• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.7
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• pp.1367-1379
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• 2020

The small modular sodium-cooled fast reactor (SMSFR) is an important component of Generation-IV reactors. The objective of this work is to improve the reactivity control in SMSFR by using innovative systems, including burnable poisons and optimized control rods. SMSFR with MOX fuel usually exhibits high burnup reactivity loss that leads to high excess reactivity and potential fuel melting in control rod withdrawal (CRW) accidents, which becomes an important constraint on the safety and economic efficiency of SMSFR. This work applies two types of burnable poisons in a SMSFR to reduce the excess reactivity. The first one homogenously loads minor actinides in the fuel. The second one combines absorber and moderators in specific assemblies. The influence of burnable poisons on the core characteristics is discussed and integrated into the analysis of CRW accidents. The results show that burnable poisons improve the safety performance of the core in a significant way. Burnable poisons also lessen the demand for the number, absorption ability, and insertion depth of control rods. Two optimized control rod designs with rare earth oxides (Eu₂O₃ and Gd₂O₃) and moderators are compared to the conventional design with natural boron carbide (B₄C). The optimized designs show improved neutronic and safety performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility Conference
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• 1999.03a
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• pp.221-230
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• 1999

Automobile horn's psychoacoustic characteristic and significance as a anturalistic signal of danger makes it a valuable auditory stimulus to study such psychophysiological responses as startle, orienting and defense reactions. However, comparison and differentiation of physiological responses to commercially available horns is a complicated task due to small contrast of technical features of horns and influence of such processes as habituation on physiological outcome with increased number of auditory stimulation trials. In the study on 10 college students we performed comparative analysis of tonic and phasic reactivity of physiological responses mediated by autonomic nervous system in order to identify role of habituation and decrement of autonomic responsivity, as well as possibility o differentiate subjectively most and least preferred and subjectively more appropriate horns according to physiological manifestations. It was showed that electrodermal and cardiovascular reactivity have concurrent patterns of adaptation to repeated stimulation, namely skin conductance variables habituated, cardiac reactivity failed to show signs of habituation, while vascular component of response were facilitated demonstrating marked sensitization. Differentiation of Physiological responses to horns with respect to their subjective rating scores was possible, however electrodermal reactivity was effective only at the first block of trials, while phasic and tonic cardiovascular reactivity differentiate responses during whole course of experiment. There are discussed possible autonomic mechanisms involved in mediation of observed results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.700-709
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• 2017

This work looks at the effect of changes in kinetic parameters on simultaneous reactivity insertions and beam tube flooding in a typical material testing reactor-type research reactor with low enriched high density ($U_3Si_2-Al$) fuel. Using a modified PARET code, various ramp reactivity insertions (from $0.1/0.5 s to $1.3/0.5 s) plus beam tube flooding ($0.5/0.25 s) accidents under uncontrolled conditions were analyzed to find their effects on peak power, net reactivity, and temperature. Then, the effects of changes in kinetic parameters including the Doppler coefficient, prompt neutron lifetime, and delayed neutron fractions on simultaneous reactivity insertion and beam tube flooding accidents were analyzed. Results show that the power peak values are significantly sensitive to the Doppler coefficient of the system in coupled accidents. The material testing reactor-type system under such a coupled accident is not very sensitive to changes in the prompt neutron life time; the core under such a coupled transient is not very sensitive to changes in the effective delayed neutron fraction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.7
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• pp.1037-1042
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• 2018

The present study aims to assess the excess induced reactivity in a Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) for a Beyond Design Basis Accident (BDBA) scenario. The BDBA scenario as defined in the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) of the reactor involves sticking of the control rod and filling of the inner and outer irradiation sites with water. At the end of the MNSR core life, 10.95 cm of Beryllium is added to the top of the core as a reflector which affects some neutronic parameters such as effective delayed neutrons fraction (${\beta}_{eff}$), the reactivity worth of inner and outer irradiation sites that are filled with water and the reactivity worth of the control rod. Given those influences and changes, new neutronic calculations are required to be able to demonstrate the reactor safety. Therefore, a validated MCNPX model is used to calculate all neutronic parameters at the end of the reactor core life. The calculations show that the induced reactivity in the BDBA scenario increases at the end of core life to $7.90{\pm}0.01mk$ which is significantly higher than the induced reactivity of 6.80 mk given in the SAR of MNSR for the same scenario but at the beginning of the core's life. Also this value is 3.90 mk higher than the maximum allowable operational limit (i.e. 4.00 mk).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1804-1812
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• 2022

