Nuclear Engineering Commons^™

Viscous Sealing Glass Compositions For Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Cheol-Woon Kim, Richard K. Brow

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

A sealant for forming a seal between at least two solid oxide fuel cell components wherein the sealant comprises a glass material comprising B₂O₃ as a principal glass former, BaO, and other components and wherein the glass material is substantially alkali-free and contains less than 30% crystalline material.

Toward Transparency And Broader Safeguards Conclusion: A Closer Look At The Proposed Saudi’S Civilian Nuclear Power Program, Thaqal Alhuzaymi, Ayodeji Babatunde Alajo

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

The higher the transparency of any civilian nuclear power program, the higher the chance of attracting and securing the long-term foreign nuclear cooperation. For newcomer states, securing nuclear cooperation is essential for successful deployment and implementation of nuclear power program. Complying with an acceptable types of safeguards commitment/protocols plays a major role in increasing transparency. The determination of transparency primarily relies on the presence of sensitive nuclear isotopes–as defined under IAEA’s safeguards–with a nuclear facility. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is considering the deployment of civilian nuclear power program with a projected nuclear capacity ~18 gigawatt-electric (GWe) by 2032-40. The …

The Impact Of The State-Level Concept On “Newcomers”: A Case Study Of The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, Thaqal Alhuzaymi, Ayodeji Babatunde Alajo

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) latest reports indicate a growing number of states (newcomers) considering the deployment of nuclear energy programs. In developing nuclear infrastructure, newcomers have to employ the prevailing standards to deploy the nuclear program in a secure, safe, and sustainable manner. State-Level Concept (SLC) refers to a comprehensive approach that uses information about a state’s nuclear facilities and capabilities to implement safeguards within the scope of the state’s safeguards agreement. SLC focuses on strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system considering the State as whole. SLC has been implemented in 53 states, …

Integrated Microsphere Whispering Gallery Mode Probe For Highly Sensitive Refractive Index Measurement, Hanzheng Wang, Lei Yuan, Cheol-Woon Kim, Jie Huang, Xinwei Lan, Hai Xiao

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

We report an integrated whispering gallery mode microresonator-based sensor probe for refractive index sensing. The probe was made by sealing a borosilicate glass microsphere into a thin-wall glass capillary pigtailed with a multimode optical fiber. The intensities of the resonant peaks were found decreasing exponentially (linearly in a log scale) with the increasing refractive index of the medium surrounding the capillary. The sensing capability of the integrated probe was tested using sucrose solutions of different concentrations and the resolution was estimated to be about 2.5 x 10^-5 in the index range of 1.3458 to 1.3847. The integrated sensor probe …

Method To Fabricate Portable Electron Source Based On Nitrogen Incorporated Ultrananocrystalline Diamond (N-Uncd), Anirudha V. Sumant, Ralu Divan, Chrystian M. Posado, Carlos Henry Castano Giraldo, Edwin J. Grant, Hyoung-Koo Lee

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

A source cold cathode field emission array (FEA) source based on ultra-nanocrystalline diamond (UNCD) field emitters. This system was constructed as an alternative for detection of obscured objects and material. Depending on the geometry of the given situation a flat-panel source can be used in tomography, radiography, or tomosynthesis. Furthermore, the unit can be used as a portable electron or X-ray scanner or an integral part of an existing detection system. UNCD field emitters show great field emission output and can be deposited over large areas as the case with carbon nanotube “forest” (CNT) cathodes. Furthermore, UNCDs have better mechanical …

Temperature Measurements During High Flux Ion Beam Irradiations, M. L. Crespillo, Joseph T. Graham, Y. Zhang, W. J. Weber

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

A systematic study of the ion beam heating effect was performed in a temperature range of -170 to 900 °C using a 10 MeV Au³⁺ ion beam and a Yttria stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) sample at a flux of 5.5 x 10¹² cm^-2 s^-1. Different geometric configurations of beam, sample, thermocouple positioning, and sample holder were compared to understand the heat/charge transport mechanisms responsible for the observed temperature increase. The beam heating exhibited a strong dependence on the background (initial) sample temperature with the largest temperature increases occurring at cryogenic temperatures and decreasing with increasing temperature. …

