Evaluation of plutonium oxide aerosol release from an LMFBR in a hypothetical accident

This work was undertaken to prepare a computer code for the hazard evaluation of plutonium oxide aerosol released to the atmosphere in the event of a hypothetical accident in a 50 MW(th) scale LMFBR. The reactor building structure consists of semi-double containments as follows: the primary containment has a large volume in comparison with the secondary annular containment in which a part is connected to the atmosphere through an emergency filter system. Sodium oxide aerosol containing PuO₂---UO₂ fuel, fission products and structural steel agglomerates quickly by coagulation due to its high concentration. Simultaneously, the aerosol concentration decreases due to settling, plating and thermophoresis. Using the present code, the amount of PuO₂ aerosol leakage to the atmosphere was evaluated.