• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.12
• /
• pp.4628-4636
• /
• 2023

Cables are indispensable in nuclear power plants for transmitting data measured by various types of detectors, such as self-powered neutron detectors (SPNDs). These cables will generate disturbing signals that must be accurately distinguished and eliminated. Given that the cable current is not very significant, previous research has focused on SPND, with little attention paid to cable evaluation and validation. This paper specifically focuses on the quantitative analysis of cables and proposes a theoretical model to predict cable noise. In this model, the reaction characteristics between irradiated neutrons and cables were discussed thoroughly. Based on the Monte Carlo method, a comprehensive simulation approach of neutron sensitivity was introduced and long-term irradiation experiments in a heavy water reactor (HWR) were designed to verify this model. The theoretical results of this method agree quite well with the experimental measurements, proving that the model is reliable and exhibits excellent accuracy. The experimental data also show that the cable current accounts for approximately 0.2% of the total current at the initial moment, but as the detector gradually depletes, it will contribute more than 2%, making it a non-negligible proportion of the total signal current.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.7
• /
• pp.2835-2841
• /
• 2024

Real-time analysis of metallic mineral grade and slurry concentration is significant for improving flotation efficiency and product quality. This study proposes an online detection method of ore slurry combining the Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) technology and artificial neural network (ANN), which can provide mineral information rapidly and accurately. Firstly, a PGNAA analyzer based on a D-T neutron generator and a BGO detector was used to obtain a gamma-ray spectrum dataset of ore slurry samples, which was used to construct and optimize the ANN model for adaptive analysis. The evaluation metrics calculated by leave-one-out cross-validation indicated that, compared with the weighted library least squares (WLLS) approach, ANN obtained more precise and stable results, with mean absolute percentage errors of 4.66% and 2.80% for Fe grade and slurry concentration, respectively, and the highest average standard deviation of only 0.0119. Meanwhile, the analytical errors of the samples most affected by matrix effects was reduced to 0.61 times and 0.56 times of the WLLS method, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.29-38
• /
• 1980

A radiochemical separation scheme for the neutron activation analysis is developed for the determination of 28 elements in aluminum. The scheme is based on a group separation using ion-exchange resin and mineral exchanger. Present work has employed mineral acids and their partly organic mixture excluding HF as the media as well as common glass wares. For the determination, gamma-ray spectroscopy using $3"\times3"\;Nal(TI)$ detector and a single comparator method are used.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2000.06a
• /
• pp.679-686
• /
• 2000

Reactor Noise is defined as the fluctuations of measured instrumentation signals during full-power operation of reactor which have informations on reactor system dynamics such as neutron kinetics, thermal-hydraulics, and structural dynamics. Reactor noise analyses of ex-core neutron detector signals have been performed to monitor the vibration modes of reactor internals such as fuel assembly and Core Support Barrel in Yonggwang 3&4 Nuclear Power Plant. A real time mode separation technique have been developed and applied for the analyses. It has been found that the first vibration mode frequency of the fuel assembly was around 2.5 Hz, the beam and shell mode frequencies of CSB(Core Support Barrel) 8 Hz and 14.5 Hz, respectively. Also the analyses data base have been constructed for the continuous monitoring and diagnose of the reactor internals.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2000.11a
• /
• pp.298-303
• /
• 2000

Principles of residual stress measurements by neutron diffraction and the residual stress instrument installed at 30MWt HANARO reactor in KAERI are considered. In-depth residual stress distribution was measured in aluminum VAMAS round robin sample and welded stainless steel plate, which showed high ability of the instrument for the stress measurements in components.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.41-47
• /
• 1976

A nondestructive, instrumental neutron activation analysis using a Ge(Li) detector is applied to investigate the present levels of mercury and other trace elements in some fresh-water fish. The results show large variations of mercury content which are indicative of important local sources and indicate the inter-dependence relations between two of some trace elements. Analytical results for mercury in antracites are also given with the concern for their combustion as one of major causes of the mercury pollution.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.8 no.6
• /
• pp.287-292
• /
• 2014

In this study, the neutron capture cross section of $^{180}Ta$(natural existence ratio: 0.012 %) obtain by measuring has been compared with the evaluated data for the capture data. In generally, the neutron capture resonance is defined as Breit-Wigner formula. The formula consists of the resonance parameters such as neutron width, total width and neutron width. However in the case of $^{180}Ta$, these are very poor experimental neutron capture cross section data and resonance information in below 10 eV. Therefore, in the study, we analyzed the neutron resonance of $^{180}Ta$ with the measuring the prompt gamma-ray from the sample. And the resonance was compared with the evaluated data by Mughabghab, ENDF/B-VII, JEFF-3.1 and TENDL 2012. Neutron sources from photonuclear reaction with 46-MeV electron linear accelerator at Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University used for cross section measurement of $^{180}Ta(n,{\gamma})^{181}Ta$ reaction. $BGO(Bi_4Ge_3O_{12})$ scintillation detectors used for measurement of the prompt gamma ray from the $^{180}Ta(n,{\gamma})^{181}Ta$ reaction. The BGO spectrometer was composed geometrically as total energy absorption detector.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.154-161
• /
• 2015

