Gamma-ray attenuation technique for measuring void fraction in horizontal gas-liquid two-phase flow

The measurement of void fraction is of importance to the oil industry and chemical industry. In this article, the principle and mathematical method of determining the void fraction of horizontal gas-liquid flow by using a single-energy γ-ray system is described. The γ-ray source is the radioactive isotope of 241Am with γ-ray energy of 59.5 keV. The time-averaged value of the void fraction in a 50.0-mm i.d. transparent horizontal pipeline is measured under various combinations of the liquid flow and gas flow. It is found that increasing the gas flow rate at a fixed liquid flow rate would increase the void fraction. Test data are compared with the predictions of the correlations and a good agreement is found. The result shows that the designed γ-ray system can be used for measuring the void fraction in a horizontal gas-liquid two-phase flow with high accuracy.     

一种因参考光源强度变化导致的热释光剂量测量结果偏差的修正方法

在热释光剂量测量中，参考光源强度是影响测量结果的重要因素之一。对参考光源强度的调整往往通过调整测量仪器的高压来实现，但调高高压参数会导致测量仪器暗电流增加，进而导致测量值偏差增大。频繁的调整高压参数，也可能会使仪器的稳定性变差。针对参考光源强度变化导致的测量偏差，提出利用测量时的参考光源强度值与校准测量时参考光源强度值的变化求出相应的修正系数，进行测量结果修正。该方法经标准值样片测量检验，其测量值更准确、误差更小，与标准辐照值的偏差小于5%，表明该方法可行，可在实际工作中应用。     

Current status of radiation therapy for prostate cancer

Radiotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer has been extensively explored in the past. Along with the comprehensive understanding of the biology of prostate cancer and rapid advances in terms of technology, the out- come of treatment for the patients with prostate cancer has improved. The authors review radiotherapy as the primary treatment for the disease, with particular emphasis on the technological advances from both the radiobiological and radiophysics aspects. Nonconventional fractionated irradiation like hyper- or hypo-fractionation has been imple- mented in the clinic, the final results still need to be confirmed in the future. Technological advances like IMRT, IGRT, in the last two decades have significantly improved the delivery of external radiotherapy to the prostate. This has re- sulted in an overall increase in the total dose that can be safely delivered to the prostate, which has led to modest im- provements in the biochemical outcome. However, establishing the standard therapy for prostate cancer remains con- troversial. It is hoped that the next decades will bring continued advances in the development of biologicals that will further improve current clinical outcomes.     

Thermoelastic analyses of cladding on beam transient of lead–bismuth cooled accelerator-driven system

The thermoelastic analyses of cladding for lead–bismuth cooled accelerator-driven system (ADS) are conducted for the beam transients. The beam transients are considered to be caused by the abnormal behavior of the accelerator and are peculiar to ADS. The program of the thermoelastic analyses is developed for the evaluation of the stresses of the cladding. This program is intended to analyze a fuel pin of a cylindrical model, and solves the thermoelastic problem by the use of the finite-element-method. The beam transients are analyzed by employing the ADS dynamic calculation code and the program of the thermoelastic analyses for the ADS designed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. As a result, the transformation of the beam shape does not cause the cladding failure. However, the ductile failure is caused by the beam incident position change in several seconds. These results are also compared with those of the creep analyses conducted in the previous study, and both the creep and the ductile failure are revealed to be caused by the beam incident position change. Consequently, the beam incident position change is concluded to have a high risk of cladding failure.     

Adsorption of iodine on graphite in High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor systems: A review

Adsorption of iodine on graphite is of great interest for operation and safety of high temperature nuclear reactors. Graphite can adsorb significant amounts of iodine and retain it for a long period of time. Significant amount of work on this subject has been done in the past. Various types of adsorption apparatus have been designed and data were collected. The types of graphite used in past studies are not available anymore, and as a consequence the data are not applicable for the new type of commercial nuclear grade graphites. However, the past experimental systems, data, and their analysis are useful to design a better experimental system, collect more accurate data, and, provide better understanding of the adsorption process and data. In addition the existing data can be used to generate a framework to understand the types of adsorption processes taking place. In this work, we have conducted an exhaustive literature review and further analyzed the data. Four adsorption isotherms; the Langmuir, the Freundlich, and the two isotherms proposed in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Tecdoc-978 were used to correlate the available equilibrium adsorption data. For most of the data, the simple Langmuir and the Freundlich isotherms provided a reasonable fit of the data. The Polyani's potential theory was also used to check the consistency of the data and as indicated by the theory, most of the data set provided a single characteristic curve. The isosteric heats of adsorption calculated using the literature data suggested that iodine-adsorption on graphite could be a chemisorption process.     

