Studies of Ceramic Fuels with the Use of Fission Gas Release Loop, (II)

The γ-ray spectra of fission gases released from UO₂-graphite pellets under neutron irradiation were measured. With and without separating fission gases into xenon and krypton, 25 kinds of γ-ray were observed and assigned to nine nuclides, ^85mKr, ⁸⁷Kr, ⁸⁸Kr(⁸⁸Rb), ¹³³Xe, ¹³⁵Xe, ^135mXe and ¹³⁸Xe (¹³⁸Cs). A value of 15 min is proposed for the half-life of ¹³⁸Xe, based on analysis of the decay curves. Discussion is given on problems related to determination of the release rate of each fission product through measurement of the height of each peak in the γ-ray spectrum.     

Studies of Ceramic Fuels with Use of Fission Gas Release Loop, (IV)

In-pile release of fission gas from sintered UC pellets in the presence of 8–230 ppm of water vapor in the He sweep gas was measured over the temperature range of 160°–1,000°C. A very complex release behavior was observed and the mechanisms of release were deduced from the manner in which the release depended on the decay constant. It was established that the release of short-lived fission gases during irradiation was controlled mainly by pseudo-recoil, while chemical reaction between UC and water vapor, as well as knock-out, appeared to contribute much more significantly in the case of the longer-lived fission gases. The release of fission gas after reactor shutdown was shown to be governed by the UC-H₂O reaction. The ratio of the release due to this reaction in reference to the total release was found to be dependent not only on the concentration of the water vapor but also on the amount present of the accumulated reaction products. Also, a discussion is given on the inordinately high release of ^135mXe observed at 600°C.     

Studies of Ceramic Fuels with the Use of Fission Gas Release Loop, (I)

Fission gas release from a UO²-graphite mixture was studied during irradiation with the use of the Fission Gas Release Loop in the JRR-3 reactor. The release rates of fission krypton and xenon increased proportionally with neutron flux (6×10¹⁰–6×10¹² n/cm²·sec) and exponentially with temperature (400°–1,000°C). A burst of fission gas was observed when the specimen was abruptly heated to a higher temperature. These results can be explained by a mechanism whereby fission gas is trapped in defects created in graphite by fission fragments and released through annealing of the defects.     

Studies on Ceramic Fuels with the Use of Fission Gas Release Loop, (III)

Flux monitoring in the specimen chamber of FGRL was carried out by directly and continuously reading with a γ-ray spectrometer the content of ¹⁶N in the primary cooling water produced by ¹⁶O(n,p)¹⁶N reaction within the cooling jacket of FGRL. 16N generation is not influenced by γ-ray build-up in the reactor nor by the temperature in the specimen chamber. The detector can be simply set outside the pipe through which the cooling water flows, because the high energy γ-rays (6.13 MeV) emitted during the ¹⁶N decay easily penetrate the pipe wall.     

Effects of Temperature Cycling and Heating Rate on Fission Gas Release of BWR Fuels

The effects of temperature cycling and heating rate on the release behavior of ⁸⁵Kr have been studied for U0₂ pellets irradiated in a commercial BWR during 3 and 4 cycles (burn-up: 23 and 28GWd/t), by using a post irradiation annealing technique. In addition, characteristics of intergranular bubbles in base-irradiated and annealed specimens (burn-up: 6~28GWd/t) have been examined by SEM fractography.

No significant difference in the release of ⁸⁵Kr was observed between the cyclic heating from 700 to 1,400°C and isothermal heating at 1,400°C. The maximum release rate of ⁸⁵Kr during heating up to 1,800°C became lower with decreasing heating rate in the range of 0.03–10°C/s, while its cumulative fractional releases were about 20~30%, almost independent of heating rate. The fractional coverage of the grain face area occupied by intergranular bubbles saturated around 40~50 for the specimens annealed at 1,600-1,800°C, independent of specimen burn-up and heating conditions (temperature, heating rate and duration). A relationship between intergranular bubble concentration N_g per unit area of grain face and average bubble diameter d_g was expressed as N_g∝d_{g 2.1}     

Fission Gas Release from Uranium Heated in Carbon Dioxide

An experiment to predict the amount of fission gas release from U heated in CO₂ was made in connection with the safely evaluation of the Tokai Atomic Power Reactor. Fission gas release from slightly irradiated U pieces was measured as a function of percent oxidation, and it was found that the percent release was proportional to the percent oxidation. The fission gas released before the U was completely oxidized was 11%, 23% and 48% at 500°, 600° and 700°C, respectively. The form of temperature dependence of the fission gas release was of the Arrhenius type, with an activation energy of 5.1kcal/mol.     

