
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• 2014

Korea expects a shortage in storage capacity for spent fuels at reactor sites. Therefore, a need for more metal and/or concrete casks for storage systems is anticipated for either the reactor site or away from the reactor for interim storage. For the purpose of interim storage and transportation, a dual purpose metal cask that can load 21 spent fuel assemblies is being developed by Korea Radioactive Waste Management Corporation (KRMC) in Korea. At first the gamma and neutron flux for the design basis fuel were determined assuming in-core environment (the temperature, pressure, etc. of the moderator, boron, cladding, $UO_2$ pellets) in which the design basis fuel is loaded, as input data. The evaluation simulated burnup up to 45,000 MWD/MTU and decay during ten years of cooling using the SAS2H/OGIGEN-S module of the SCALE5.1 system. The results from the source term evaluation were used as input data for the final shielding evaluation utilizing the MCNP Code, which yielded the effective dose rate. The design of the cask is based on the safety requirements for normal storage conditions under 10 CFR Part 72. A radiation shielding analysis of the metal storage cask optimized for loading 21 design basis fuels was performed for two cases; one for a single cask and the other for a $2{\times}10$ cask array. For the single cask, dose rates at the external surface of the metal cask, 1m and 2m away from the cask surface, were evaluated. For the $2{\times}10$ cask array, dose rates at the center point of the array and at the center of the casks' height were evaluated. The results of the shielding analysis for the single cask show that dose rates were considerably higher at the lower side (from the bottom of the cask to the bottom of the neutron shielding) of the cask, at over 2mSv/hr at the external surface of the cask. However, this is not considered to be a significant issue since additional shielding will be installed at the storage facility. The shielding analysis results for the $2{\times}10$ cask array showed exponential decrease with distance off the sources. The controlled area boundary was calculated to be approximately 280m from the array, with a dose rate of 25mrem/yr. Actual dose rates within the controlled area boundary will be lower than 25mrem/yr, due to the decay of radioactivity of spent fuel in storage.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2009

It is expected that a substantial amount of spent fuels will be transported from the four nuclear power plant (NPP) sites in Korea to a hypothetical centralized interim storage facility or a final repository in the near future. The cost for the transportation is proportional to the amount of spent fuels. In this paper, a cost estimation program is developed based on the conceptual design of a transportation system and a logistics analysis. Using the developed computer program, named as CASK, the minimum capacity of a centralized interim storage facility (CISF) and the transportation cost for PWR spent fuels are calculated. The PWR spent fuels are transported from 4 NPP sites to a final repository (FR) via the CISF. Since NPP sites and the CISF are located along the coast, a sea-transportation is considered and a road-transportation is considered between the CISF and the FR. The result shows that the minimum capacity of the interim storage facility is 15,000 MTU.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.86-91
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• 1982

In 1977, spent fuel storage capacity of Ko-Ri Unit 1 was raised to contain 4-2/3 core, by reducing the center-to-center spacing between fuel assemblies from 53.34cm to 36cm. In this paper the adequacy is discussed in detail by examining the previous design analysis report. According to the analytic method presented by Core Performance Branch, study on credible abnormal moderator density condition is performed by using KENO-IV for the redesigned spent fuel storage facility. Result shows that 36cm for the center-to-center spacing between fuel assemblies is not enough to keep the storage safe at water density of 0.1143g/㎤, which gives the maximum $K_{eff}$ 0.9958$\pm$0.0048, which exceeds the CPB regulation limit 0.98. From sensitivity study regarding to the center-to-center spacing, it should be maintained to space greater than 43cm in order to meet the CPB requirements.s.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.213-217
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• 2012

The amount of spent fuel from nuclear power plants has been increasing. An effective management plan of the spent fuel becomes a critical issue, because the storage capacity of each plant will reach its storage limit in a few years. The volume of high toxic spent fuel can be reduced through a fuel processing. Advanced Fuel Cycle (AFC) system is considered to be one of the options to reduce the toxicity and volume of the spent fuel. It is necessary to set up a test facility to demonstrate the feasibility of the process at the engineering scale. The objective of the work is a development of the safety evaluation technology for the AFC system. The evaluation technology of the AFC structural integrity and processes were surveyed and reviewed. Key evaluation parameters for the main processes such as electrolytic reduction, electrorefining, and electrowinning were obtained. The survey results may be used for the establishment of the AFC regulatory licensing procedure. The establishment of the licensing criteria minimizes the trials and errors of the AFC facility design. Issues taken from the survey on the regulatory procedure and design safety features for the AFC facility provide a chance to resolve potential issues in advance.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.163-170
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• 2023