Gamma radiation levels in the ambient environment of the QNPP Base

Monitoring results of gamma dose rate level in 1992～2004 in the ambient environment of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plants(QNPP)Base,the northeast of Zhejiang Province,are reported in this paper.It is shown that the gamma dose rate of five monitoring sites of 2.5 km to QNPP Base is 84～113 nGy/h,with an average of 96 nGy/h in the 13 years.The average value is close to the background level of 93 nGy/h prior to operation of the QNPP Base,and is lower than the monitoring result of 101 nGy/h at the reference site in Hangzhou City.Within 50 km from the QNPP Base,the cumulative dose rate of the thermoluminescent dosimeter(TLD)is 90 nGy/h,which is lower than the back- ground level of 111 nGy/h.     

Radiation synthesis and characterization of polyacrylic acid hydrogels

The pH-sensitive polyacrylic acid （PAA） hydrogels were synthesized by gamma-ray irradiation at an ambient temperature. The influences of dose, monomer concentration, cross-linking agent content, pH, and ionic strength on the swelling ratio （SR） of the PAA hydrogels were investigated in detail. The results show that the SR of the hydrogel decreases with an increase in the dose, monomer concentration, and cross-linking agent content. In alkaline solution, the SR of the hydrogels is much higher than that in acid solution. Also, the ionic strength can influence the SR of the hydrogels. The more the concentration, the lower the SR.     

Study on Risk-Informed In-Service Inspection for BWR Piping

Risk-informed in-service inspection for piping was studied for a BWR plant. Piping segment rupture probabilities were determined by Bayesian transform from piping failure events in the database of the OECD-NEA Piping Failure Data Exchange project. Based on the methodology of the Westinghouse Owners Group, core damage frequency induced by each segment rupture was determined by the use of a surrogate component in the PSA model. Nondestructive examinations were added to leak examinations for segments of the resultant high risk significance. The changes from current examinations gave around 29% reduction of segments subject to both leak and nondestructive examinations within the total segments. Deterministic insights and engineering judgments on top of risk significance should be applied to obtain the final decision of inspection methods. An extent-of-examination was studied by the adoption of the Perdue-Abramson model in the Westinghouse Owners Group methodology. The necessary leak frequency of a crack in a segment was calculated by the probabilistic fracture mechanics code PRAISE. Two segments of high risk significance showed lower or slightly higher extents-of-examination, respectively, than the current extent-of-examination. To contribute to the enhancement of the scientific rationality of piping inspections, technical knowledge was accumulated.     

Comparative Studies of JENDL-3.3, JENDL-3.2, JEFF-3, JEF-2.2 and ENDF/B-6.8 Data Libraries on the Monte Carlo Continuous Energy Modeling of the Gas Turbine-Modular Helium Reactor Operating with Thorium Fuels

One of the major benefits of the Gas Turbine-Modular Helium Reactor is the capability to operate with several different types of fuel; either Light Water Reactors waste, military plutonium or thorium represent valid candidates as possible types of fuel. In the present studies, we performed a comparison of various nuclear data libraries by the Monte Carlo Continuous Energy Burnup Code MCB applied to the Gas Turbine-Modular Helium Reactor operating on a thorium fuel. A thorium fuel offers valuable attractive advantages: low fuel cost, high reduction of actinides production and the possibility to enable the reactor to act as a breeder of fuel by the neutron capture of fertile ²³²Th. We evaluated the possibility to mix thorium with small quantities, about 3% in atomic composition, of ²³⁹Pu, ²³³U and ²³⁵U. The mass of thorium must be much larger than that one of plutonium or uranium because of the low capture cross section of thorium compared to the fission one of the fissile nuclides; at the same time, the quantity of the fissile isotopes must grant the criticality condition. These two simultaneous constraints force to load a huge mass of fuel in the reactor; consequently, we propose to allocate the fuel in TRISO particles with a large radius of the kernel. For each of the three different fuels we calculated the evolution of the fuel composition by the MCB code equipped with five different nuclear data libraries: JENDL-3.3, JENDL-3.2, JEFF-3, JEF-2.2 and ENDF/B.     

Current status of spent fuels and the development of computer programs for the PWR spent fuel management in Korea

Nuclear power has supplied the national electric power demand for three decades in the Republic of Korea, which has resulted in the accumulation of a large amount of spent fuels. The government has a policy on the temporary storage of these at nuclear power plants at present. In order to establish a proper policy for spent fuel management in the near future, the characteristics and amount of spent fuels should be figured out properly. In this paper, the current status of spent fuels in the Republic of Korea is outlined focusing on the major characteristics of spent fuels such as initial enrichment and discharge burnup. According to the current trend, the average burnup of PWR spent fuels will reach 55 GWd/MtU by the middle of 2010s. Three different kinds of computer programs were developed to supply crucial data regarding spent fuels. The first one was developed to project the amount of spent fuels in the future based on three different projection models. The projection was verified with real spent fuel data. The second Database program was prepared for the analysis of statistics regarding PWR spent fuels. Each PWR spent fuel assembly was specified with 18 items of data such as fuel type, initial enrichment, and discharge burnup. The usefulness of the Database program was illustrated through an analysis of the geological disposal density and cooling time of PWR spent fuels. Disposal area could be reduced by 50% through a proper analysis of the cooling time of PWR spent fuels. Finally, A-SOURCE program was developed to easily calculate source-terms such as decay heat and radionuclide concentration after the pyro-processing of PWR spent fuel assemblies. Linked to the Database program, the A-SOURCE program selected PWR spent fuel assemblies and could calculate the source-terms for any combination of them. An illustration of the usage of the program was demonstrated.     

