• 한국세라믹학회지
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• 제51권5호
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• pp.453-458
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• 2014

SiC and its composites have been considered for use as nuclear fuel cladding materials of pressurized light water reactors. In this study, a $SiC_f$/SiC composite as a constituent layer of SiC triplex fuel cladding was fabricated using a chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process in which tubular SiC fiber preforms were prepared using a filament winding method. To enhance the matrix density of the composite layer, winding patterns, deposition temperature, and gas input ratio were controlled. Fiber arrangement and porosity were the main parameters influencing densification behaviors. Final density of the composites decreased as the SiC fiber volume fraction increased. The CVI process was optimized to densify the tubular preforms with high fiber volume fraction at a high $H_2$/MTS ratio of 20 at $1000^{\circ}C$; in this process, surface canning of the composites was effectively retarded.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제9권10호
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• pp.1000-1005
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• 1999

Zr-0.8Sn합금의 재결정에 미치는 V, Sb의 영향을 조사하기 위해 냉간 압연 후 여러 온도 조건에서 열처리된 시편의 미세조직을 편광광학현미경, SEM, TEM으로 관찰하였고 미소경도계로 경도값을 측정하였다. 미세조직을 관찰한 결과 V과 Sb의 첨가에 의해 재결정이 지연되었으며, 재결정 완료 후의 결정립 성장도 억제됨이 관찰되었다. 특히 Sb는 V보다 재결정을 완료하는데 필요한 온도를 상승시키므로 재결정을 지연시키는 효과가 더욱 큰 것으로 생각된다. 이 처럼 첨가원소가 증가함에 따라 재결정에 늦어지고 결정립이 미세화 되는 것은 V이나 Sb 첨가에 의해 형성된 석출물이 전위나 입계의 이동을 방해하기 때문인 것으로 사료된다.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제2권6호
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• pp.253-259
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• 2003

Zirconium based alloys have been extensively used as a cladding material for fuel rods in nuclear reactors, due to their low thermal neutron absorption cross-section, excellent corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties at high temperatures. However, a cladding material for fuel rods in nuclear reactors was contact water during long time at high-temperature, so it is necessary to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of the fuel cladding, At ambient environment, there are few data or paper on the characteristic of corrosion in chloride solution and acidic solution. The specimens used in this work are pure Zr and Zircaloy-4. Zircaloy-4 is a specific zirconium-based alloy containing, on a weight percent basis, 1.4% Sn, 0.2% Fe, 0.1% Cr. Pitting corrosion resistance of two alloys by ASTM G48 is higher than that of electrochemical method. Passive film formed on Zircaloy-4 is mainly composed of $ZrO_2$, metallic Sn, and iron species regardless of formation environments. Also, passive film formed on Zr alloys shows n-type semiconductic property on the base of Mott-Schottky plot.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제41권2호
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• pp.143-148
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• 2009

The increasing power and other demands on PWR fuel is leading to a demand for cladding that has low corrosion but that should also be robust with regard to mechanical behavior, impact of the irradiation environment and the coolant chemistry. The Optimized $ZIRLO^{TM}$ cladding is an evolutionary development of $ZIRLO^{TM}$ taking advantage of the long experience of the ZIRLO cladding but has significantly improved corrosion behavior. Recently, operation of Optimized ZIRLO to above 73 kWd/kgU has shown a reduction of the corrosion of almost 50%.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제41권2호
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• pp.187-198
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• 2009

In this paper, three power ramp tests performed on high burn-up Re-crystallized Zircaloy2 - UO2 BWR fuel rods (56 to 63 MWd/kgU) within the SCIP project are simulated with METEOR and ALCYONE 3D. Two of the ramp tests are of staircase type up to Linear Heat Rates of 420 and 520 W/cm and with long holding periods. Failure of the 420 W/cm fuel rod was observed after 40 minutes. The third ramp test consisted of a more standard ramp test with a constant power rate of 80 W/cm/min up to 410 W/cm with a short holding time. The tests were first simulated with the METEOR 1D fuel rod code, which gave accurate results in terms of profilometry and fission gas releases. The behaviour of a fuel pellet fragment and of the cladding piece on top of it was then investigated with ALCYONE 3D. The size and the main characteristics of the ridges after base irradiation and power ramp testing were recovered. Finally, the failure criteria validated for PWR conditions and fuel rods with low-to-medium burn-ups were used to analyze the failure probability of the KKL rodlets during ramp testing.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 1995년도 추계학술발표회논문집(2)
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• pp.680-686
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• 1995

