• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.313-317
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• 2018

Licenses for the storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and vitrified highly active waste in casks under dry conditions are limited to 40 years and have to be renewed for prolonged storage periods. If such a license renewal has to be expected since as in accordance with the new site selection procedure a final repository for spent fuel in Germany will not be available before the year 2050. For transport and possible unloading and loading in new casks for final storage, the integrity and the maintenance of the geometry of the cask's inventory is essential because the SNF rod cladding and the cladding of the vitrified highly active waste are stipulated as a barrier in the storage concept. For SNF, the cladding integrity is ensured currently by limiting the hoop stress and hoop strain as well as the maximum temperature to certain values for a 40-year storage period. For a prolonged storage period, other cladding degradation mechanisms such as inner and outer oxide layer formation, hydrogen pick up, irradiation damages in cladding material crystal structure, helium production from alpha decay, and long-term fission gas release may become leading effects driving degradation mechanisms that have to be discussed.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.246-254
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• 1998

In order to investigate the characteristics of resistance and conduction of vulcanized styrene butadiene rubber (SBR)/ carbon black (CB) composites, surface/ volume resistivity, point to point resistance, decay time, and electrical conduction experiments with four different kinds of non-conductive carbon black were measured. When about 50phr of carbon black were loaded in SBR, all resistivites suddenly decreased and critical region (Rc) was shown. Current densities of SBR/CB composites showed critical point (Pc) and increased with the electric fields. Electrical conduction mechanisms of SBR/CB composites could be considered as the ohmic conduction at low electric fields and the space charge limited conduction (SCLC) at high electric fields, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.510-517
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• 2019

Increasing proliferation resistance of plutonium by way of increased $^{238}Pu$ content is of interest to the nuclear nonproliferation and international safeguards community. Considering the high alpha decay heat of $^{238}Pu$, increasing the isotopic fraction leads to a noticeably higher amount of heat generation within the plutonium. High heat generation is especially unattractive in the scenario of weaponization. Upon weaponization of the plutonium, the plutonium may generate enough heat to elevate the temperature in the high explosives to above its self-explosion temperature, rendering the weapon useless. In addition, elevated temperatures will cause thermal expansion in the components of a nuclear explosive device that may produce thermal stresses high enough to produce failure in the materials, reducing the effectiveness of the weapon. Understanding the technical limit of $^{238}Pu$ required to reduce the possibility of weaponization is key to reducing the current limit on safeguarded plutonium (greater than 80 at. % $^{238}Pu$). The plutonium vector evaluated in this study was found by simulating public information on Lightbridge's fuel design for pressurized water reactors. This study explores the temperature profile and maximum stress within a simple (first generation design) hypothetical nuclear explosive device of four unique scenarios over time. Analyzing the transient development of both the temperature profile and maximum stress not only establishes a technical limit on the $^{238}Pu$ content, but also establishes a time limit for which each scenario would be useable.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.284-292
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• 2019

For the continuous operation of a nuclear reactor, burnt fuel needs to be replaced with fresh fuel, where appropriate (ex-vessel) fuel handling is required. Particularly for the Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) refueling, its process has unique challenges due to liquid sodium coolant. The ex-vessel spent fuel transportation should concern several design features such as the radiation shielding, decay-heat removal, and inert space separated from air. This paper proposes a new design optimization methodology of cask shielding to transport the spent fuel assembly in a prototype SFR for the first time. The Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm had been applied to design trade-offs between shielding and cask weight. The cask is designed as a double-cylinder structure to block an inert sodium region from the air-cooling space. The PSO process yielded the optimum shielding thickness of 26 cm, considering the weight as well. To confirm the shielding performance, the radiation dose of spent fuel removed at its peak burnup and after 1-year cooling was calculated. Two different fuel positions located during transportation were also investigated to consider a functional disorder in a cask drive system. This study concludes the current cask design in normal operations is satisfactory in accordance with regulatory rules.

• Current Applied Physics
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1359-1367
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• 2018

In this work, we investigated the spectroscopic properties of $LiY_xSr_yZrO_{3+{\alpha}:Eu^{3+}$, a red emitting nanophosphor based on $SrZrO_3$ perovskite. The synthesis process was an auto-combustion process. X-ray diffractograms show the orthorhombic structure of $SrZrO_3$. Photoluminescence (PL) excitation spectra display a split charge transfer band revealing the presence of two possible sites for the $Eu^{3+}$ ions. The emission spectra at 231 nm excitation illustrate the dominance of the $^5D_0-^7F_1$ transition, which is an indication that the smaller sized $Eu^{3+}$ ions are mostly situated at the more ordered (symmetric) $Sr^{2+}$ sites. The emission spectra at 292 nm & 397 nm excitations show the dominance of $^5D_0-^7F_2$ transition which suggests some of the $Eu^{3+}$ ions are also situated at the distorted $Zr^{4+}$ sites. Both the intensity parameters, asymmetry ratio and the decay lifetimes of the nanophosphors show dependence on $Y^{3+}$ concentration, signifying a modification in the host structure. Maximum quantum efficiency value of ${\approx}46%$ was obtained for the nanophosphors which indicate the need for improvement for practical applications. CIE coordinates show the suitability of this phosphor for both red emission in LED and as a complementary colour for white LED applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.877-887
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• 2022