The aim of this paper is to assess the reliability and accuracy of the PSI standard method, used in many previous works, for the quantification of ND uncertainties in the SPERT-III RIA transient, by quantifying the discrepancy between the actual inserted reactivity and the original static reactivity worth and their associated uncertainties. The assessment has shown that the inherent S3K neutron source renormalization scheme, introduced before starting the transient, alters the original static reactivity worth of the transient CR and reduces the associated uncertainty due to the ND perturbation. In order to overcome these limitations, two additional methods have been developed based on CR adjustment. The comparative study performed between the three methods has showed clearly the high sensitivity of the obtained results to the selected approach and pointed out the importance of using the right procedure in order to simulate correctly the effect of ND uncertainties on the overall parameters in a RIA transient. This study has proven that the approach that allows matching the original static reactivity worth and starting the transient from criticality is the most reliable method since it conservatively preserves the effect of the ND uncertainties on the inserted reactivity during a RIA transient.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.1053-1064
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• 2009

The existence of a large sodium pool in the KALIMER, a pool-type LMR developed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, plays an important role in reactor safety and operability because it determines the grace time for operators to cope with an abnormal event and to terminate a transient before reactor enters into an accident condition. A two-dimensional hot pool model has been developed and implemented in the SSC-K code, and has been successfully applied for the assessment of safety issues in the conceptual design of KALIMER and for the analysis of anticipated system transients. The other important models of the SSC-K code include a three-dimensional core thermal-hydraulic model, a reactivity model, a passive decay heat removal system model, and an intermediate heat transport system and steam generation system model. The capability of the developed two-dimensional hot pool model was evaluated with a comparison of the temperature distribution calculated with the CFX code. The predicted hot pool coolant temperature distributions obtained with the two-dimensional hot pool model agreed well with those predicted with the CFX code. Variations in the temperature distribution of the hot pool affect the reactivity feedback due to an expansion of the control rod drive line (CRDL) immersed in the pool. The existing CRDL reactivity model of the SSC-K code has been modified based on the detailed hot pool temperature distribution obtained with the two-dimensional pool model. An analysis of an unprotected transient over power with the modified reactivity model showed an improved negative reactivity feedback effect.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.127-134
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• 2000

Objective: To determine the extent to which thin-section and volumetric three-dimensional CT can depict airway reactivity to bronchostimulator, and to assess the effect of different airway sizes on the degree of reactivity. Materials and Methods: In eight dogs, thin-section CT scans were obtained before and after the administration of methacholine and ventolin. Cross-sectional areas of bronchi at multiple levels, as shown by axial CT, proximal airway volume as revealed by three-dimensional imaging, and peak airway pressure were measured. The significance of airway change induced by methacholine and ventolin, expressed by percentage changes in cross-sectional area, proximal airway volume, and peak airway pressure was statistically evaluated, as was correlation between the degree of airway reactivity and the area of airways. Results: Cross-sectional areas of the bronchi decreased significantly after the administration of methacholine, and scans obtained after a delay of 5 minutes showed that normalization was insufficient. Ventolin induced a significant increase in cross-sectional areas and an increase in proximal airway volume, while the effect of methacholine on the latter was the opposite. Peak airway pressure increased after the administration of methacholine, and after a 5-minute delay its level was near that of the control state. Ventolin, however, induced no significant decrease. The degree of airway reactivity did not correlate with airway size. Conclusion: Thin-section and volumetric spiral CT with three-dimensional reconstruction can demonstrate airway reactivity to bronchostimulator. The degree of reactivity did not correlate with airway size.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.1120-1130
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• 2020

