• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제41권4호
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• pp.427-446
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• 2009

In order to meet the increasing demand for electricity, Korea has to rely on nuclear energy due to its poor natural resources. In order for nuclear energy to be expanded in its utilization, issues with uranium supply and waste management issues have to be addressed. Fast reactor system is one of the most promising options for electricity generation with its efficient utilization of uranium resources and reduction of radioactive waste, thus contributing to sustainable development. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has been performing R&Ds on Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFRs) under the national nuclear R&D program. Based on the experiences gained from the development of KALIMER conceptual designs of a pool-type U-TRU-10%Zr metal fuel loaded reactor, KAERI is currently developing Advanced SFR design concepts that can better meet the Generation IV technology goals. This also includes developing, Advanced SFR technologies necessary for its commercialization and basic key technologies, aiming at the conceptual design of an Advanced SFR by 2011. KAERI is making R&D efforts to develop advanced design concepts including a passive decay heat removal system and a supercritical $CO_2$ Brayton cycle energy conversion system, as well as developing design methodologies, computational tools, and sodium technology. The long-term Advanced SFR development plan will be carried out toward the construction of an Advanced SFR demonstration plant by 2028.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제46권6호
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• pp.803-816
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• 2014

Defense-in-depth is a fundamental safety principle for the design and operation of nuclear power plants. Despite its general appeal, defense-in-depth is not without its drawbacks, which include its potential for concealing the occurrence of hazardous states in a system, and more generally rendering the latter more opaque for its operators and managers, thus resulting in safety blind spots. This in turn translates into a shrinking of the time window available for operators to identify an unfolding hazardous condition or situation and intervene to abate it. To prevent this drawback from materializing, we propose in this work a novel safety principle termed "observability-in-depth". We characterize it as the set of provisions technical, operational, and organizational designed to enable the monitoring and identification of emerging hazardous conditions and accident pathogens in real-time and over different time-scales. Observability-in-depth also requires the monitoring of conditions of all safety barriers that implement defense-in-depth; and in so doing it supports sensemaking of identified hazardous conditions, and the understanding of potential accident sequences that might follow (how they can propagate). Observability-in-depth is thus an information-centric principle, and its importance in accident prevention is in the value of the information it provides and actions or safety interventions it spurs. We examine several "event reports" from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission database, which illustrate specific instances of violation of the observability-in-depth safety principle and the consequences that followed (e.g., unmonitored releases and loss of containments). We also revisit the Three Mile Island accident in light of the proposed principle, and identify causes and consequences of the lack of observability-in-depth related to this accident sequence. We illustrate both the benefits of adopting the observability-in-depth safety principle and the adverse consequences when this principle is violated or not implemented. This work constitutes a first step in the development of the observability-in-depth safety principle, and we hope this effort invites other researchers and safety professionals to further explore and develop this principle and its implementation.

• 동아시아식생활학회지
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.378-385
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• 1999

A reduced NaCl intake for the general population of the world has been recommended to reduce the overall blood pressure level and hence to reduce the overall incidence of cardiovascular disease. A high NaCl diet convincingly contributes to elevated arterial pressure in humans and animal models of hypertension. Among individuals there is considerable variability of blood pressure responsiveness to NaCl intake. In normotensive as well as hypertensive subjects, blood pressure can be judged to be salt sensitivity (SS) when observed to vary directly and substantially with the net intake of NaCl. The prevalence of SS in normotensive adults in the U.S. ranges from 15% to 42% and in hypertensive adults from 28% to 74%. SS is a risk factor for hypertension and may be an important marker in the identification of children for hypertension prevention programs. High NaCl intakes produce expansion of the extracellular fluid volume and thus increase blood pressure. Nonchloride salts of sodium does not expand the extracellular fluid volume and does not alter blood pressure. Blood pressure response to NaCl may be modified by other components of the diet. Low dietary intakes of potassium or calcium augment NaCl-induced increases of blood pressure. Conversely, high dietary intakes of potassium or calcium attenuate NaCl-induced hypertension. A greater intakes of potassium or calcium may prevent or delay the occurrence of hypertension. SS occurs when dietary potassium is even marginally deficient but is dose-dependently suppressed when dietary potassium is increased within its normal range. Orally administered KHCO$_3$, abundant in fruits and vegetates, but not KCl has a calcium-retaining effect which may contributed to its reversal of pressor effect of dietary NaCl. Since nutrients other than NaCl also affect blood pressure levels, a reduced NaCl intake should be only one component of a nutritional strategy to lower blood pressure.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권2호
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• pp.229-236
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• 2018