Investigations on landmine detection by BF3 detector

Experiments were carried out to investigate the possible use of neutron backscattering for the detection of polyethylene (PE) sample buried in the soil. In detection of landmine by neutrons, the neutron detector and its shield play an important role. In this paper, the effects of graphite, heavy water, polyethylene and boric acid moderators on the flux of back scattered neutrons were investigated. We have also experimentally verified the effect of BF3 detector shield and obtained good agreement with theory.     

Surface modification of stratum corneum for drug delivery and skin care by microplasma discharge treatment

Human skin is the largest organ and also the main barrier that prevents foreign substances from entering the body. The surface properties of the skin are relevant for transdermal drug delivery and cosmetics. Yucatan micropig skin is used as a substitute for human skin. A microplasma electrode is used for surface modification of the skin epidermal layer of the Yucatan micropig. Microplasma dielectric barrier discharge has a thin dielectric as a barrier (∼50 μm) and a frequency of 25 kHz. The surface properties of the epidermal layer were characterized by the measurement of the contact angle of the water droplet. The effects of different gases such as air, nitrogen, oxygen, helium or argon were compared. The change of the contact angle is temporal and it is returned to its initial state after several hours. Among the gases used for plasma ignition, oxygen and argon were the most effective for skin treatment. The distance of the skin from the electrode and the treatment time played a crucial roles in the increasing water contact angle. Changes of surface atomic concentration were determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. After microplasma treatment, the oxygen and nitrogen concentration increased at the skin surface.     

pH值对U、Pu的吸附影响

以西南某极低放废物处置库预选场址为研究对象,通过静态模拟实验研究水相pH值对U、Pu在土壤中的吸附影响,结合PHREEQC软件模拟了该地下水溶液中不同pH值下的种态和主要成分。结果表明,水相环境中土壤对U、Pu的吸附约在第13d达到吸附平衡。pH值对土壤吸附能力有较大影响,酸性溶液吸附能力较弱,碱性溶液吸附能力较强。U、Pu在水溶液中的化学种态和主要成分对土壤吸附有一定影响,带电荷的UO_2(CO_3)_2~(2-)、UO_2(CO_3)_3~(4-)和不带电的Pu(OH)_4易与土壤表面的≡Si—OH、Al—OH等表面羟基官能团形成新的络合物,使得土壤的吸附能力增强。     

核燃料水法后处理现状和展望

本文评论了世界各国乏燃料后处理技术。后处理能力在目前和不久将来不能满足核能的发展需要,它在燃料循环中占有重要的地位。普雷克斯流程不仅对于轻水堆燃料,而且对快中子增殖堆燃料后处理然是一种主要流程。近期后处理研究和发展的重点在于使流程最佳化,并引入新技术,尤其是U(Ⅳ),电解氧化还原,硝酸羟胺还原和亚硝气氧化等无盐过程。当处理高燃耗的乏燃料时,应采取特别措施,以避免造成溶剂的严重辐解和钚的临界问题。氚在流程中必须控制,并限定在一定区域,使其废液体积尽量减小。     

Migration of Cesium,Strontium and Cobalt in Water-Saturated Inada Granite

Diffusivities of C_s, Sr and Co were measured in a water-saturated granite in an attempt to investigate the migration of radionuclides into the matrix of the rock. The measured penetration profiles of every tracer were composed of two parts. There were a steep slope near the surface and a gradual slope in the deeper part. These profiles were successfully explained by considering two diffusion paths in the granite. One diffusion path was fissure with a width of a few microns and another was network of submicron pores. The volume of submicron pores was approximately 80% of the total pore volume in the granite. The orders of magnitude of apparent diffusivities for all nuclides were 10^?11 to 10^?12m²/s through the fissure and 10^?14 m²/s through the network of pores. The ratio of geometrical factors in the two paths was also calculated from each apparent diffusivity and was almost unity. This calculated ratio suggests that the pore network in the granite matrix has a similar shape to the fissure, thus the microstructure of the granite seems to be fractal.     

