• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.4660-4670
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• 2022

Hydroxyurea (HU) is a novel salt-free reductant used potentially for the separation of U/Pu in the advanced PUREX process. In this work, the radiation stability of HU were systematically investigated in solution by examining the effects of the type of rays (α, β, and γ irradiations), the absorbed dose (10-50 kGy), and the HNO₃ concentration (0-3 mol L^-1). The influence degree on HU radiolysis rates followed the order of the absorbed dose > the ray type > the HNO₃ concentration, but the latter two had moderate effects on HU radiolysis products where NH₄⁺ and NO₂^- were found to be the most abundant ones, suggesting that the differences of α, β, and γ rays should be considered in the study of irradiation effects. The radiolysis mechanism was explored using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and it proposed the dominant radiolysis paths of HU, indicating that the radiolysis of HU was mainly a free radical reaction among ·H, e_aq^-, H₂O, intermediates, and the radiolytic free radical fragments of HU. The results reported here provide valuable insights into the mechanistic understanding of HU radiolysis under α, β, and γ irradiations and reliable data support for the application of HU in the reprocessing of spent fuel.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.3604-3613
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• 2022

The Physical Protection System (PPS) plays an important role and must effectively deal with various adversary attacks in nuclear security. In specific single adversary path scenarios, we can calculate the PPS effectiveness by EASI (Estimated Adversary Sequence Interruption) through Probability of Interruption (P_I) calculation. EASI uses a single value of the probability of detection (P_D) and the probability of alarm communications (P_C) in the PPS. In this study, we develop a multi-path analysis code based on EASI to evaluate the effectiveness of PPS. Our quantification method for P_I considers the variability and uncertainty of P_D and P_C value by Monte Carlo simulation. We converted the 2-D scheme of the nuclear facility into an Adversary Sequence Diagram (ASD). We used ASD to find the adversary path with the lowest probability of interruption as the most vulnerable paths (MVP). We examined a hypothetical facility (Hypothetical National Nuclear Research Facility - HNNRF) to confirm our code compared with EASI. The results show that implementing the variability extension can estimate the P_I value and its associated uncertainty. The multi-path analysis code allows the analyst to make it easier to assess PPS with more extensive facilities with more complex adversary paths. However, the variability of the P_D value in each protection element allows a significant decrease in the PI value. The possibility of this decrease needs to be an important concern for PPS designers to determine the P_D value correctly or set a higher standard for PPS performance that remains reliable.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.787-788
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• 2005

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.360-367
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• 2016

A windowless spallation target can provide a neutron source and maintain neutron chain reaction for a subcritical reactor, and is a key component of China's nuclear waste transmutation of coupling accelerator and subcritical reactor. The main issue of the windowless target design is to form a stable and controllable free surface that can ensure that energy spectrum distribution is acquired for the neutron physical design when the high energy proton beam beats the lead-bismuth eutectic in the spallation target area. In this study, morphology and flow characteristics of the free surface of the windowless target were analyzed through the volume of fluid model using computational fluid dynamics simulation, and the results show that the outlet cross section size of the target is the key to form a stable and controllable free surface, as well as the outlet with an arc transition. The optimization parameter of the target design, in which the radius of outlet cross section is $60{\pm}1mm$, is verified to form a stable and controllable free surface and to reduce the formation of air bubbles. This work can function as a reference for carrying out engineering design of windowless target and for verification experiments.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.177-198
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• 2012

This paper reviews the fast reactor physics and computational methods. The basic reactor physics specific to fast spectrum reactors are briefly reviewed, focused on fissile material breeding and actinide burning. Design implications and reactivity feedback characteristics are compared between breeder and burner reactors. Some discussions are given to the distinct nuclear characteristics of fast reactors that make the assumptions employed in traditional LWR analysis methods not applicable. Reactor physics analysis codes used for the modeling of fast reactor designs in the U.S. are reviewed. This review covers cross-section generation capabilities, whole-core deterministic (diffusion and transport) and Monte Carlo calculation tools, depletion and fuel cycle analysis codes, perturbation theory codes for reactivity coefficient calculation and cross section sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty analysis codes.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.431-439
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• 2018

