The effects of fast neutron irradiation on the electrical and optical properties of Li (3 at%) doped ZnSnO (ZTO) thin films fabricated using a sol-gel process are investigated. From the results of Li-ZTO TFT characteristics according to change of neutron irradiation time, the saturation mobility is found to increase and threshold voltage values shift to a negative direction from 1,000 s neutron irradiation time. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the O 1s core level shows that the relative area of oxygen vacancies is almost unchanged with different irradiation times. From the results of band alignment, it is confirmed that, due to the increase of electron carrier concentration, the Fermi level (EF) of the sample irradiated for 1,000 s is located at the position closest to the conduction band minimum. The increase in electron concentration is considered by looking at the shallow band edge state under the conduction band edge formed by fast neutron irradiation of more than 1,000 s.

Fatigue crack growth retardation of 304 L stainless steel is studied using a neutron diffraction method. Three orthogonal strain components(crack growth, crack opening, and through-thickness direction) are measured in the vicinity of the crack tip along the crack propagation direction. The residual strain profiles (1) at the mid-thickness and (2) at the 1.5 mm away from the mid-thickness of the compact tension(CT) specimen are compared. Residual lattice strains at the 1.5 mm location are slightly higher than at the mid-thickness. The CT specimen is deformed in situ under applied loads, thereby providing evolution of the internal stress fields around the crack tip. A tensile overload results in an increased magnitude of the compressive residual stress field. In the crack growth retardation, it is found that the stresses are dispersed in the crack-wake region, where the highest compressive residual stresses are measured. Our neutron diffraction mapping results reveal that the dominant mechanism is by interrupting the transfer of stress concentration at the crack tip.

Nodal transport methods are proposed for solving the simplified even-parity neutron transport (SEP) equation. These new methods are attributed to the success of existing nodal diffusion methods such as the Polynomial Expansion Nodal and the Analytic Function Expansion Nodal Methods, which are known to be very effective for solving the neutron diffusion equation. Numerical results show that the simplified even-parity transport equation is a valid approximation to the transport equation and that the two nodal methods developed in this study also work for the SEP transport equation, without conflict. Since accuracy of methods is easily increased by adding node unknowns, the proposed methods will be effective for coarse mesh calculation and this will also lead to computation efficiency.

To correctly predict the neutron behavior based on diffusion calculations, it is necessary to adopt well-specified boundary conditions using suitable diffusion approximations to transport boundary conditions. Boundary conditions such as the zero net-current, the Marshak, the Mark, the zero scalar flux, and the Albedo condition have been used extensively in diffusion theory to approximate the reflective and vacuum conditions in transport theory. In this paper, we derive and analyze these conditions to prove their mathematical validity and to understand their physical implications, as well as their relationships with one another. To show the validity of these diffusion boundary conditions, we solve a sample problem. The results show that solutions of the diffusion equation with these well-formulated boundary conditions are very close to the solution of the transport equation with transport boundary conditions.

As a rule, geological disposal is considered a safe method for final disposal of high-level radioactive waste. However, some long-lived fission products like 99Tc and 129I contained in spent nuclear fuel are highly mobile as less sorbing anionic species in the subsurface environment and can mainly cause exposure dose to the ecosystem by emission of beta rays in the hundreds of keV range. Therefore, if these two nuclides can be separated and converted with high efficiency into radioactively unharmful nuclides, this would have a positive effect on disposal safety. One candidate method is to transmute these two nuclides in nuclear reactors into short-lived nuclides or into stable nuclides. For this purpose, it is necessary to evaluate which reactor type is more efficient in burning these two nuclides. In this study, the simulation results of nuclear transmutation of 99Tc and 129I in light water reactor (PWR), heavy water reactor (CANDU) and fast neutron reactor (SFR, MET-1000) are compared and discussed.

경수로 원전을 대상으로 원전 내 방사화 대상 물질인 스테인리스강, 탄소강 및 콘크리트의 불순물 정보 적용여부에 따른 방 사화 핵종 재고량을 계산하였다. 본 연구에서 탄소강은 압력용기 물질에 사용되었고, 스테인리스강은 압력용기 내부 물질에 사용되었으며, 일반 콘크리트가 생체 차폐체에 사용되었다. 금속 물질에 대해서는 참고자료 1개의 불순물 함량 정보를 적용 하였고, 콘크리트 물질에서는 참고자료 5개의 불순물 함량 정보를 적용하여 평가를 수행하였다. 방사화 핵종 재고량 전산해 석 시 중성자속 계산에는 MCNP 전산코드를, 방사화 계산에는 FISPACT 전산코드를 각각 사용하였다. 계산 결과, 금속 물질 에서 불순물을 포함한 경우가 그렇지 않은 경우보다 비방사능이 2배 이상 높았으며, 특히 콘크리트에서는 불순물을 포함한 경우가 그렇지 않은 경우보다 최대 30배 이상 비방사능이 높게 계산되었다. 방사화 핵종의 생성반응과 재고량을 분석한 결 과, 금속 구조물에서는 불순물 중 Co원소와 중성자에 의해 생성되는 방사화 핵종인 Co-60이, 콘크리트에서는 불순물 중 Co, Eu 원소와 중성자에 의해 생성되는 방사화 핵종인Co-60, Eu-152, Eu-154 이 방사성폐기물 준위 결정에 큰 영향을 미치고 있 음을 확인하였다. 본 연구의 결과는 원전 해체 계획 수립 시 방사화 핵종 재고량 평가 및 규제에 활용될 수 있을 뿐 아니라, 해체를 고려한 원전 또는 원자력시설의 설계 단계에서도 참고자료로 활용 될 것으로 판단된다.