Convective Cooling In A Pool-Type Research Reactor, Susan Sipaun, Shoaib Usman

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

A reactor produces heat arising from fission reactions in the nuclear core. In the Missouri University of Science and Technology research reactor (MSTR), this heat is removed by natural convection where the coolant/moderator is demineralised water. Heat energy is transferred from the core into the coolant, and the heated water eventually evaporates from the open pool surface. A secondary cooling system was installed to actively remove excess heat arising from prolonged reactor operations. The nuclear core consists of uranium silicide aluminium dispersion fuel (U₃Si₂Al) in the form of rectangular plates. Gaps between the plates allow coolant …

Analysis Of The Developing States In The Mena Region Seeking Civilian Nuclear Energy, With A Primary Focus On The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia (Ksa) And The United Arab Emirates (Uae), Thaqal Alhuzaymi, Ayodeji Babatunde Alajo

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

The comprehensive analysis presented here attempts to ana­lyze “newcomer” states in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), primarily the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Unit­ed Arab Emirates (UAE), seeking to implement civilian nuclear energy according to their political and economic situations. By investigating their motivations and funding resources for fu­ture nuclear projects, this analysis provides guidance for these states in terms of their nuclear infrastructure and nonprolifera­tion. The overall approach of this analysis relies on the factors for the success of civilian nuclear energy programs identified in experiential studies conducted since the Atoms for Peace speech in 1953.This …

A Feasibility Study Of A Nuclear Power Plant With No Moving Parts, Jonathan Mark Schattke

Masters Theses

"In a nuclear reactor design, every moving part in a system is considered a failure point. In this study, a proposal is made for designing a nuclear reactor that has no moving parts by coupling an accelerator driven core (removing control system moving parts) to a magnetohydrodynamic generator (removing power generation moving parts) using mercury coolant (removing pumping system moving parts). Further safety is realized by using a subcritical core, where the core is never able to sustain a chain reaction on its own, obviating many safety systems. The design is verified with a Monte Carlo simulation "--Abstract, page iii.

Thermal Characterization Of Phase Change Materials For Thermal Energy Storage, Rami Mohammad Reda Saeed

Masters Theses

"The study provides a valuable and useful database for Phase Change Materials (PCMs) for Thermal Energy Storage (TES) applications. Only a few existing studies have provided an overall investigation of thermophysical properties of PCMs in this detailed manner. Several organic PCMs, namely Myristic acid, Capric Acid, Lauryl Alcohol, Palmitic acid and Lauric acid, have been characterized after being carefully selected to cover wide range of TES applications. Insights and information gained from this work will be applied toward the design and modelling of many low temperature thermal energy storage applications. The study experimentally investigated uncertainty of thermal characterization of PCMs …

Synthesis Of Radioactive Nanostructures In A Research Nuclear Reactor, Maria Camila Garcia Toro

Masters Theses

In this work, the synthesis of radioactive nanostructures by water radiolysis was studied. The irradiation processes were done in the Missouri University of Science and Technology research nuclear reactor (MSTR).

Radioactive gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were synthesized from aqueous solutions containing the metal salt precursors by radiolysis of water. Seven different samples were irradiated at 200kW of thermal power for 0.5, 1, 3, 5, 10, 30, and 60 minutes. The average sizes of the obtained nanoparticles ranged from 3 nm to 400 nm, it was found that the particle size decreased with the irradiation time. Some agglomerations of particles were found …

Attenuation Properties Of Cement Composites: Experimental Measurements And Monte Carlo Calculations, Raul Florez

