• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.163-168
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• 2016

Korea has been developing nuclear fusion fuel storage and delivery system (SDS) technologies including a basic scientific study on hydrogen storage. To develop nuclear fusion technology, it is necessary to store and supply hydrogen isotopes needed for Tokamak operation. SDS is used for storing hydrogen isotopes as a metal hydride form. The rapid hydriding of tritium is very important not only for safety reasons but also for the economic design and operation of the SDS. In this study, we designed and fabricated a medium-scale getter bed of depleted uranium (DU). The hydriding of DU has been measured by varying the initial temperature ($100-300^{\circ}C$) of the DU getter bed to investigate the influence of the cooling temperature. Furthermore, we analyzed the effect of a helium blanket on the hydriding performance with 0 - 12% helium content in hydrogen.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2016

It is necessary to store and supply hydrogen isotopes for Tokamak operation. A storage and delivery system (SDS) is used for storing hydrogen isotopes as a metal hydride form. We designed and fabricated a depleted uranium (DU) bed to store hydrogen isotopes. The rapid storage of hydrogen isotopes is very important not only for safety reasons but also for the economic design and operation of the SDS. The delivery rate at the desorption temperatures without the operation of a dry pump was analyzed in comparison with that with the operation of the dry pump. The effect of the initial desorption temperatures on the dehydriding of the DU without the operation of the dry pump was measured. The effect of the initial desorption temperatures on the dehydriding of DU with the operation of the dry pump was also measured and analyzed. The primary pressure on the desorption temperatures without the operation of the dry pump was analyzed in comparison with that with the operation of the dry pump. The temperature gradient of the coil heater and the primary vessel was also analyzed. Our results will be used to develop pilot scale hydrogen isotope processes. It was confirmed that dehydriding of a medium-scale DU bed has enabled without the operation of the dry pump.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.689-699
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• 2020

In this work, new multi-recycling options of TRU nuclides using PWR fuel assemblies comprised of MOX and FCM (Fully Ceramic Micro Encapsulated) fuels are suggested and neutronically analyzed. These options do not use a fully recycling of TRU but a partial recycling where TRUs from MOX fuels are recycled while the ones from FCM fuels are not recycled due to their high consumption rate resulted from high burnup. In particular, additional external TRU feed in MOX fuels for each cycle was considered to significantly increase the TRU consumption rate and the finally selected option is to use external TRU and enriched uranium feed as a makeup for the heavy metal consumption in MOX fuels. This hybrid external feeding of TRU and enriched uranium in MOX fuel was shown to be very effective in significantly increasing TRU consumption rate, maintaining long cycle length, and achieving negative void reactivity worth during recycling.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.73-81
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• 2018

Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), one of the most commonly used instruments for metal analysis, was used to determine total uranium in soil. The method was named as "Modified ASTM C1345-96". When comparing with ASTM C1345-96, digestion time (2~3 days) was shorten to 7 hours and the treatment in furnace was eliminated. In analyses of 26 field soil samples, there was a significant difference in the average concentration of total uranium between modified ASTM C1345-96 and ASTM C1345-96 (F : 6.22 > Fc : 4.03, significance level : 0.05, n=26). The average concentration of modified ASTM C1345-96 was 1.8 times larger than that of ASTM C1345-96. In addition, modified ASTM C1345-96 was compared with other acid digestion methods for soil including ISO 11466, Modified ISO 11466, US EPA-3051, US EPA-3051A and US EPA-3052 using a certificated reference material (SRM 2711a, NIST) and field soil samples with different level of organic matter content (1.6%, 5.8%, 10.6%). Modified ASTM C1345-96 showed the best accuracy of 93.01% for SRM 2711a. Also, modified ASTM C1345-96 showed the higher extraction rates than other digestion methods by 11~45%.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.109-116
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• 2008

Resins were synthesized by mixing 1-aza-18-crown-6 macrocyclic ligand into styrene(dangerous matter) divinylbenzene(DVB) copolymer with crosslink of 1%, 2%, 6% and 12% by substitution reaction. The synthesis of these resins was confirmed by content of chlorine, elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, electron microscopy, and IR. The effects of pH, time, crosslink of resins and dielectric constant of solvent on adsorption of uranium ion by resin adsorbent were investigated. Uranium ion showed a great adsorption above pH 3 and adsorption equilibrium of metal ions was established in about two hours. In addition, adsorptive selectivity of resin in ethanol solvent was $UO{_2}^{2+}$ > $Zn^{2+}$ > $Lu^{3+}$ ion and adsorption of uranium ion increased with the increase of the degree of crosslinking (1%~12%) and was inversely in proportional to the order of dielectric constant of solvents.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.363-367
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• 2003

