• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.29-37
• /
• 2017

Nuclear fuel cladding tube is fabricated by pilgering and annealing process. In order to remove impurity and oxygen layer on the surface, pickling process is carried out. When Zirconium(Zr) is dissolved and saturated in acid solution during the pickling process, all the waste acid including Zr is disposed. Therefore, $BaF_2$ is added into the waste acid to extract Zr and $Ba_2ZrF_8$ is subsequently formed. To recycle Zr by electrowinning process, $Ba_2ZrF_8$ is used as electrolyte, but it has high melting point ($1053^{\circ}C$). $ZrF_4$ should be added into $Ba_2ZrF_8$ to decrease the melting point. In this paper, it was investigated that $Ba_2ZrF_8$ was separated to $BaF_2$ and $ZrF_4$ by vacuum distillation. Firstly, $BaF_2$ with different particle size ($1{\mu}m$, $35{\mu}m$, $110{\mu}m$) was added into the waste acid and the respective precipitation property was estimated. $BaF_2$ obtained by vacuum distillation was shattered by ball-milling with different time. The precipitation efficiency was compared with $1{\mu}m$ of ${BaF_2}^{\prime}s$ one, which was not used as precipitation agent.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.264-271
• /
• 2013

In this study, we optimized the removal condition of contaminants attached on the scrap surface to recycle the scrap generated from the Zr alloy tube manufacturing process back to the nuclear grade. The main contaminant is remnant of watersoluble cooling lubricant that is used in the pilgering manufacture during the tube production, and it is assumed to be compressed and carbonized on the surface of tube. Zirlo alloy tube of ${\phi}9.50mm$, which has high occurrence frequency of scrap, was selected as the object to be cleaned, and cleaning abilities of reagents were evaluated by measuring the characteristics of contaminants remained and by analyzing the surface of the tube after cleaning process. For evaluation of each cleaning agent, we selected two types of sodium hydroxide series and three types of potassium hydroxide series. Furthermore, to confirm dependence on tempe-rature and ultrasonic intensities, cleaning at the room temperature, $40^{\circ}C$, and $60^{\circ}C$ was conducted, and results showed that higher the cleaning temperature and higher the ultrasonic intensity, better the cleaning effect. As a result of the bare-eye inspection, while the use of sodium hydroxide provided satisfactory condition on the tube surface, the use of potassium hydroxide series provided satisfactory condition on the tube surface only when the ultrasonic intensity was over 120 W. In the cleaning effect analysis using the gravimetric method, cleaning efficiency of sodium hydroxide series was as high as 97.6% ($60^{\circ}C$, 120 W), but since the tube surface condition was poor after the use of potassium hydroxide, the gravimetric method was not appropriate. In the analytical result of surface contaminants on the tube surface, C, O, Ca, and Zr were detected, and mainly C and O dominated the proportion of contaminants. It was also found that the degree of cleaning on the tube affected the componential ratio of C and O; if the degree of cleaning is high, or if cleaning is well-conducted, the proportion of C is decreased, and the proportion of O is increased. Based on these results, optimal cleaning for application in the industry can be expected by categorizing cleaning process into three steps of Alkali cleaning, Rinsing, and Drying and by adjusting cleaning parameters in each step.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.235-243
• /
• 2014

Surface oxidation behavior of ZIRLO (ZIRconium Low Oxidation) hulls was investigated using an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique. The effects of oxidation time (10-336 h at $500^{\circ}C$) and temperature ($400-700^{\circ}C$ for 10 h) were studied. Deconvolution results of the hulls oxidized at $500^{\circ}C$ revealed that a $ZrO_2$ phase appeared after 24 h (11.86%), and an increase in the $ZrO_2$ ratio was observed when the hulls were oxidized for 336 h (17.93%). On the other hand, the ZrO phase which employed 5.68% in the 10 h oxidized sample disappeared when the oxidation time increased to 24 h. The XPS results also showed that an increase in the oxidation temperature resulted in an increase in the ratio of ZrO, which increased from 0 to 5.68, 8.31, and 9.16% when the oxidation temperature increased from 400 to 500, 600, and $700^{\circ}C$, respectively. $ZrO_2$ phase was observed only in the sample that was oxidized at $700^{\circ}C$. The mechanism of ZrO formation was not conclusive, but it was suggested that a formation of hydroxide might have been accelerated at elevated temperatures leading to a formation of a $Zr(OH)_4$ phase. The relationship between the surface oxidation status of the hulls oxidized at $500^{\circ}C$ and their chlorination reaction feasibility was discussed, and it was suggested that the thickness of the oxide layer is an important parameter that determines the chlorination reaction feasibility.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.69-75
• /
• 2013