Accident-tolerant fuels (ATFs) are currently of high interest to researchers in the nuclear industry and in governmental and international organizations. One widely studied accident-tolerant fuel concept is multilayer cladding (also known as coated cladding). This concept is based on a traditional Zr-based alloy (Zircaloy-4, M5, E110, ZIRLO etc.) serving as a substrate. Different protective materials are applied to the substrate surface by various techniques, thus enhancing the accident tolerance of the fuel. This study focuses on the results of testing of Zircaloy-4 coated with pure chromium metal using the cold spray (CS) technique. In comparison with other deposition methods, e.g., Physical vapor deposition (PVD), laser coating, or Chemical vapor deposition techniques (CVD), the CS technique is more cost efficient due to lower energy consumption and high deposition rates, making it more suitable for industry-scale production. The Cr-coated samples were tested at different conditions ($500^{\circ}C$ steam, $1200^{\circ}C$ steam, and Pressurized water reactor (PWR) pressurization test) and were precharacterized and postcharacterized by various techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy, Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), or nanoindentation; results are discussed. Results of the steady-state fuel performance simulations using the Bison code predicted the concept's feasibility. It is concluded that CS Cr coating has high potential benefits but requires further optimization and out-of-pile and in-pile testing.

• 대한핵의학회지
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.108-118
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• 1990

It is well known that the glucocorticoid suppresses the osteoblast and the calcitonin suppresses the osteoclast. If the calcitonin prevents the osteoporosis with increased Tc-99m MDP uptake in the long-term use of glucocorticoid, then the calcitonin has some activating effect on the bone formation. The immobilization operation was done on the left hind-leg of 16 male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing about 300 g each. For 12 weeks after operation,8 rats were injected 0.5 mg/kg dexamethasone, and the other 8 rats were injected 0.5 mg/kg dexamethasone and $1\;\bar{u}/kg$ eel calcitonin. The bone mineral content was measured by the single photon absorptiometry and the Tc-99m MDP uptake was used as an index of the osteoblastic activity. 1) The Tc-99m MDP uptakes in the dexamethasone treated group were lower than those in the dexamethasone and calcitonin treated group, and there was no significant difference in Tc-99m MDP uptakes between the immobilized and normal femurs. 2) The bone mineral contents in the dexamethasone treated group were significantly lower than in the dexamethasone and calcitonin treated group, and the immobilized femurs had tower BMC than normal femurs. 3) The slope of regression between the BMC and Tc-99m MDP uptake was stiff in the dexamethasone treated group, and flat in the dexamethasone and calcitonin group, which shows discrepancy between the bone resorption and formation resulting prevention of net bone loss in the dexamethasone and calcitonin treated group. In conclusion, the calcitonin has some effect on the bone formation, and further studies with urinary hydroxyproline and cyclic AMP are expected.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제47권7호
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• pp.791-803
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• 2015

The effective cross sections (XSs) in the direct whole core calculation code nTRACER are evaluated by the equivalence theory-based resonance-integral-table method using the WIMS-based library as an alternative to the subgroup method. The background XSs, as well as the Dancoff correction factors, were evaluated by the enhanced neutron-current method. A method, with pointwise microscopic XSs on a union-lethargy grid, was used for the generation of resonance-interference factors (RIFs) for mixed resonant absorbers. This method was modified by the intermediate-resonance approximation by replacing the potential XSs for the non-absorbing moderator nuclides with the background XSs and neglecting the resonance-elastic scattering. The resonance-escape probability was implemented to incorporate the energy self-shielding effect in the spectrum. The XSs were improved using the proposed method as compared to the narrow resonance infinite massbased method. The RIFs were improved by 1% in $^{235}U$, 7% in $^{239}Pu$, and >2% in $^{240}Pu$. To account for thermal feedback, a new feature was incorporated with the interpolation of pre-generated RIFs at the multigroup level and the results compared with the conventional resonance-interference model. This method provided adequate results in terms of XSs and k-eff. The results were verified first by the comparison of RIFs with the exact RIFs, and then comparing the XSs with the McCARD calculations for the homogeneous configurations, with burned fuel containing a mixture of resonant nuclides at different burnups and temperatures. The RIFs and XSs for the mixture showed good agreement, which verified the accuracy of the RIF evaluation using the proposed method. The method was then verified by comparing the XSs for the virtual environment for reactor applicationbenchmark pin-cell problem, as well as the heterogeneous pin cell containing burned fuel with McCARD. The method works well for homogeneous, as well as heterogeneous configurations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권3호
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• pp.549-555
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• 2017