A new reactor concept is described that directly couples a supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) power cycle with a CO₂-cooled, heavy water moderated pressure tube core. This configuration attains the simplification and economic potential of past direct-cycle sCO₂ concepts, while also providing safety and power density benefits by using the moderator as a heat sink for decay heat removal. A 200 MWe design is described that heavily leverages existing commercial nuclear technologies, including reactor and moderator systems from Canadian CANDU reactors and fuels and materials from UK Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs). Descriptions are provided of the power cycle, nuclear island systems, reactor core, and safety systems, and the results of safety analyses are shown illustrating the ability of the design to withstand large-break loss of coolant accidents. The resulting design attains high efficiency while employing considerably fewer systems than current light water reactors and advanced reactor technologies, illustrating its economic promise. Prospects for the design are discussed, including the ability to demonstrate its technologies in a small (~20 MWe) initial system, and avenues for further improvement of the design using advanced technologies.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.270-281
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• 2022

Based on the transfer-matrix method (TMM), we report the characteristics of the interface states in one-dimensional (1D) composite structures consisting of two photonic crystals (PCs) composed of binary dielectrics A and B, with unit-cell configurations ABA (PC I) and BAB (PC II). The dependence of the interface states on the number of unit cells N and the boundary factor x are displayed. It is verified that the interface states are independent of N when the PC has inversion symmetry (x = 0.5). Besides, the composite structures support the formation of interface states independent of the PC symmetry, except that the positions of the interface states will be varied within the photonic band gaps. Moreover, the robustness of the interface states against nonuniformities is investigated by adding Gaussian noise to the layer thickness. In the case of inversion symmetry (x = 0.5) the most robust interface states are achieved, while for the other cases (x ≠ 0.5) interface states decay linearly with position inside the band gap. This work could shed light on the development of robust photonic devices.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.95-103
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• 2023

Rosiglitazone is a thiazolidinedione-class antidiabetic drug that reduces blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin levels. We here investigated the interaction of rosiglitazone with Kv3.1 expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells using the wholecell patch-clamp technique. Rosiglitazone rapidly and reversibly inhibited Kv3.1 currents in a concentration-dependent manner (IC₅₀ = 29.8 µM) and accelerated the decay of Kv3.1 currents without modifying the activation kinetics. The rosiglitazonemediated inhibition of Kv3.1 channels increased steeply in a sigmoidal pattern over the voltage range of -20 to +30 mV, whereas it was voltage-independent in the voltage range above +30 mV, where the channels were fully activated. The deactivation of Kv3.1 current, measured along with tail currents, was also slowed by the drug. In addition, the steady-state inactivation curve of Kv3.1 by rosiglitazone shifts to a negative potential without significant change in the slope value. All the results with the use dependence of the rosiglitazone-mediated blockade suggest that rosiglitazone acts on Kv3.1 channels as an open channel blocker.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.856-863
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• 2009

The problem of urban decay in Hong Kong has drawn much attention of both practitioners and academics. Poorly managed buildings not just give a negative image to the Pearl of the Orient in the region, but also pose potential risk hazards to the health and safety of the general public. While it is necessary to devise a comprehensive plan on redevelopment and urban planning, preserving the existing buildings to maintain their conditions for habitation can be a short-term option to safeguard quality standard. With the increasing number of ageing buildings in Hong Kong, a lot of research efforts have been devoted to managing repair and maintenance projects properly (for example those initiated and funded by the Construction Industry Institute, Hong Kong; and the current study financially supported by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University). Given the short duration and more diversified nature of work, building repair and maintenance works are found to be more difficult to monitor and regulate when compared with new works. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis on the problems of running building maintenance projects. An extensive review of contemporary literature was firstly conducted, which forms a solid basis for developing an empirical study on the problems and difficulties of running building maintenance projects from the viewpoints of industrial practitioners with a view to formulating effective strategies for managing maintenance projects successfully.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.207-220
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• 1981

The Np-237 fission cross-sections up to 20 MeV incident neutron energy are calculated by means of the computer code STAPRE- a statistical model code with consideration of preequilibrium decay. The higher chance fissions up to third compound nucleus are taken into account, and the main input parameters in the treatment of fission under consideration of a double-humped fission barrier are carefully adjusted, so that the current trend of experimental data can be fitted within an apparent deviation of about 10% throughout the entire energy range. Results are presented in the form of point-wise cross-section values, and also in the form of graph to demonstrate the shape agreement.