• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권7호
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• pp.2678-2686
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• 2023

This work demonstrates the results of full-scale numerical experiments of a hybrid thorium-containing fuel plant operating in a state close to critical due to a controlled source of D-T neutrons. The proposed facility represented a level of generated power (~10-100 MW_t) in a small pilot. In this work, the simulation of the D-T neutron plasma source operation in conjunction with the facility blanket was performed. The fission of fuel nuclei and the formation of spatial-energy release were studied in this simulation, in pulsed and stationary modes of the facility operation. The optimization results of neutronic and fluid dynamics studies to level the emerging offsets of the radial energy formed in the volume of the facility multiplying part due to the pulsed operation of the D-T neutron plasma source were presented. The results will be useful in improving the power control-based subcriticality monitoring method in coupled systems of the "pulsed neutron source-subcritical fuel assembly" type.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권11호
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• pp.2460-2470
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• 2020

To study the thermophysical and neutronic properties of thorium-plutonium fuel, a conceptual design of a hybrid facility consisting of a subcritical Th-Pu reactor core and a source of additional D-D neutrons that places on the axis of the core is proposed. The source of such neutrons is a column of high-temperature plasma held in a long magnetic trap for D-D fusionreactions. This article presents computer simulation results of generation of thermonuclear neutrons in the plasma, facility neutronic properties and the evolution of a fuel nuclide composition in the reactor core. Simulations were performed for an axis-symmetric radially profiled reactor core consisting of zones with various nuclear fuel composition. Such reactor core containing a continuously operating stationary D-D neutron source with a yield intensity of Y = 2 × 10¹⁶ neutrons per second can operate as a nuclear hybrid system at its effective coefficient of neutron multiplication 0.95-0.99. Options are proposed for optimizing plasma parameters to increase the neutron yield in order to compensate the effective multiplication factor decreasing and plant power in a long operating cycle (3000-day duration). The obtained simulation results demonstrate the possibility of organizing the stable operation of the proposed hybrid 'fusion-fission' facility.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 2003년도 춘계학술발표대회 요약집
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• pp.56.1-56.1
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• 2003

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권1호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

This study discusses the effect of using ²³²Th instead of ²³⁸U on the neutronic characteristics and the main operating parameters of the pressurized water reactor (PWR). MCNPX version 2.7 was used to compare the neutronic characteristics of UO₂ with (Th, ²³⁵U)O₂ and (Th, ²³³U) O₂. Firstly, the infinity multiplication factor (K_inf), thermal neutron flux, and power distribution have been studied for the investigated fuel types. Secondly, the effect of Gd₂O₃ and Er₂O₃ on the K_inf and on the radial thermal neutron flux and thermal power has been investigated to distinguish which of them is more suitable than the other in reactivity management. Thirdly, to illustrate the effectiveness of ²³²Th in decreasing the inventory of both the actinides and non-actinides, the concentration of plutonium (Pu) isotopes and minor actinides (MAs) has been simulated with the fuel burnup. Besides, due to their large thermal neutron absorption cross-section, the concentrations of ¹³⁵Xe, ¹⁴⁹Sm, and ¹⁵¹Sm with the fuel burnup have been investigated. Finally, the main safety parameters such as the reactivity worth of the control rods (ρ_CR), the effective delayed neutron fraction β_eff, and the Doppler reactivity coefficient (DRC) were calculated to determine to which extent these fuel types achieve the acceptable limits.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.331-341
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• 2016

국내 유통중인 다양한 형태의 원료물질 또는 공정부산물들에 대한 물리적, 화학적 및 방사선적 특성을 평가하기 위해 약 220여 개, 총 16 종의 표본 시료를 선정하였다. 해당 시료들에 대하여 $LaBr_3$ 섬광검출기를 이용한 에너지 스펙트럼 측정과 에너지 분산형 X-선 형광 분광기를 이용한 U, Th, K와 물질의 주요 성분 분석을 수행하였다. 그리고 HPGe 검출기를 이용하여 $^{234}Th$, $^{234m}Pa$ 및 $^{214}Bi$ 등의 우라늄 붕괴계열 핵종들과 $^{228}Ac$, $^{212}Pb$ 및 $^{208}Tl$ 등의 토륨 붕괴계열 핵종들 그리고 $^{40}K$ 등의 방사능농도를 분석함으로써 원료물질 및 공정부산물의 특성에 관한 기초자료를 수집하였다. 추가적으로 ROI구간별 계수율과 원소성분함량, 방사능농도와 같은 특성변수들 간의 상관관계를 분석함으로써 스크리닝 장비를 이용한 방사능 농도 분포 유추 가능성을 평가하였다. 본 연구에서 구축된 특성 데이터베이스는 천연방사성핵종 분석을 위한 절차 및 방법을 수립하는데 유용한 정보를 제공하고, 천연방사성핵종 분석에 대한 정확성 및 재현성을 향상시킬 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.