The CREOLE experiment performed In the EOLE critical facility located In the Nuclear Center of CADARACHE - CEA have allowed us to get interesting and complete experimental information on the temperature effects in the light water reactor lattices. To analyze these experiments with accuracy an elaborate calculation scheme using the Monte Carlo method implemented in the MCNP6.1 code and the ENDF/B-VII.1 cross section library has been developed. We have used the ENDF/B-VII.1 data provided with the MCNP6.1.1 version in ACE format and the Makxsf utility to handle the data in the specific temperatures not available in the MCNP6.1.1 original library. The main purpose of this analysis is the qualification of the ENDF/B-VII.1 nuclear data for the prediction of the Reactivity Temperature Coefficient while ensuring the ability of the MCNP6.1 system to model such a complex experiment as CREOLE. We have analyzed the case of UO₂ lattice with 1166 ppm of boron in ordinary water moderator in specified temperatures. A detailed comparison of the calculated effective multiplication factors with the reference ones [1] in room temperature presented in this work shows a good agreement demonstrating the validation of our 3D calculation model. The discrepancies between calculations and the differential measurements of the Reactivity Temperature Coefficient for the analyzed configuration are relatively small: the maximum discrepancy doesn't exceed 1,1 pcm/℃. In addition to the analysis of direct differential measurements of the reactivity temperature coefficient performed in the poisoned UO₂ lattice configuration, we have also analyzed integral measurements in UO₂ clean lattice configuration using equivalency of the integral temperature reactivity worth with the driver core fuel reactivity worth and soluble boron reactivity worth. In this case both of the ENDF/B-VII.1 and JENDL.4 libraries were used in our analysis and the obtained results are very similar.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.197-204
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• 2017

Typically, high lime fly ash (Class C) has been characterized as a fly ash, which at lower replacement levels is not as effective as the low lime (Class F) fly ash, in mitigating alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in portland cement concrete. The influence of fineness of Class C, obtained by grinding virgin fly ash into finer particles, on its pozzolanic reactivity and ASR mitigation performance was investigated in this study. In order to assess the pozzolanic reactivity of mortar mixtures containing virgin or ground fly ashes, the strength activity index (SAI) test and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) were conducted on the mortar cubes and paste samples, respectively, containing virgin fly ash or two ground fly ashes. In addition, to evaluate any improvement in the ASR mitigation of ground fly ashes compared to that of the virgin fly ash, the accelerated mortar bar test (AMBT) was conducted on the mortar mixtures containing different dosages of either virgin or ground fly ashes. In all tests crushed glass aggregate was used as a highly reactive aggregate. Results from this study showed that the finest fly ash (i.e., with an average particle size of 3.1 microns) could increase the flow ability along with the pozzolanic reactivity of the mortar mixture. However, results from this study suggested that the fineness of high lime fly ash does not seem to have any significant effect on ASR mitigation.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.174-180
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• 2005

Nano-sized iron was synthesized using borohydride reduction of $Fe^{3+}$ in aqueous solution. A wide range of synthesis conditions including varying concentrations of reagents, reagent feeding rate, and solution pH was applied in an aqueous system under anaerobic condition. The reactivity of nano-sized iron from each synthesis was evaluated by reacting the iron with TCE in batch systems. Evidence obtained from this study suggest the reactivity of iron is strongly dependent on the synthesis solution pH. The iron reactivity increased as solution pH decreased. More rapid TCE reduction was observed for iron samples synthesized from higher initial $Fe^{3+}$ concentration, which resulted in lower solution pH during the synthesis reaction. Faster feeding of $BH_4^-$ solution to the $Fe^{3+}$ solution resulted in lower synthesis solution pH and the resultant iron samples gave higher TCE reduction rate. Lowering the pH of the solution after completion of the synthesis reaction significantly increased reactivity of iron. It is presumed that the increase in the reactivity of iron synthesized at lower pH is due to less precipitation of iron (hydr)oxides or less surface passivation of iron.