Búsqueda

Los avances en la Energía Nuclear

Volumen 169, Abril De 2024, 105090

Análisis de la radiactividad en el bio-escudo de Kori PNP de

la unidad 1 a través de la simulación computacional
Hyeonmin enlaces de Autor abrir panel superposición, Jaeho Lee, Woo Nyun Choi, Seungbin Yoon, Hee Reyoung Kim

Mostrar más

Share Cite

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2024.105090
Get rights and content

Introduction

This study evaluated the degradation characteristics of bio-shield concrete materials within a nuclear power plant
(NPP) earmarked for decommissioning. A comprehensive comprehension of the concrete structure of the NPP under
scrutiny becomes imperative. Moreover, the factors that contribute to the degradation in distinct segments need to be
systematically evaluated. Subsequently, an appropriate sampling location suitable for evaluating the degradation
mechanism must be identified. The evaluation process mandates the sample collection and its subsequent examination
through measurement tests. Particularly, evaluating concrete degradation is important owing to its radiological and
non-radiological effects.

Neutrons emitted from a nuclear reactor induce inelastic scattering, elastic scattering, and absorption reactions with
the atomic nuclei of materials depending on the energy of the neutrons. During these interactions, when atomic nuclei
experience displacement due to inelastic and elastic scattering events, the crystal structure is susceptible to alteration,
potentially leading to an amorphous state. Specifically, aggregate degradation in crystalline concrete structures is
primarily caused by neutron irradiation (Hilsdorf et al., 1978; Field et al., 2015; Maruyama et al., 2013; Knoll, 2010).

The radiation dose experienced by concrete adjacent to the pressure vessel changes significantly based on the location
and composition of the concrete. Neutron flux predictions can have remarkable errors due to the long-term operation
of NPPs over many decades. The influence of neutrons exerts the most pronounced influence on the mechanical
properties of concrete. The neutron flux and neutron spectrum vary greatly depending on the depth inside the bio-
shield. The neutron flux can be calculated using various radiation transport codes, such as PHITS, ETRAN, EGS, and
MCNP (Sato et al., 2015; Stephen, 1991; Ford and Nelson, 1978; Goorley et al., 2012). There have been many studies that
have used Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the neutron flux in the pressure vessel and concrete around the core for
PWRs (Khattab et al., 2009; Laky and Tsoulfanidis, 2017; Volmert et al., 2014). In addition, the ORIGEN code was used to
evaluate the inventory of radioactive products generated by neutron irradiation in the pressure vessel and concrete
around the core (Žagar et al., 2004; Räty et al., 2022). In most research that evaluated the neutron flux of a PWR or
radioactivity of surrounding structures, the constituent elements of a single specified structure were used, and in many
cases, the neutron irradiation history (operation history of NPP) was assumed to be a simple effective full power year.

In this study, we evaluate the neutron flux and the amount of radioactivity resulting from continuous neutron
irradiation on the bio-shield of a permanently shut down Kori NPP Unit 1. The pivotal determinant to evaluate the
degradation performance of bio-shield concrete pertains to the effective absorption of radiation dose by the concrete
structure. The factors (nuclear fuel enrichment, operation history, concrete constituent elements) yielding considerable
influence were investigated to infer the actual radiation dose absorbed. Furthermore, radioactivity concentration was
evaluated by targeting the main points enabling confirmation of neutron flux distribution through a comparative
analysis.

Access through your organization

Check access to the full text by signing in through your organization.

Access through su instituc…

Section snippets

Methods and materials

The assessment of radioactivity for the Kori Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Unit 1 was conducted in two stages. The first
stage encompassed using MCNP6 simulation to determine the neutron flux originating from the reactor core and its
adjacent structures based on information such as the geometry, constituent materials, and operation history of the
reactor. Furthermore, the study conducted comparative analysis, assessing disparities in outcomes influenced by
significant factors, such as nuclear fuel…

Average neutron flux by fuel enrichment

The nuclear fuel enrichment of the Kori NPP Unit 1 was 2.10, 2.83, and 3.20 wt % before the 19th cycle (period 1).
Subsequently, the enrichment was increased to 3.793, 3.797, and 3.798 wt % after the 19th cycle (period 2) to increase
the power generation efficiency. The period before and after the 19th cycle was divided into two periods—period 1 and
period 2, respectively—to ensure a higher degree of accuracy. The average neutron flux of the core and adjacent
structures was derived as a…

Conclusions

In this study, the neutron flux and the concentration distribution of major radioactive products in the Kori NPP Unit 1
bio-shield were derived using MCNP6 simulation. These parameters hold substantial influence over the efficacy of
radioactive degradation. Particular emphasis was directed towards investigating changes driven by influential factors,
such as nuclear fuel enrichment, operational history, and constituent element ratio of the concrete—each pivotal in
shaping neutron flux within…

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Hyeonmin Lee: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing –
review & editing. Jaeho Lee: Data curation, Investigation, Software, Validation. Woo Nyun Choi: Data curation,
Investigation. Seungbin Yoon: Conceptualization, Investigation. Hee Reyoung Kim: Conceptualization, Data curation,
Funding acquisition, Project administration, Resources, Supervision.…

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.…

Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and the
Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea (No. 20217910100100).

This work was supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and the
Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea (No. 20214000000410).…

Recommended articles

References (29)

F.J. Arias et al.

The use of zirconium hydride blankets in a minor actinide/thorium burner sodium-cooled reactor for void
coefficient control with particular reference to UK's plutonium disposition problem
Prog. Nucl. Energy (2015)

D.A. Brown et al.

The 8th major release of the nuclear reaction data library with CIELO-project cross sections, new
standards and thermal scattering data
Nucl. Data Sheets (2018)

J. Cetnar
General solution of Bateman equations for nuclear transmutations
Ann. Nucl. Energy (2006)

K.G. Field et al.

Radiation tolerance of neutron-irradiated model Fe-Cr-Al alloys
J. Nucl. Mater. (2015)

M.T. Hossain et al.

Neutronic and fuel cycle performance of VVER-1000 for dual cooled annual fuel with coated burnable
poison
Prog. Nucl. Energy (2022)

K. Khattab et al.
 Calculations of the thermal and fast neutron fluxes in the Syrian miniature neutron source reactor using
the MCNP-4C code
Appl. Radiat. Isot. (2009)

M. Pecchia et al.
A methodology for evaluating weighting function using MCNP and its application to PWR ex-core
analyses
Ann. Nucl. Energy (2017)

T. Sato et al.
Overview particle and heavy ion transport code system PHITS
Ann. Nucl. Energy (2015)

J.M. Sisterson et al.

Cross-section measurements for neutron-induce reactions in copper at neutron energies of 70.7 and 110
8MeV. Nucl. Instrum. And. Meth. Phys. Sect. B. (2005)

B. Volmert et al.
Illustration of Nagara's AMAC approach to Kori-1 NPP decommissioning based on experience from its
detailed application to Swiss NPPs
Nucl. Eng. Technol. (2021)

View more references

Cited by (0)

Ver texto completo

© 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

All content on this site: Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open
access content, the Creative Commons licensing terms apply.