A lead slowing-down spectrometer (LSDS) system is under development to analyze isotopic fissile content that is applicable to spent fuel and recycled material. The source neutron mechanism for efficient and effective generation was also determined. The source neutron interacts with a lead medium and produces continuous neutron energy, and this energy generates dominant fission at each fissile, below the unresolved resonance region. From the relationship between the induced fissile fission and the fast fission neutron detection, a mathematical assay model for an isotopic fissile material was set up. The assay model can be expanded for all fissile materials. The correction factor for self-shielding was defined in the fuel assay area. The corrected fission signature provides well-defined fission properties with an increase in the fissile content. The assay procedure was also established. The assay energy range is very important to take into account the prominent fission structure of each fissile material. Fission detection occurred according to the change of the Pu239 weight percent (wt%), but the content of U235 and Pu241 was fixed at 1 wt%. The assay result was obtained with 2~3% uncertainty for Pu239, depending on the amount of Pu239 in the fuel. The results show that LSDS is a very powerful technique to assay the isotopic fissile content in spent fuel and recycled materials for the reuse of fissile materials. Additionally, a LSDS is applicable during the optimum design of spent fuel storage facilities and their management. The isotopic fissile content assay will increase the transparency and credibility of spent fuel storage.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• 제4권4호
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• pp.286-292
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• 2020

Imaging through multicore fiber (MCF) is of great significance in the biomedical domain. Although several techniques have been developed to image an object from a signal passing through MCF, these methods are strongly dependent on the surroundings, such as vibration and the temperature fluctuation of the fiber's environment. In this paper, we apply a new, strong technique called deep learning to reconstruct the phase image through a MCF in which each core is multimode. To evaluate the network, we employ the binary cross-entropy as the loss function of a convolutional neural network (CNN) with improved U-net structure. The high-quality reconstruction of input objects upon spatial light modulation (SLM) can be realized from the speckle patterns of intensity that contain the information about the objects. Moreover, we study the effect of MCF length on image recovery. It is shown that the shorter the fiber, the better the imaging quality. Based on our findings, MCF may have applications in fields such as endoscopic imaging and optical communication.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권5호
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• pp.1373-1380
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• 2019

Besides promising implications as fertile nuclear materials, thorium carbonitrides are of great interest owing to their peculiar physical and chemical properties, such as high density, high melting point, good thermal conductivity. This paper reports first-principles simulation results on the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of cubic thorium carbonitrides $ThC_xN_{(1-x)}$ (X = 0.03125, 0.0625, 0.09375, 0.125, 0.15625) employing formalism of density-functional-theory. For the simulation of physical properties, we incorporated full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave (FPLAPW) method while the exchange-correlation potential terms in Kohn-Sham Equation (KSE) are treated within Generalized-Gradient-Approximation (GGA) in conjunction with Perdew-Bruke-Ernzerhof (PBE) correction. The structural parameters were calculated by fitting total energy into the Murnaghan's equation of state. The lattice constants, bulk moduli, total energy, electronic band structure and spin magnetic moments of the compounds show dependence on the C/N concentration ratio. The electronic and magnetic properties have revealed non-magnetic but metallic character of the compounds. The main contribution to density of states at the Fermi level stems from the comparable spectral intensity of Th (6d+5f) and (C+N) 2p states. In comparison with spin magnetic moments of ThSb and ThBi calculated earlier with LDA+U approach, we observed an enhancement in the spin magnetic moments after carbon-doping into ThN monopnictide.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권4호
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• pp.1032-1036
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• 2019

When the equipment which is related to safety or important to power production is installed in nuclear power plant units (NPPs), verification of equipment Electromagnetic Susceptibility (EMS) must be performed. The low-frequency radiated magnetic field susceptibility (RS101) test is one of the EMS tests specified in U.S NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.180 revision 1. The RS101 test verifies the ability of equipment installed in close proximity to sources of large radiated magnetic fields to withstand them. However, RG 1.180 revision 1 allows for an exemption of the low-frequency radiated magnetic susceptibility (RS101) test if the safety-related equipment will not be installed in areas with strong sources of magnetic fields. There is no specific exemption criterion in RG 1.180 revision 1. EPRI TR-102323 revision 4 specifically provides a guide that the low-frequency radiated magnetic field susceptibility (RS101) test can be conservatively exempted for equipment installed at least 1 m away from the sources of large magnetic fields (>300 A/m). But there is no exemption criterion for equipment installed within 1 m of the sources of smaller magnetic fields (<300 A/m). Since some types of equipment radiating magnetic flux are often installed near safety related equipment in an electrical equipment room (EER) and main control room (MCR), the RS101 test exemption criterion needs to be reasonably defined for the cases of installation within 1 m. There is also insufficient data regarding the strength of magnetic fields that can be used in NPPs. In order to ensure confidence in the RS101 test exemption criterion, we measured the strength of low-frequency radiated magnetic fields by distance. This study is expected to provide an insight into the RS101 test exemption criterion that meets the RG 1.180 revision 1. It also provides a margin analysis that can be used to mitigate the influence of low-frequency radiated magnetic field sources in NPPs.