Sungki Kim

A STATISTICAL APPROACH FOR DERIVING KEY NFC EVALUATION CRITERIA

This study suggests 5 evaluation criteria (safety and technology, environmental impact, economic feasibility, social factors, and institutional factors) and 24 evaluation indicators for a NFC (nuclear fuel cycle) derived using factor analysis. To do so, a survey using 1 on 1 interview was given to nuclear energy experts and local residents who live near nuclear power plants. In addition, by conducting a factor analysis, homogeneous evaluation indicators were grouped with the same evaluation criteria, and unnecessary evaluation criteria and evaluation indicators were dropped out. As a result of analyzing the weight of evaluation criteria with the sample of nuclear power experts and the general public, both sides recognized safety as the most important evaluation criterion, and the social factors such as public acceptance appeared to be ranked as more important evaluation criteria by the nuclear energy experts than the general public.

ECONOMIC VIABILITY TO BeO-UO₂ FUEL BURNUP EXTENSION

This paper presents the quantitative analysis results of research on the burnup effect on the nuclear fuel cycle cost of BeO-UO₂ fuel. As a result of this analysis, if the burnup is 60 MWD/kg, which is the limit under South Korean regulations, the nuclear fuel cycle cost is 4.47 mills/kWh at 4.8wt% of Be content for the BeO-UO₂ fuel. It is, however, reduced to 3.70 mills/kWh at 5.4wt% of Be content if the burnup is 75MWD/kg. Therefore, it seems very advantageous, in terms of the economic aspect, to develop BeO-UO₂ fuel, which does not have any technical problem with its safety and is a high burnup & long life cycle nuclear fuel.

The credit analysis of recycling beryllium and uranium in BeO-UO2 nuclear fuel

This study quantifies the credits of beryllium and uranium which are used as the raw materials for BeO-UO2 nuclear fuel by analyzing the influence of their credits on the nuclear fuel cycle cost was analyzed, where the credit was defined as the value of raw materials recovered from spent fuel and the raw materials that were re-cycled. The credits of beryllium and uranium at 60 MWD/kg burn-up were –0.22 Mills/kWh and –0.14 Mills/kWh, respectively. These findings were based on the assumption that the optimal mixing proportion of beryllium in the BeO-UO2 nuclear fuel is 4.8 wt%. In sum, the present study verified that the credits of beryllium and uranium in relation to BeO-UO2 nuclear fuel are significant cost drivers in the cost of the nuclear fuel cycle and in estimating the nuclear fuel cycle of the reprocessing option for spent nuclear fuels.