Much attention has been given to an electrochemical reduction process for converting uranium oxide to uranium metal in molten salt. The process has the versatility of being adopted for reducing other actinide and rare-earth metals from their oxides. Using the metal oxide to be reduced as a integrated cathode designed originally and inert conductors as anodes, oxygen anions are removed from the cathode and oxidized at the surface of the anodes in a molten salt cell. However, the electrochemical properties of alkali and alkali-earth metal oxides in molten salt have not been investigated thoroughly, which made the process incomplete when it is considered as a unit process in a back-end fuel cycle. It is well known that cesium and strontium Isotopes in spent fuel are main contributors for head load. The properties of cesium, strontium, and barium oxides such as the dissolution rates and reduction potentials in molten LiC1 dissolving $Li_2O$ are examined.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.549-556
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• 2011

This study aimed to evaluate the performance of diffusion barriers in order to prevent fuel-cladding chemical interaction (FCCI) between the metallic fuels and the cladding materials, a potential hazard for nuclear fuel in sodium-cooled fast reactors. In order to prevent FCCI, Zr or V metal is deposited on the ferritic-martensitic stainless steel surface by physical vapor deposition with a thickness up to $5{\mu}m$. The diffusion couple tests using uranium alloy (U-10Zr) and a rare earth metal such as Ce-La alloy and Nd were performed at temperatures between 660~800$^{\circ}C$. Microstructural analysis using SEM was carried out over the coupled specimen. The results show that significant interdiffusion and an associated eutectic reaction ocurred in the specimen without a diffusion barrier. However, with the exception of the local dissolution of the Zr layer in the Ce-La alloy, the specimens deposited with Zr and V exhibited superior eutectic resistance to the uranium alloy and rare earth metal.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.92-100
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• 2009

Azacrown resins were synthesized by mixing 1-aza-12-crown-4 macrocyclic ligand into styrene (2th petroleum in 4th class hazardous materials) divinylbenzene (DVB) copolymer with crosslinkage of 1%, 2%, 5% and 10% by substitution reaction. The synthesis of these resins was confirmed by content of chlorine, element analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), surface area (BET), and IR-spectroscopy. The effects of pH, time, crosslinkage of resins and dielectric constant of solvent on adsorption of metal ions by resin adsorbent were investigated. Metal ions showed a great adsorption over pH 3 and adsorption equilibrium of metal ions was about two hours. In addition, adsorptive selectivity of metals on the resin in ethanol solvent was increased in the order of ${UO_2}^{2+}$ > $Ca^{2+}$ > $Sm^{3+}$ ion and adsorption of uranium ion was decreased with increase of crosslinkage such as 1%, 2%, 5% and 10% and was inversely proportional to the order of dielectric constant of solvents.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.315-319
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• 2015

A high-throughput electrorefiner has been developed for commercialization use by enhancing the uranium recovery from the reduced metal which is produced from the oxide reduction process. It is necessary to scrap and effectively collect uranium dendrites from the surface of the solid cathode for high yield. When a steel electrode is used as the cathode in the electrorefining process, uranium is deposited and regularly stuck to the steel cathode during electrorefining. The sticking coefficient of a steel cathode is very high. In order to decrease the sticking coefficient of the steel cathode effectively, vibration mode was applied to the electrode in this study. Uranium dendrites were scraped and fell apart from the steel cathode by a vibration force. The vibrational scraping of the steel cathode was compared to the self-scraping of the graphite cathode. Effects of the applied current density and the vibration stroke on the scraping of the uranium dendrites were also investigated.

• Proceedings of the Acoustical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.06e
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• pp.247-250
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• 1998

The scattering of plane ultrasonic waves by the nuclear fuel pin of liquid metal reactor in sodium is studied. According to the internal composition in the cladding tube, the fuel pin has three cross sections, i.e. helium gas plenum, sodium-filled section, and fuel insertion section. The scattering spectra for each section of the fuel pin are different. The circumnavigating ultrasonic waves of each section are analyzed by the resonance scattering method. The whispering gallery wave modes are generated in the sodium-filled plenum section and the fuel rod insertion section with a sodium-gap. The circumferential wave modes are propagated in the cladding tube of the helium gas plenum section. The annular gap between the cladding tube and metal uranium pellet rod affects the scattering spectra. The different propagation characteristics can be utilized for the nondestructive method of detecting the unbonded area and measuring the level of the sodium-filled section of the fuel pin.