scholarly journals 14C content in CANDU spent fuel cladings and its release under alkaline conditions

Radiocarbon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1773-1786 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Bucur ◽  
M Fulger ◽  
I Florea ◽  
A Tudose

ABSTRACTThe total 14C content and its partition between inorganic and organic species were measured on irradiated Zy-4 samples from a CANDU spent fuel rod transferred from Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Long-term leaching tests and accelerated corrosion tests were carried out to measure the 14C release and corrosion rate, respectively, in chemical conditions relevant to cementitious environment. Experimentally measured 14C inventory was compared to the theoretically one predicted based on the irradiation history and impurity content of Zy-4 by means of ORIGEN computations. CANDU SF claddings have a 14C content of around 2 × 104 Bq/g of Zy-4, mainly as organic compounds (more than 99%). The total 14C content measured by acid dissolution/wet oxidation method is in good agreement with the value estimated by ORIGEN simulations for an average burn-up of 7 MWd/kgU. The total 14C released as dissolved species after 18 days and 18 months of Zy-4 immersing in alkaline solution are similar, indicating that a small amount of 14C was available as instant release fraction (0.05% from the initial 14C content) followed by a very low release rate that could not be measured by liquid scintillation counting. In alkaline conditions, 14C is released predominantly (∼70%) as soluble species, but also inorganic 14C was measured as gaseous species. From the soluble 14C released during leaching test, more than 60% was found to be as organic species. Generally, corrosion rates values ranging between 46 and 130 nm/yr were measured by the linear polarization resistance method. In addition, defects and cracks were observed on the oxide layer by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation.

Author(s):  
Akio Kosaki

Corrosion integrity of canister in the concrete cask for spent fuel storage is very important because the canister serves to maintain the sealability over the storage period of 40 to 60 years. Natural exposure and accelerated corrosion tests of conventional stainless steels for canister, that are Type 304, 304L, and 316(LN), for concrete cask’s canister have been conducted by using many three Point Bending (3PB) test specimens and compared. The SCC propagation rates in Type 304 and 304L at the natural condition were about 1.2E−12 to 1.8E−11 m/s at the K (Stress Intensity Factor) range of 0.6 to 9.0 MPa√m, and that of the accelerate test (60 degrees C, 95%RHS., filled with NaCl mist) were about 1.0E−10 to 3.5E−9 m/s at the K range of 0.3 to 32 MPa√m. The SCC propagation rates under both natural and accelerated conditions were independent with K. Both da/dt values of the direct exposure test and of the under glass exposure test were in the same scattering band.


1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Hearn ◽  
J Aiello

Experimental work on prismatic concrete specimens was conducted to determine the relationship between mechanical restraint and the rate of corrosion. The current together with the changes in strain of the confining frame were monitored during the accelerated corrosion tests. The effect of mix design and cracking on the corrosion rates was also investigated. The results show that one-dimensional mechanical restraint retards the corrosion process, as indicated by the reduction in the steel loss. Improved quality of the matrix, with and without cracking, reduces the rate of steel loss. In the inferior quality concrete, the effect of cracking on the corrosion rate is minimal.Key words: corrosion, concrete, repair.


Author(s):  
Zhixin Xu ◽  
Ming Wang ◽  
Binyan Song ◽  
WenYu Hou ◽  
Chao Wang

The Fukushima nuclear disaster has raised the importance on the reliability and risk research of the spent fuel pool (SFP), including the risk of internal events, fire, external hazards and so on. From a safety point of view, the low decay heat of the spent fuel assemblies and large water inventory in the SFP has made the accident progress goes very slow, but a large number of fuel assemblies are stored inside the spent fuel pool and without containment above the SFP building, it still has an unignored risk to the safety of the nuclear power plant. In this paper, a standardized approach for performing a holistic and comprehensive evaluation approach of the SFP risk based on the probabilistic safety analysis (PSA) method has been developed, including the Level 1 SFP PSA and Level 2 SFP PSA and external hazard PSA. The research scope of SFP PSA covers internal events, internal flooding, internal fires, external hazards and new risk source-fuel route risk is also included. The research will provide the risk insight of Spent Fuel Pool operation, and can help to make recommendation for the prevention and mitigation of SFP accidents which will be applicable for the SFP configuration risk management.


10.6036/10156 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-358
Author(s):  
Pablo Fernández Arias ◽  
DIEGO VERGARA RODRIGUEZ

Centralized Temporary Storage Facility (CTS) is an industrial facility designed to store spent fuel (SF) and high level radioactive waste (HLW) generated at Spanish nuclear power plants (NPP) in a single location. At the end of 2011, the Spanish Government approved the installation of the CTS in the municipality of Villar de Cañas in Cuenca. This approval was the outcome of a long process of technical studies and political decisions that were always surrounded by great social rejection. After years of confrontations between the different political levels, with hardly any progress in its construction, this infrastructure of national importance seems to have been definitively postponed. The present research analyzes the management strategy of SF and HLW in Spain, as well as the alternative strategies proposed, taking into account the current schedule foreseen for the closure of the Spanish NPPs. In view of the results obtained, it is difficult to affirm that the CTS will be available in 2028, with the possibility that its implementation may be delayed to 2032, or even that it may never happen, making it necessary to adopt an alternative strategy for the management of GC and ARAR in Spain. Among the different alternatives, the permanence of the current Individualized Temporary Stores (ITS) as a long-term storage strategy stands out, and even the possibility of building several distributed temporary storage facilities (DTS) in which to store the SF and HLW from several Spanish NPP. Keywords: nuclear waste, storage, nuclear power plants.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. e0205228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosane Silva ◽  
Darcy Muniz de Almeida ◽  
Bianca Catarina Azeredo Cabral ◽  
Victor Hugo Giordano Dias ◽  
Isadora Cristina de Toledo e Mello ◽  
...  

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