Masters Theses

"Developing new cement based materials with excellent mechanical and attenuation properties is critically important for both medical and nuclear power industries. Concrete continues to be the primary choice material for the shielding of gamma and neutron radiation in facilities such as nuclear reactors, nuclear waste repositories, spent nuclear fuel pools, heavy particle radiotherapy rooms, particles accelerators, among others. The purpose of this research was to manufacture cement pastes modified with magnetite and samarium oxide and evaluate the feasibility of utilizing them for shielding of gamma and neutron radiation. Two different experiments were conducted to accomplish these goals. In the first …

Evaluating Of Scale-Up Methodologies Of Gas-Solid Spouted Beds For Coating Triso Nuclear Fuel Particles Using Advanced Measurement Techniques, Neven Y. Ali

Doctoral Dissertations

"The work focuses on implementing for the first time advanced non-invasive measurement techniques to evaluate the scale-up methodology of gas-solid spouted beds for hydrodynamics similarity that has been reported in the literature based on matching dimensionless groups and the new mechanistic scale up methodology that has been developed in our laboratory based on matching the radial profile of gas holdup since the gas dynamics dictate the hydrodynamics of the gas-solid spouted beds. These techniques are gamma-ray computed tomography (CT) to measure the cross-sectional distribution of the phases' holdups and their radial profiles along the bed height and radioactive particle tracking …

Study Of Heat Transfer Phenomenon During Natural Convection, Muhammad Yousaf

Doctoral Dissertations

"The purpose of the present study was to numerically investigate the effects of the roughness elements on the heat transfer during natural convection. A computational algorithm was developed based on the Lattice Boltzmann method to conduct numerical study in two-dimensional rectangular cavities and Rayleigh-Bénard cell. A single relaxation time Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook model of Lattice Boltzmann method was used to solve the coupled momentum and energy equations in two-dimensional lattices. Computational model was validated against previous benchmark solutions, and a good agreement was found to exist. A Newtonian fluid of Prandtl (Pr) number 1.0 was considered for this numerical study. The range …

Proactive Strategies In Personal Dose Monitoring, Prevention And Mitigation, Manish Kumar Sharma

Doctoral Dissertations

"At certain threshold, nuclear radiation (like x-rays and gamma-rays) may adversely impact the health of living tissues. The exposure to these radiations in nuclear facilities is measured by devices called dosimeters. The devices are generally worn on the torso and are monitored by health physics division to report the radiation dose received by the personnel. However, this approach is not proactive--since the dosimeters reflect the dose that has already been absorbed in the body of the wearer.

This work presents a scheme to proactively avoid large dose acquisition at radiation-prone facilities. The work was divided into three major segments: (i) …

Thorium-Based Mixed Oxide Fuel In A Pressurized Water Reactor: A Feasibility Analysis With Mcnp, Lucas Powelson Tucker

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation investigates techniques for spent fuel monitoring, and assesses the feasibility of using a thorium-based mixed oxide fuel in a conventional pressurized water reactor for plutonium disposition. Both non-paralyzing and paralyzing dead-time calculations were performed for the Portable Spectroscopic Fast Neutron Probe (N-Probe), which can be used for spent fuel interrogation. Also, a Canberra ³He neutron detector's dead-time was estimated using a combination of subcritical assembly measurements and MCNP simulations. Next, a multitude of fission products were identified as candidates for burnup and spent fuel analysis of irradiated mixed oxide fuel. The best isotopes for these applications were …

Deterministic Simulation Of Thermal Neutron Radiography And Tomography, Rajarshi Pal Chowdhury

Masters Theses

"In recent years, thermal neutron radiography and tomography have gained much attention as one of the nondestructive testing methods. However, the application of thermal neutron radiography and tomography hindered by their technical complexity, radiation shielding, and time-consuming data collection processes. Monte Carlo simulations have been developed in the past to improve the neutron imaging facility's ability. In this present work, a new deterministic simulation approach has been proposed and demonstrated to simulate neutron radiographs numerically using a ray tracing algorithm. This approach has made the simulation of neutron radiographs much faster than by previously used stochastic methods (i.e Monte Carlo …