The recovery of Zr from Zircaloy-4 (Zry-4) cladding hulls was demonstrated to investigate the effect of the oxidation process on the reaction rate of the chlorination reaction. In chlorination reaction experiments performed for 6 h, where reaction products were collected every 2 h, it was observed that a significant decrease in the reaction rate was caused by the oxidation process ($500^{\circ}C$, 10 h under an air atmosphere) within the reaction period of 0 - 2 h. The amount of reaction residue increased from 0.95 to 1.65wt% of initial weights in the fresh and Zry-500-10 (Zry-4 hulls oxidized at $500^{\circ}C$ for 10 h under an air atmosphere) hulls, respectively. The purity of the recovered Zr was identical at 99.61wt% for the fresh Zry-4 and Zry-500-10 hulls. Quantitative analysis of the chlorination reaction rate was performed by varying the reaction time from 0.5 to 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 h. The fitting results showed that the relationship between weight loss and reaction time can be interpreted by a linear line with a slope of 23.35wt%/h for the fresh Zry-4 case, while two linear lines were necessary to fit the results of Zry-500-10. In addition, the slope values were 17.12 and 27.16wt%/h for (0 - 20) and (20 - 100)wt% loss regions, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.11 no.8
• /
• pp.647-654
• /
• 2001

Effects of final annealing temperature on the precipitate and oxidation were investigated for the Zr-lNb and Zr-lNb-lSn-0.3Fe alloys. The microstructure and oxidation of both alloys were evaluated for the optimization of final annealing process of these alloys in the annealing temperature regime of 450 to $800^{\circ}C$. The corrosion test was performed under steam at $400^{\circ}C$ for 270 days in a static autoclave. The oxide formed was identified by low angle X-ray diffraction method. The $\beta$-Zr was observed at annealing temperature above $600^{\circ}C$. Above $600^{\circ}C$, the precipitate area volume fraction of Zr-lNb and Zr-1Nb-lSn-0.3Fe alloys appeared to be increased with increasing the final annealing temperature. The corrosion resistance of Zr-lNb was higher than that of Zr- lNb-lSn-0.3Fe alloy. The corrosion rate of both alloys were accelerated due to the formation and growth of $\beta$-Zr with increasing the annealing temperature.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.166-171
• /
• 2017

Hydrogen gas is a green energy sources because it features no emission of pollutants during combustion. But hydrogen gas is very dangerous, being flammable and very explosive. Hydrogen gas detection is very important for the safety of a nuclear power plant. Hydrogen gas is generated by oxidation of nuclear fuel cladding during a critical accident, and leads to serious secondary damage in the containment building. This paper discusses the development of a Raman lidar system for remote detection and measurement of hydrogen gas. A small, portable Raman lidar system was designed, and a measurement algorithm was developed to quantitatively measure hydrogen gas concentration. To verify the capability of measuring hydrogen gas with the developed Raman lidar system, experiments were carried out under daytime outdoor conditions by using a gas chamber that can adjust the hydrogen gas density. As results, our Raman lidar system is able to measure a minimum density of 0.67 vol. % hydrogen gas at a distance of 20 m.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.8 no.12
• /
• pp.1099-1109
• /
• 1998

To investigate the effect of V and Sb on the corrosion behavior of Zr- based alloys, corrosion tests were performed on 6 kinds of Zr alloys in an autoclave at $360^{\circ}C$ for 100 days. The transition of the corrosion rate occurred in the sample containing 0.1wt.%V after 10 days but did not occur in the samples containing 0.2wt.%V and 0.4wt.%V. The corrosion resistance of V containing alloys increased with increasing V contents from 0.1 to 0.4wt.% and the alloys containing 0.4wt.%V showed the best corrosion resistance. In the ternary alloys containing 0.1wt.%Sb and 0.4wt.%Sb, the corrosion rate increased significantly from the short exposure time. It was observed that the optimal Sb content for corrosion resistance was 0.2wt.%. The size and volume fraction of precipitates increased with increasing V and Sb contents. The superior corrosion resistance was observed in the Zr alloy having precipitate size of 0.11-0.13$\mu\textrm{m}$. From the result of corrosion behavior and the obserbation of precipitates, the optimal size of the precipitate appear to control the electron conduction in the cathodic reaction and play an important role in maintaining a stable oxide microstructure.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.50 no.3
• /
• pp.356-367
• /
• 2018

