RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator) is a power generation system producing electricity by converting the thermal energy gained from shielding radioisotope. RTG generates power without being charged from outside and as it utilizes radioisotope, RTG mainly serves as an energy source operated for a specific purpose in environment hardly accessible by human. Its design structures vary according to its purpose of operation, thermal source of operation and environment of operation. Since RTG is a power generation system, it should have the highest power efficiency with limited heat source. In this study, heat transfer analysis was implemented to investigate diverse design factors influencing the insulation system of RTG for aerospace use. Design factors considered in this study were silver coating, number of radiation shields inside vacuum insulation and supporter material. As a result, it was found that, depending upon design factors, insulation efficiency increased by 9.3% and finally insulation efficiency of RTG v2.0 was estimated at 84.3%.

This transport cask for radioactive materials will be used in the Gijang reactor. It will transport the Ir-192 10,000 Ci or I-131 80 Ci. In this case, the safety evaluation, such as protection of leakage of radioactive material, and radiation shield should be carried out before it is used in the research reactor. The safety regulation requires various tests, such as water spray, free drop, penetration, and water immersion. But this paper considers only the regulations related with thermal-stress and drop impact under the normal conditions because it will be used only in the research reactor building. In this paper, coupled numerical analysis was performed using finite element simulation to investigate the effect of position of tungsten and lead to enhance the safety of transport cask. As a result of simulation, it was verified that the Tungsten-Lead structure is the most durable among the cases considered in the study with a viewpoint of thermal-stress and drop impact.

The en-riched 58Ni powders are dissolved in acid solution and coated on a Cu target for proton irradiation at cyclotron to produce 57Co radioisotope. The condition of the plating bath and the coating process are determined using the en-riched powders. To establish the coating conditions for 57Co, non-radioactive Co ions are dissolved in an acid solution and electroplated on to a rhodium plate. The thermal diffusion of electroplated Co into a rhodium matrix was studied to apply a 57Co Mssbauer source. The diffusion depth from surface to matrix of Co is depended on the annealing temperature and time. The deposited Co atoms diffuse completely into a rhodium (Rh) matrix without substantial loss at an annealing temperature of 1200 for 4 hours.