처분장에서 지하수로 쉽게 유출될 수 있는 방사성 핵종들의 양을 예측하기 위하여 국내 PWR 사용후핵연료 팰렛들의 갭(gap) 및 입계에 있는 용해성 원소들의 재고량을 측정하였다. 연소도가 GWD/MTU를 갖는 연료봉에서 얻은 펠렛들에서 세슘의 갭 재고량이 로 나타났으며, 이는 핵분열 생성기체 유출률의 에 해당하였다. 그러나 핵분열 생성기체 유출 률이 1%이하인 연료봉에서 취한 40 GWD/MTU이하의 연소도를 갖는 펠렛들의 경우, 세슘의 갭 재고량들을 핵분열 생성기체 유출률과 연관시키기는 곤란하였다. 갭 및 입계내 스트론튬의 재고량은 동일 연료봉내 펠렛에서는 크게 다르지 않았으며, 요오드의 갭 재고량은 핵분열 생성기체 유출률보다 작거나 유사한 값을 갖는 것으로 평가되었다.

We have made a comprehensive statistical study on the coronal mass ejections(CMEs) associated with helmet streamers. A total number of 3810 CMEs observed by SOHO/LASCO coronagraph from 1996 to 2000 have been visually inspected. By comparing their LASCO images and running difference images, we picked out streamer-associated CMEs, which are classified into two sub-groups: Class-A events whose morphological shape seen in the LASCO running difference image is quite similar to that of the pre-existing streamer, and Class-B events whose ejections occurred in a part of the streamer. The former type of CME may be caused by the destabilization of the helmet streamer and the latter type of CME may be related to the eruption of a filament underlying the helmet streamer or narrow CMEs such as streamer puffs. We have examined the distributions of CME speed and acceleration for both classes as well as the correlation between their speed and acceleration. The major results from these investigations are as follows. First, about a quarter of all CMEs are streamer-associated CMEs. Second, their mean speed is 413 km s-1 for Class-A events and 371 km s-1 for Class-B events. And the fraction of the streamer-associated CMEs decreases with speed. Third, the speed-acceleration diagrams show that there are no correlations between two quantities for both classes and the accelerations are nearly symmetric with respect to zero acceleration line. Fourth, their mean angular width are about 60°, which is similar to that of normal CMEs. Fifth, the fraction of streamer-associated CMEs during the solar minimum is a little larger than that during the solar maximum. Our results show that the kinematic characteristics of streamer-associated CMEs, especially Class-A events, are quite similar to those of quiescent filament-associated CMEs.

Nanostructured materials exhibit attractive mechanical properties that are often superior to the performance of their coarse-grained counterparts. However, one major drawback is their low ductility, which limits their potential applications. In this paper, different strategies to obtain both high strength and enhanced ductility in nanostructured materials are reported for Ti-base and Zr-base alloys. The first approach consists of designing an in-situ composite microstructure containing ductile bcc or hop dendrites that are homogeneously dispersed in a nanostructured matrix. The second approach is related to refining the eutectic structure of a Ti-Fe-Sn alloy. For all these materials, the microstructure, mechanical properties, deformation and fracture mechanisms will be discussed.

Al-8Fe-2Mo-2V-1Zr alloys were prepared by the gas atomization/hot extrusion and the melt spinning/hot extrusion. For the gas atomized and extruded alloy, equiaxed grains with the average size of 400 nm and finely distributed dispersoids with their particle sizes ranging from 50nm to 200nm were observed. For the melt spun and hot extrusion processed alloy, refined microstructural feature consisting of equiaxed grains with the average size of 200nm and fine dispersoids with their particle sizes under 50nm appeared to exhibit a difference in microstructure. Strength of the latter alloy was higher than that for the former alloy up to elevated temperatures.

This research reports for the successful consolidation of Al2O3 powder with retained ultra-fine structure using MPC and sintering. Measurements in the consolidated Al2O3 bulk indicated that hardness, fracture toughenss, and breakdown voltage have been much improved relative to the conventional polycrystalline materials. Finally, optimization of the compaction parameters and sintering conditions will lead to the consolidation of Al2O3 nanopowder with higher density and even further enhanced mechanical properties.

Alumina microcomponents have distinguishing advantages over Si counterpart. However, the shrinkage of alumina, as high as 20%, makes it difficult to produce precision components meeting a high tolerance. A new fabrication process presented to greatly reduce the shrinkage by producing alumina microcomponents from ultrafine Al powder. The process consists of forming Al powder components through sintering and turning the Al powder component into alumina. In this way, the shrinkage occurring in sintering the Al powder component will be compensated by the expansion appearing when the Al powder component turns into alumina. The process has proven successful.