A series of tests dedicated to station blackout (SBO) accident scenarios have been recently performed at the $Prim{\ddot{a}}rkreislauf-Versuchsanlage$ (primary coolant loop test facility; PKL) facility in the framework of the OECD/NEA PKL-3 project. These investigations address current safety issues related to beyond design basis accident transients with significant core heat up. This work presents a detailed analysis using the best estimate thermal-hydraulic code TRACE (v5.0 Patch4) of different SBO scenarios conducted at the PKL facility; failures of high- and low-pressure safety injection systems together with steam generator (SG) feedwater supply are considered, thus calling for adequate accident management actions and timely implementation of alternative emergency cooling procedures to prevent core meltdown. The presented analysis evaluates the capability of the applied TRACE model of the PKL facility to correctly capture the sequences of events in the different SBO scenarios, namely the SBO tests H2.1, H2.2 run 1 and H2.2 run 2, including symmetric or asymmetric secondary side depressurization, primary side depressurization, accumulator (ACC) injection in the cold legs and secondary side feeding with mobile pump and/or primary side emergency core coolant injection from the fuel pool cooling pump. This study is focused specifically on the prediction of the core exit temperature, which drives the execution of the most relevant accident management actions. This work presents, in particular, the key improvements made to the TRACE model that helped to improve the code predictions, including the modeling of dynamical heat losses, the nodalization of SGs' heat exchanger tubes and the ACCs. Another relevant aspect of this work is to evaluate how well the model simulations of the three different scenarios qualitatively and quantitatively capture the trends and results exhibited by the actual experiments. For instance, how the number of SGs considered for secondary side depressurization affects the heat transfer from primary side; how the discharge capacity of the pressurizer relief valve affects the dynamics of the transient; how ACC initial pressure and nitrogen release affect the grace time between ACC injection and subsequent core heat up; and how well the alternative feeding modes of the secondary and/or primary side with mobile injection pumps affect core quenching and ensure stable long-term core cooling under controlled boiling conditions.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.368-374
• /
• 1998

The corrosion characteristics of zirconium alloys have been investigated in various aqueous solutions of LiOH. NaOH, KOH, RbOH. and CsOH at 3S$0^{\circ}C$. The concentrations of solutions were set to 4.3 mmol and 32.Smmol with equimolar $M^+$ and OH . The oxide characterization was performed using TEM on the samples corroded in 32. Smmol LiOH, NaOH, and KOH solution. The samples were prepared to have the same oxide thickness for the pretransition and post- transition regimes. Considering the trend of experimental data, the cation would playa major role in the corrosion process of Zr alloys in alkali hydroxide solutions. The microstructures of the oxides formed in various solutions were quite different. In LiOH solution the oxides grown in pre-transition as well as post-transition had the equiaxed structures with many pores and open grain boundaries. The oxides grown in NaOH solution had the protective columnar structures in pre-transition and the equiaxed structures with many open grain boundaries in post- transition. On the other hand. in KOH solution the columnar structure was maintained from pre- transition to post- transition. It was considered that the cation incorporation into zirconium oxide controlled the oxide characteristics and the corrosion acceleration in alkali hydroxide solutions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.66-80
• /
• 1991

The LOFT intermediate break experiment L5-1, which simulates 12 inch diameter ECC line break in a typical PWR, has been analyzed using the reactor thermal/hydraulic analysis code RELAP5/MOD2, Cycle 36.04. The base calculation, which modeled the core with single flow channel and two heat structures without using the options of reflood and gap conductance model, has been successfully completed and compared with experimental data. Sensitivity studies were carried out to investigate the effects of nodalization at reactor vessel and core modeling on major thermal hydraulic parameters, especially on peak cladding temperature(PCT). These sensitivity items are : single flow channel and single heat structure (Case A), two flow channel and two heat structures (Case B), reflood option added (Case C) and both reflood and gap conductance options added (Case D). The code, RELAP5/MOD2 Cycle 36.04 with the base modeling, predicted the key parameters of LOFT IBLOCA Test L5-1 better than Cases A,B,C and D. Thus, it is concluded that the single flow channel modeling for core is better than the two flow channel modeling and two heat structure is also better than single heat structure modeling to predict PCT at the central fuel rods. It is, therefore, recommended to use the reflood option and not to use gap conductance option for this L5-1 type IBLOCA.