For efficiently designing neutron induced gamma spectroscopy sonde, Monte Carlo simulation is employed to understand a dominant location of thermal neutron and classify the formation elements from the energy peak of capture gamma spectrum. A pulsed neutron generator emitting 14 MeV neutron particles was used as a source, and flux of thermal neutron was calculated from the twelve detectors arranged at each 10 cm intervals from the source. Design for reducing borehole effects using shielding materials was also applied to numerical sonde model. Moreover, principal elements and quantities of numerical earth models were verified through the energy spectrum analysis of capture gamma detected from a gamma detector. These results can help to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, and determine an optimal placement of capture gamma detectors of neutron induced gamma spectroscopy sonde.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2011.02a
• /
• pp.421-422
• /
• 2011

The first part is about development of a liquid target for a neutron source, which is designed to overcome many of the limitations of traditional beam-target neutron generators by utilizing a liquid target neutron source. One of the most critical aspects of the beam-target neutron generator is the target integrity under the beam exposure. A liquid target can be a good solution to overcome damage to the target such as target erosion and depletion of hydrogen isotopes in the active layer, especially for the one operating at high neutron fluxes with no need for water cooling. There is no inherent target lifetime for the liquid target neutron generator when used with continuous refreshment of the target surface exposed to the energetic beam. In this work, liquid target containing hydrogen has been developed and tested in vacuum environment. Potentially, liquid targets could allow a point neutron source whose spatial extension is on the order of 1 to $10{\mu}m$. And the second is about the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectrometer which is designed as a five-channel spectral system for ITER main plasma measurement. To develop and verify the design, a two-channel prototype system was fabricated with No. 3 (14.4 nm~31.8 nm) and No. 4 (29.0 nm~60.0 nm) among the five channels. For test of the prototype system, a hollow cathode lamp is used as a light source. The system is composed of a collimating mirror to collect the light from source to slit, and two holographic diffraction gratings with toroidal geometry to diffract and also to collimate the light from the common slit to detectors. The two gratings are positioned at different optical distances and heights as designed. To study the appropriate detector for ITER VUV system, two different electronic detectors of the back-illuminated charge coupled device and the micro-channel plate electron multiplier were installed and the performance has been investigated and compared in the same experimental conditions. The overall system performance was verified by measuring the spectrums.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.167-174
• /
• 2023

Background: A nondestructive test is commonly used to inspect the surface defects and internal structure of an object without any physical damage. X-rays generated from an electron accelerator or a tube are one of the methods used for nondestructive testing. The high penetration of X-rays through materials with low atomic numbers makes it difficult to discriminate between these materials using X-ray imaging. The interaction characteristics of neutrons with materials can supplement the limitations of X-ray imaging in material discrimination. Materials and Methods: The radiation image acquisition process for air-cargo security inspection equipment using X-rays and neutrons was simulated using a GEometry ANd Tracking (Geant4) simulation toolkit. Radiation images of phantoms composed of 13 materials were obtained, and the R-value, representing the attenuation ratio of neutrons and gamma rays in a material, was calculated from these images. Results and Discussion: The R-values were calculated from the simulated X-ray and neutron images for each phantom and compared with those obtained in the experiments. The R-values obtained from the experiments were higher than those obtained from the simulations. The difference can be due to the following two causes. The first reason is that there are various facilities or equipment in the experimental environment that scatter neutrons, unlike the simulation. The other is the difference in the neutron signal processing. In the simulation, the neutron signal is the sum of the number of neutrons entering the detector. However, in the experiment, the neutron signal was obtained by superimposing the intensities of the neutron signals. Neutron detectors also detect gamma rays, and the neutron signal cannot be clearly distinguished in the process of separating the two types of radiation. Despite these differences, the two results showed similar trends and the viability of using simulation-based radiation images, particularly in the field of security screening. With further research, the simulation-based radiation images can replace ones from experiments and be used in the related fields. Conclusion: The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has developed air-cargo security inspection equipment using neutrons and X-rays. Using this equipment, radiation images and R-values for various materials were obtained. The equipment was reconstructed, and the R-values were obtained for 13 materials using the Geant4 simulation toolkit. The R-values calculated by experiment and simulation show similar trends. Therefore, we confirmed the feasibility of using the simulation-based radiation image.