Less mature nuclear reactor technologies are characterized by a greater uncertainty due to insufficient detailed design information, operational data, cost information, etc., but the expected performance characteristics of less mature options are usually more attractive in comparison with more mature ones. The greater uncertainty is, the higher economic risks associated with the project realization will be. Within a comparative evaluation of less and more mature nuclear reactor technologies, it is necessary to apply economic risk measures to balance judgments regarding the economic performance of less and more mature options. Assessments of any risk metrics involve calculating different characteristics of probability distributions of associated economic performance indicators and applying the Monte-Carlo method. This paper considers the applicability of statistical risk measures for different economic performance indicators within a trial case study on a comparative evaluation of less and more mature unspecified LWRs. The presented case study demonstrates the main trends associated with the incorporation of economic risk metrics into a comparative evaluation of less and more mature nuclear reactor technologies.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.11
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• pp.2535-2542
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• 2020

To understand the fundamental parameters of Alvand tokamak, A Rogowski coil with an active integrator was designed and constructed. Considering the characteristics of the Alvand tokamak, the structural and electrical parameters affecting the sensor function, were designed. Calibration was performed directly in the presence of plasma. The sensor has a high resistance against interference of external magnetic fields. Plasma current was measured in various experiments. Based on the plasma current profile and loop voltage signal, the time evolution of plasma discharge was investigated and plasma behavior was analyzed. Alvand tokamak discharge was divided into several regions that represents different physical phenomena in the plasma. During the plasma discharge time, plasma had significant changes and its characteristic was not uniform. To understand the plasma behavior in each of the phases, the Rogowski sensor should have sufficient time resolution. The Rogowski sensor with a frequency up to 15 kHz was appropriate for this purpose.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.103-122
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• 2012

Significant advances in computational performance have occurred over the past two decades, achieved not only by the introduction of more powerful processors but the incorporation of parallelism in computer hardware at all levels. Simultaneous with these hardware and associated system software advances have been advances in modeling physical phenomena and the numerical algorithms to allow their usage in simulation. This paper presents a review of the advances in computer performance, discusses the modeling and simulation capabilities required to address the multi-physics and multi-scale phenomena applicable to a nuclear reactor core simulator, and present examples of relevant physics simulation codes' performances on high performance computers.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.4685-4694
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• 2023

The ability to calculate the material density sensitivity coefficients of power with respect to the material density has broad application prospects for accelerating Monte Carlo-Thermal Hydraulics iterations. The second-order material density sensitivity coefficients for the general Monte Carlo score have been derived based on the differential operator sampling method in this paper, and the calculation of the sensitivity coefficients of cell power scores with respect to the material density has been realized in continuous-energy Monte Carlo code RMC. Based on the power-density sensitivity coefficients, the sensitivity coefficients of power scores to some other physical quantities, such as power-boron concentration coefficients and power-temperature coefficients considering only the thermal expansion, were subsequently calculated. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated in the power-density coefficients problems of the pressurized water reactor (PWR) moderator and the heat pipe reactor (HPR) reflectors. The calculations were carried out using RMC and the ENDF/B-VII.1 neutron nuclear data. It is shown that the calculated sensitivity coefficients can be used to predict the power scores accurately over a wide range of boron concentration of the PWR moderator and a wide range of temperature of HPR reflectors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.1706-1713
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• 2020

Functionally gradient material (FGM) is promisingly effective in mitigating the thermal stress between plasma facing materials (PFM) and structural materials. However, the corresponding research with respect to W/V FGM has not been reported yet. In this work, we firstly report the successful fabrication of W/V FGM by a combined technology of mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The microhardness and microstructure of the consolidated sample were both investigated. W/V stacks show significantly enhanced microhardness (>100%) compared with pure W plate, which is beneficial to the integral strength of the hybrid structure. Furthermore, we clarify that the different ductility of W and V should be carefully considered, otherwise W/V powder might aggregate and lead to the formation of compositional segregation, and simultaneously unmask the impact of V proportion on the distribution of second phase in W-V binary alloy system. This work provides an innovative approach for obtaining W-V connections with much better performance.