BEPCⅡ中束流位置测量系统的噪声分析

超低发射度光源要求束流位置测量系统(BPM系统)的分辨率达到亚μm量级。在实验室条件下,BPM系统电子学的测量分辨率可达亚μm,但在线机器运行时束流位置监测器（BPM）探头受到的机械振动（亚μm量级）将成为限制BPM系统测量分辨率达到亚μm的重要因素。为满足高能光源（HEPS）对BPM系统0.1 μm分辨率的要求,本文基于北京正负电子对撞机重大改造工程（BEPCⅡ）上的BPM系统,进行了功率谱方法的环境振动及束流数据的联合分析,以探究影响BPM系统分辨率的因素。首先从BPM系统分辨率的传统衡量标准与功率谱的关系出发,进而分析BPM系统的工作原理、安装环境,测量其周边的机械振动水平,获取束流的低频频谱。获取的BPM数据频谱成分及分析结果表明：电缆传输会产生频谱基线的上升;BPM探头真空室会直接受环境振动的影响;四极铁特征频率的机械振动经束流动力学造成了全环BPM数据特定频率的峰值增长。结合束流动力学,使用有限数量的BPM数据可推断出振动源点。     

抗振条面内接触刚度对蒸汽发生器传热管流致振动的影响

流弹性失稳是引起蒸汽发生器传热管管束失效的一种主要原因。在相同流场条件下,传热管是否出现流弹性失稳与其模态频率直接相关。在实际结构中,抗振条对U型传热管弯管段面内支撑机理与面外的方向上不同,是通过摩擦约束实现的。这使得在模态分析计算中,传热管弯管段支撑处的边界条件设置非常重要。本文将传热管与抗振条接触点处的面外边界条件假设为简支,而在面内方向上用弹簧来模拟抗振条对传热管的摩擦约束。同时,通过改变弹簧刚度,讨论了不同强弱的面内支撑对传热管流致振动的影响。分析结果表明,当抗振条与传热管面内接触刚度较弱时,面内流弹性失稳可能较面外流弹性失稳出现得更早。     

轴承摩擦磨损对柔性支承转子动力响应特性的影响

柔性支承转子中唯一的动静接触组件为轴承,由轴和窝组成。轴和窝之间的摩擦对转子的动力响应特性有直接影响,研究其影响机理是轴承设计和优化的重要前提。本文建立了轴承的非刚性连接模型,并将其引入柔性支承转子模型中;从理论上研究不同轴承摩擦磨损程度对转子动力响应的影响;计算并分析了轴承摩擦磨损状态下转子的动力响应特性;分析了轴承磨损导致转子进动失效时转子释放的最大能量。研究结果表明,随着轴承摩擦磨损程度的加深,转子的振幅增大,转子出现二阶进动现象,磨损严重时伴随出现拟周期运动。轴承摩擦磨损可能导致转子出现不同的失效模式,转子做二阶进动和拟周期运动时会使失效转子释放的最大能量大幅增加。研究结果可为柔性支承转子的轴承优化设计提供理论依据。     

PUREX流程1A槽中锝的走向分析

结合基础研究数据和工艺实验数据,对核燃料后处理PUREX流程共去污槽（1A槽）中锝的走向进行了分析。工艺实验数据表明：1A槽萃取段中TBP对锝与锆的共萃取行为是影响锝走向的主要因素。硝酸浓度会显著影响TBP对锝与锆的共萃取性能,当c(HNO₃)＜3 mol/L时,提高硝酸浓度可以促进水解的锆解离生成Zr⁴⁺,从而促进锆锝共萃取;当c(HNO₃)≥3 mol/L时,硝酸可能会参与锆与锝的萃取。在0.5~5 mol/L的范围内,提高硝酸浓度有利于锝的萃取。在1A槽洗涤段硝酸浓度分布相近的条件下,1A槽中锝的走向取决于萃取段硝酸浓度的分布。萃取段硝酸浓度分布不同,将导致进入1A槽有机产品液（1AP）的锝含量比例不同,萃取段硝酸浓度越高,越有利于锝进入1AP。     

钚作业人群流行病学研究进展

随着核技术的发展,钚逐渐成为核燃料系统中的主要核素,从事钚作业的人员逐年增加。但钚的健康效应尚需要进一步的明确。世界上一些核大国针对钚接触的工作人员的健康效应做了一些流行病学研究。不同设施的钚作业人员的研究结果不尽相同。前苏联Mayak工作人员的钚内照射剂量相对较高,其队列研究具有足够的统计能力;而美国、英国低水平钚辐射暴露的队列研究尚未确认剂量与效应的关系。钚作业人群的流行病学研究的可靠性取决于器官剂量估算的准确性。我国关于钚作业人员的健康效应的研究与世界上其他核大国还有一定的差距。本文就国外核大国关于钚作业人群的流行病学研究进展进行综述,期望为我国开展钚作业人员的远后健康效应研究提供思路。