Release Behavior of Fission Gas from Coated Fuel Particles under Irradiation

TRISO coated fuel particles for HTGR were irradiated by two sweep gas capsules in order to study the release behavior of the fission gas and try to predict the failure fraction of the particles on the basis of the measurement. For verification of the predicted failure fraction, post irradiation examination was conducted, and failure fraction in a visual inspection and acid leaching fraction were measured. Agreement between the predicted failure fraction and the acid leaching fraction was good for these samples except one. From the release behavior from the intact particles, in-pile diffusion coefficients of Kr in LTI-PyC were estimated and expressed as D=(2.9–6.0)×10⁴exp(-2.55×10°/RT) (cm²/s), where R ids the gas constant (=8.314 J/K) and T the absolute temperature. It was recognized that the release from failed particles was controlled by diffusion at 1,600°C and that from intact particles, predominantly by recoil at 1,400°C.     

回堆考验元件裂变气体测量分析

反应堆燃料元件的裂变气体释放率测量是辐照后检验的一项重要内容,它对于评价燃料元件的性能起着重要作用.回堆考验组件采用3×3-2再组装小组件方式,由一期考验的3根老棒、4根新棒和2根控制棒导向管组成.3×3-2小组件在中国原子能科学研究院重水研究堆辐照到燃耗(以金属铀计,全文同)30.9 GW*d/t(老棒)时,堆内出现破损信号.随后将其运至热室,非破坏性检验未发现元件棒破损.为此,采用激光刺孔方法将7根元件棒刺穿,测量元件棒气腔内压和裂变气体释放率.结果表明,元件棒内压均不低于再回堆考验前的压力值,从而进一步证实元件棒未发生破损,与一期考验元件相比,回堆后的燃料棒裂变气体释放率无明显增加.     

Fuel Microstructural Analysis of Incubation Burn-Up for Fission Gas Release

A study was made on an incubation burn-up for fission gas release using fuel swelling microstructural analysis. Conclusions of the study are: (1) The fuel microstructural analysis successfully determined the incubation burn-up. The analyzed values agreed with those estimated by the Halden empirical gas release model. (2) The incubation burn-up obtained from the Halden model was correlated with the fuel center temperature, but the micro-structural analysis was more dependent on the local fuel swelling temperature. (3) The incubation burn-up was attributed to the grain boundary diffusion process and the fuel local gaseous swelling.     

Fission Product Gas Release in Burst Region of Uranium Monocarbides

Uranium enrichment in a thermally driven countercurrent gas centrifuge is studied theoretically on the basis of dander's separation theory and the short-bowl flow solution proposed recently by Sakurai and Matsuda. The separation factor is computed and compared with experimental results by Groth. Agreement of the computed results with experiment is fairly good, except for very low feed rates. Further improvements are discussed.     

高燃耗下裂变气体释放行为研究与程序校验

采用燃料棒性能分析程序COPERNIC,针对哈尔登（Halden）测试燃料组件 （IFA）519.9 DK 辐照试验燃料棒辐照试验进行了计算分析,研究了高燃耗下裂变气体释放行为,并与试验数据进行了对比验证。结果表明,在燃耗达到约100 GW?d/t(U)的辐照过程中,该程序对裂变气体释放率的预测值与试验测量结果符合较好;程序未精确预测芯块孔隙率在高燃耗“边缘结构”内的演化过程,但不影响其对燃料棒辐照综合性能分析的准确性和合理性。      

Investigation of Fission Product Release from Irradiated Oxide and Nitride Nuclear Fuel on High-Temperature Heating in Helium Flow

Atomic Energy - The results of an investigation of the release of the radioactive fission products 85Kr and 137Cs from dioxide and mononitride nuclear fuel irradiated in the BN-600 and BR-10 fast...     