Since spent nuclear fuel assemblies (SFA) are transported to interim storage or final disposal facility after cooling the decay heat, finite element analysis (FEA) with simplification is widely used to show their integrity against cladding failure to cause dispersal of radioactive material. However, there is a lack of research addressing the comprehensive impact of shape and element simplification on analysis results. In this study, for the optimization of a typical pressurized water reactor SFA, different types of finite element models were generated by changing number of fuel rods, fuel rod element type and assembly length. A series of FEA in use of these different models were conducted under a shock load data obtained from surrogate fuel assembly transportation test. Effects of number of fuel rods, element type and length of assembly were also analyzed, which shows that the element type of fuel rod mainly affected on cladding strain. Finally, an optimal finite element model was determined for other practical application in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.947-955
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• 2023

This study was conducted to investigate the awareness of spent nuclear fuel among residents in nuclear power plant areas and use it as basic data for establishing a disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste. 204 questionnaires collected online were analyzed using SPSS Window Ver 28.0. To verify differences between groups, t-test and one-way ANOVA were performed. And correlation analysis was conducted to confirm the relationship between variables. As a result, first, risk perception regarding nuclear-related accidents showed statistically significant differences depending on gender and educational level. The position on the construction of a permanent disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel showed a statistically significant difference depending on gender, education, and age, and the perception of the importance of each evaluation standard for establishing a spent nuclear fuel management plan showed a statistically significant difference depending on education and age. In terms of trust in information-providing institutions, trust in the National Assembly was found to be the lowest. Second, the results of the correlation analysis between variables showed that local residents are aware that an alternative to the current disposal of spent nuclear fuel is needed, and that financial support for the construction of a permanent disposal facility is needed. Therefore, in order to build a high-level radioactive waste disposal site, it is believed that it is necessary to increase trust in the government, collect opinions from local residents, and provide economic support.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.313-327
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• 1996

As an at-reactor(AR) storage method o( spent fuel, there are horizontal concrete module type, metal storage cask type, concrete storage cask type, dual purpose (transportation and storage) cask type and multi-purpose (transportation, storage and disposal) cask type. All other types except multi-purpose one have been already used for AR dry storage of spent fuels after obtaining operation license in various foreign countries. Also the development of multi-purpose type has been continued for operation license. In America, Japan, Germany, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, and Czech Republic, etc., AR dry storage facilities are under operation or on propulsion, and spent fuels are transported to interim storage facility or reprocessing plant after dry storage at reactor temporarily. At Wolsung site, in case of Korea, concrete silo type has already been introduced, and it is believed to be inevitable to store spent fuels at reactor temporarily, considering the reality that storage capacity of spent fuel is approaching to the limit in some nuclear power plants. In this report, the system characteristics, design requirements, technical standards and status of AR storage system, which is suitable for domestic site such as Kori, have been studied. In most cases, the licensed period of storage cask is limited up to 20 years and the integrity of material and maintenance of leaktightness are required during the whole service life.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.411-425
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• 2017

Using a probabilistic safety assessment, a risk evaluation framework for an aircraft crash into an interim spent fuel storage facility is presented. Damage evaluation of a detailed generic cask model in a simplified building structure under an aircraft impact is discussed through a numerical structural analysis and an analytical fragility assessment. Sequences of the impact scenario are shown in a developed event tree, with uncertainties considered in the impact analysis and failure probabilities calculated. To evaluate the influence of parameters relevant to design safety, risks are estimated for three specification levels of cask and storage facility structures. The proposed assessment procedure includes the determination of the loading parameters, reference impact scenario, structural response analyses of facility walls, cask containment, and fuel assemblies, and a radiological consequence analysis with dose-risk estimation. The risk results for the proposed scenario in this study are expected to be small relative to those of design basis accidents for best-estimated conservative values. The importance of this framework is seen in its flexibility to evaluate the capability of the facility to withstand an aircraft impact and in its ability to anticipate potential realistic risks; the framework also provides insight into epistemic uncertainty in the available data and into the sensitivity of the design parameters for future research.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.118-119
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• 2017