The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) in Daejeon, South Korea was established in 1959 as the sole professional research-oriented institute for nuclear power in South Korea, and has rapidly built a reputation for research and development in various fields. In 1995 KAERI designed and constructed the nation's first multipurpose research reactor, HANARO based on the Canadian MAPLE design. KAERI is dedicated to finding a wide range of uses for atomic energy. As examples, KAERI developed the world's first radiopharmaceutical "Milican injection" for treating liver cancer.KAERI has made significant contributions to the nation's nuclear technology development. After Korea achieved self-reliance in nuclear core technologies, KAERI have transferred highly developed technologies to local industries for practical applications. The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), responsible for supporting the government in regulatory and licensing works, and the Nuclear Environment Technology Institute, responsible for low and medium level radioactive waste management, are also originally spin-offs from KAERI. KAERI established the present KEPCO E&C (full name: KEPCO Engineering & Construction Company, INC., formerly: KOPEC), responsible for not only the architect engineering works of nuclear power plants, but also for designing nuclear steam supply systems. KAERI also established the present Korea Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd. (KNFC), responsible for designing and manufacturing PWR as well as PHWR fuels..
The uncertainty analysis results of key nuclear design parameters for the VHTR-350 core were presented in this work. The uncertainty analysis code system applies a two-step approach, integrating the Generalized Perturbation Theory (GPT) and the random sampling method. In the lattice calculation step, DeCART2D_HTR was employed to generate block-homogenized few-group cross-sections and their corresponding generalized adjoint fluxes. Subsequently, MUSAD quantified the uncertainties for these few-group cross-sections and produced randomly sampled cross-section sets. In the core analysis stage, CAPP performed the 3-D core diffusion analysis using the sampled data sets. The results indicate that the uncertainties for the multiplication factor were 0.547% for the fresh 3-D core and 0.595% for the depleted state. Notably, the uncertainty of the isothermal temperature coefficient exhibited a significant increase with burnup, rising from 4.8% to 16.5%. The uncertainties for the 3-D power peaking factor were evaluated as 0.32% at fresh state and 0.58% at depleted state, while the maximum uncertainty in the radial power distribution increased from 0.53% to 0.63% during the depletion process.
The feasibility of employing an ion-exchange resin for the recovery of antimony(V) from an industrial waste effluent has been investigated. The source of the effluent is a treatment process designed to reduce the volume of a spent uranium-antimony catalyst prior to its immobilisation and disposal in South Korea; known as the SENSEI Process. Commercial macroporous-type cation (Strong acid cation, Mitsubishi DIAION PK216) and anion (Strong base anion Type I, Mitsubishi DIAION PA316; Strong base anion Type II, Mitsubishi DIAION PA418) exchange resins, as well as macroporous-type chelation resins (Aminophosphonic acid, Lanxess LEWATIT TP260; Sulfonic-phosphonic acid, Purolite MTS957) have undergone batchwise screening. LEWATIT TP260 showed the best antimony removal from sulfuric acid solutions across the entire [H+] range tested (0.01 mM – 2 M) and showed no loss of removal performance as a function of increasing sulfate concentration at high [H+]. The Hill isotherm model produced the best fit for antimony binding to LEWATIT TP260 (Adj. R2 = 0.9969), corresponding to an equilibrium adsorption capacity of 160.55 mg g−1. Second order kinetics (Adj. R2 = 0.9808) best described the kinetic uptake of antimony onto the TP260 resin indicating a chemisorption mechanism. The presence of phosphate [PO43−] had a negligible impact on antimony removal by TP260, however, the presence of molybdate [MoO42−] and silica, both found in the SENSEI effluent stemming from the original catalyst, significantly reduced the performance of TP260.
Beam commissioning of the RAON linac has been carried out with various ion species in the injector and with 40Ar9+ and 40Ar8+ beams in the low-energy superconducting linac SCL3. This paper primarily reports the results obtained with 40Ar8+ beams, while data from other ion species are included when needed. A beam-tuning procedure for the LEBT based on Allison scanner data was established, enabling proper beam matching at the RFQ entrance. In the MEBT, transverse beam parameters were refined through wire-scanner measurements. During SCL3 beam commissioning, cavity settings obtained from phase scans yielded beam energies consistent with TRACK predictions and were confirmed by TOF measurements. The SCL3 transmission was lower than expected, indicating that further study is required to clarify and mitigate the beam-loss mechanisms, including possible limitations in the longitudinal acceptance.
This work presents the design, development, and measurement results of the Allison scanner installed in the low energy beam transport (LEBT) section of the 100 MeV proton accelerator at KOMAC. The Allison scanner is a widely used diagnostic device that enables precise measurement of transverse emittance by electrostatically sweeping the beam with position scan. In this study, we describe the Allison scanner development process, highlight the issues encountered during fabrication and integration, and discuss their underlying causes along with the solutions that were implemented. Furthermore, we present the measurement results obtained with the scanner and evaluate its performance in characterizing the beam quality. In addition, the stability of the ion source, monitored with the Allison scanner during the first half of the 2025 user service period, is analyzed and discussed.
The thermo-mechanical properties of SiC particulate-reinforced SiC composites (SiC-PRCs), fabricated using precursor impregnation & pyrolysis (PIP) process, were analyzed up to 2000 degrees C. The relative density of the SiCPRCs after 4 PIP cycles was 88.6 %. The number of PIP cycles required decreased to nearly half compared with the conventional PIP method by using ultra-high concentration slurries up to 70 vol%. In addition, roomtemperature bending strength (215 MPa) and Young's modulus (269 GPa) improved as the solid loading of the slurry increased. The bending strength increased to 232 MPa at 2000 degrees C in Ar. Despite the thermal deterioration of the precursor-derived ceramics (PDC), the mechanical properties of the PRC did not deteriorate up to 2000 degrees C because the PDC fixed the position of thermally stable SiC filler particles, which were densely packed and mostly endured the stress. Moreover, partial densification at high temperature further improved the thermomechanical properties of the PRC.