UO2燃料裂变气体渗流模型研究

为分析UO₂燃料晶界气泡连通导致裂变气体间歇性释放的动力学过程,从而解决目前扩散模型预测的沿芯块径向释放份额与实验测量不符的问题,采用二维渗流模型模拟UO₂燃料晶界气泡网络的演化及与燃料棒内自由空间连通的释放过程。研究结果表明,渗流模型预测沿芯块径向的裂变气体释放份额在芯块中间部分出现局部峰值,并随着时间向芯块外侧推进,与辐照试验观察到不同燃耗下径向裂变气体分布现象定性符合。因此,本研究建立的渗流模型能够从机理上解释此前扩散模型未能预测的UO₂燃料裂变气体释放份额沿径向非单调分布现象。      

The Application of an Advanced Ion Exchange Process to Reprocessing Spent Nuclear Fuels, (I)

In order to develop an advanced ion exchange process for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels, a novel anion exchanger, AR-01 with the resin embedded in porous silica beads and benzimidazoles as functional groups has been manufactured. Adsorption behavior of various fission product elements (FPs) and uranium in nitric acid medium were investigated experimentally using this anion exchanger. Separation performance of FPs from U(VI) in simulated spent fuel solutions was demonstrated by column chromatography utilizing dilute HNO₃ and thiourea as eluents.

Most FPs such as Cs(I), Sr(II), Mo(VI), Rh(III) and trivalent rare earths showed negligibly slight adsorption and could be separated from U(VI) satisfactorily. Cerium(IV) was strongly adsorbed, but was gradually reduced to non-adsorptive Ce(III) by the anion exchanger. Zirconium(IV) presented weak adsorption and its a part mixed with U(VI) in the column experiments. Ruthenium(III) exhibited quite strong adsorption in a broad HNO₃ concentration range as the form of anionic nitrosylnitrato-complexes, its most amount mixed with U(VI). Palladium(II) showed significantly strong adsorption probably due to complexes formation with the anion exchanger. The adsorbed Pd(II) was effectively eluted out by thiourea and separated from U(VI) and other FPs completely.     

Gamma-Ray Spectra of Fission Products observed with Li-Drifted Germanium Detectors, (II)

The γ-ray spectra of short-lived fission products from thermal neutron irradiation of highly enriched U were observed with an encapsulated Li-drifted Ge γ-ray spectrometer. The spectra at various periods—10 min, 30 min, 1,2,5,10 and 20 hr—after irradiation were measured up to about 1 meV. The relative activities of fission products at various periods after irradiation (10 min–20 hr) were calculated and used for assigning photopeaks.     

Nuclear Characteristics of D-D Fusion Reactor Blanket, (II)

The nuclear characteristics of the thermal blanket and blanket-shield designs are analyzed to provide a basis for optimizing the blanket design of D-D fusion reactors. The thermal blanket is devised to yield high energy deposition in a compact blanket through the use of neutron multiplier and energy converter with 1/v neutron absorption cross section. The blanket-shield design, on the other hand, aims at providing acceptably good shielding characteristics to protect the superconducting magnet by incorporating shielding substances within the blanket itself.

The results of calculation reveal that the thermal blanket design provides only modest energy deposition in the blanket despite its use of beryllium, which is limited in availability. In contrast, the blanket-shield concept is found to offer attractive possibilities in terms of nuclear characteristics, and the results of this analysis point toward the blanket-shield concept as the logical choice for D-D fusion reactor blankets.     

核燃料芯块裂变气体释放行为模拟研究

基于ABAQUS对UO_2核燃料芯块裂变气体行为做了研究,对两个经典模型:ANS-5.4单阶段模型和两阶段Forsberg–Massih释放模型作了详细描述,重点研究了这两个模型在ABAQUS中的实现及模型与ABAQUS结合时的技术难点。将研究模拟结果与该模型在相应成熟软件中的结果作比较,吻合度很好,验证了基于ABAQUS二次开发方式模拟裂变气体行为方法的可行性。