Surface water temperature of a bay (from the south to the north) increases in spring and summer, but decreases in autumn and winter. Due to shallow water depth, freshwater outflow, and weak current, the water temperature in the central to northern part of the bay is greatly affected by the land coast and air temperature, with large fluctuations. Water temperature variations are large in the north-east coast of the bay, but small in the south-west coast. The difference between water temperature and air temperature is greater in winter and in the south-central part of the bay than that in the north to the eastern coast of the bay where sea dykes are located. As the bay goes from south to north, the range of water temperature fluctuation and the phase show increases. When fresh water is released from the sea dike, the surrounding water temperature decreases and then rises, or rises and then falls. The first mode of empirical orthogonal function (EOF) represents seasonal variation of water temperature. The second mode represents the variability of water temperature gradient in east-west and north-south directions of the bay. In the first mode, the maximum and the minimum are shown in autumn and summer, respectively, consistent with seasonal distribution of surface water temperature variance. In the second mode, phases of the coast of Seosan~Boryeong and the east coast of Anmyeon Island are opposite to each other, bordering the center of the deep bay. Periodic fluctuation of the first mode time coefficient dominates in the one-day and half-day cycle. Its daily fluctuation pattern is similar to air temperature variation. Sea conditions and topographical characteristics excluding air temperature are factors contributing to the variation of the second mode time coefficient.

Some of the metal waste generated from KEPCO NF is being disposed of in the form of ingots. An ingot is a metal that is melted once and then poured into a mold to harden, and it is characterized by a uniform distribution of radioactive material. When measuring the uranium radioactivity in metal ingot with HPGe detector, 185.7 keV of U-235 is used typically because most gamma rays emitted at U-235 are distributed in low-energy regions below 200 keV. To analyze radioactivity concentration of U-235 with HPGe detector more accurately, self-attenuation due to geometrical differences between the calibration source and the sample must be corrected. In this study, the MCNP code was used to simulate the HPGe gamma spectroscopy system, and various processes were performed to prove the correlation with the actual values. First an metal ingottype standard source was manufactured for efficiency calibration, and the GEB coefficient was derived using Origin program. And through the comparison of actual measurements and simulations, the thickness of the detector’s dead layers were defined in all directions of Ge crystal. Additionally instead of making an metal ingot-type standard source every time, we analyzed the measurement tendency between commercially available HPGe calibration source (Marinelli beaker type) and the sample (metal ingot type), and derived the correction factor for geometry differences. Lastly the correction factor was taken into consideration when obtaining the uranium radioactivity concentration in the metal ingot with HPGe gamma spectroscopy. In conclusion, the U-235 radioactivity in metal ingot was underestimated about 25% of content due to the self-attenuation. Therefore it is reasonable to reflect this correction factor in the calculation of U-235 radioactivity concentration.

The current storage capacity of the spent nuclear fuel at the Kori unit 2 has reached approximately 94% saturation, excluding emergency core capacity. As South Korea has not yet constructed any interim storage facilities to store spent nuclear fuel, one of possible options is to install high density storage racks in spent fuel pool at the reactor site to increase its capacity. The high density storage rack is a technology developed to allow the storage to have more spent nuclear fuel than originally planned, while still ensuring safety. It achieves this by reducing the storage gap between the spent nuclear fuel. The purpose of this study is to investigate an appropriate storage capacity for spent fuel pool in the Kori unit 2 and the factors to be considered during the high density storage rack installation. Given that the Kori unit 2 is planning continued operation and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) is preparing to install a temporary storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at the Kori nuclear site, it is reasonable to consider the installation of high density storage racks in the spent fuel pool as a storage solution for these issues. When evaluating the capacity of the spent fuel pool, the amount of spent nuclear fuel generated by other reactors in Kori nuclear site and the amount of spent nuclear fuel generated by continued operation of the Kori unit 2 should be taken into account. This study aims to consider these factors and evaluate the capacity of the spent fuel pool. Furthermore, when installing high density storage rack for the spent nuclear fuel, it should be noted that the existing storage racks at the Kori unit 2 are welded to the liner plate, which may require additional cutting work. Therefore, it is necessary to review the suitable method for the cutting work. Additionally, assuming that divers need to access the area near the storage racks or cutting & welding devices require radiation protection in the area, it is essential to analyze the expected radiation level with computational code and propose appropriate measures to limit work time or establish a work zone. Thus, this study evaluates appropriate capacity of spent fuel pool and work methods for the installation of high density storage rack in the spent fuel pool at the Kori unit 2. It is expected that this paper contributes to install high density storage racks in SFP safely.

There have been a variety of issues related to spent nuclear fuel in Korea recently. Most of the issues are related to intermediate storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel. However, recently, various studies have been started in advanced nuclear countries such as the United States to reduce spent nuclear fuel, focusing on measures to reduce spent nuclear fuel. In this study, a simple preliminary assessment of the thermal part was performed for the consolidation storage method which separates fuel rods from spent nuclear fuel and stores them. The preliminary thermal evaluation was analyzed separately for storing the spent fuel in fuel assembly state and separating the fuel rods and storing them. The consolidation storage method in separating the fuel rods was advantageous in terms of thermal conductivity. However, detailed evaluation should be performed considering heat transfer by convection and vessel shape when storing multiple fuel bundles simultaneously.