It has been known that water-side corrosion of fuel rods in nuclear reactor is accompanied with the loss of metallic wall thickness and pickup of hydrogen. This corrosion is one of the important limiting factors ill the operating life of fuel rods. In connection with the fuel cladding corrosion, a device to measure the water-side oxide layer thickness by means of the eddy-current method without destructing the fuel rod was developed by KAERI. The device was installed on the multi-function testing bench in the nondestructive test hot-cell and its calibration was carried out successfully for the standard rod attached with plastic thin films whose thicknesses are predetermined. It shows good precision within about 10% error. And a PWR fuel rod, one of the J-44 assembly discharged from Kori nuclear power plant Unit-2, has been selected for oxide layer thickness measurements. With the result of data analysis, it appeared that the oxide layer thicknesses of Zircaloy cladding vary with the length of the fuel rod, and their thicknesses were compared with those of the destructive test results to confirm the real thicknesses.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권3호
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• pp.504-511
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• 2018

In Lithuania, all spent nuclear fuel (SNF) resulted from the operation of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP), which had two Russian Acronym for "Channelized Large Power Reactor"-type reactors. After the final shutdown, the total amount of SNF at the INPP was approximately 22,000 fuel assemblies. All these assemblies will be stored for about 50 years and disposed of after that. The decision to shut down and decommission both reactors in Lithuania before termination of design period raises a significant challenge for the treatment of accumulated SNF. Therefore, various techniques and technologies for SNF management were developed and justified for that specific case, and a set of special equipment was installed at the INPP, the effectiveness of which was demonstrated during its operation. This article presents unique techniques related to the management of SNF adopted and commissioned at the INPP after its operation shutdown, namely fuel rod cladding leak tightness control system and special equipment for collection of possible spillage during handling of SNF assembly in the hot cell. The operational experience and measurement results of fuel rod cladding leak tightness control system are presented.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권12호
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• pp.4597-4606
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• 2023

Thermal analysis of the CANDU spent fuel dry storage canister is very important to ensure the integrity of the spent fuel. The analyses have been conducted using a conservative approach, with a particular focus on the peak cladding temperature (PCT) of the fuel rods in the canister. In this study, we have performed a realistic thermal analysis using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The canister contains 9 fuel bundle baskets. A detailed analysis of even a single basket requires significant computational resources. To overcome this challenge, we replaced each basket with an equivalent heat conductor (EHC), of which effective thermal conductivity (ETC) is developed from the results of detailed CFD calculations of a fuel bundle basket. Then, we investigated the effects of some conservative models, ultimately aiming at a realistic analysis. The results revealed: (i) The influence of convective heat transfer in the basket cannot be ignored, but it's less significant than expected. (ii) Modeling of the lifting rod is crucial, as it plays a decisive role in axial heat transfer at the center of the canister and significantly reduces the PCT. (iii) Convection within the canister is very important, as it not only reduces the PCT but also shifts its location upwards.

• 한국전산유체공학회지
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.54-61
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• 2016

When spent fuel assemblies from the reactor of nuclear power plants(NPPs) are transported, the assemblies are exposed to short-term operations that can affect the peak cladding temperature of spent fuel assemblies. Therefore, it needs to perform the analysis of heat transfer on spent fuel dry cask during the operation. For 3 dimensional computational fluid dynamnics(CFD) simulation, it is proposed that the short-term operation is divided into three processes: Wet, dry, and vacuum drying condition. The three processes have different heat transfer mode and medium. Metal transportation cask, which is Korea Radioactive Waste Agency(KORAD)'s developing cask, is evaluated by the methods proposed in this work. During working hours, the boiling at wet process does not occur in the cask and the peak cladding temperatures of all processes remain below $400^{\circ}C$. The maximum peak cladding temperature is $173.8^{\circ}C$ at vacuum drying process and the temperature rise of dry, and vacuum drying process occurs steeply.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권11호
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• pp.3704-3710
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• 2021

The characteristics of the external radiation on the surface of the casks for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage by dry method are investigated for the case when the spatial distribution of SNF in the basket changes due to the destruction of the fuel rod claddings. The surface areas are determined, where the changes in fluxes of neutrons, produced by ²⁴⁴Cm actinide, and γ-quanta, produced by long-lived isotopes, are maximum in the result of the decrease in the height of the SNF area. Concrete (VSC-24) and metal (SC-21) casks are considered as examples. The procedure of periodic measurement of the dose rate of neutrons or γ-quanta at the specified points of the cask surface is proposed for identifying the fuel rod cladding destruction. Under normal operation, the decrease in the dose rate produced by neutrons as the function of SNF storage duration is determined by the half-life of ²⁴⁴Cm, and for γ-quanta - by the half-lives of long-lived SNF isotopes. Consequently, a stepwise change in the dose rate of neutrons or γ-quanta, detected by the measurements, as compared to the previous one, would indicate the destruction of the fuel rod claddings.