Radionuclide release from mixed-oxide fuel under high temperature at elevated pressure and influence on source terms

Hidaka, Akihide   ; Kudo, Tamotsu ; Ishikawa, Jun ; Fuketa, Toyoshi

The radionuclide release from MOX under severe accident conditions was investigated in VEGA program to contribute to the technical bases for safety evaluation including PSA for LWR using MOX. The MOX specimens irradiated at ATR Fugen were heated up to 3123K in helium at 0.1 and 1.0MPa. The release of volatile FP was slightly enhanced below 2200K compared with that of UO. The volatile FP release at elevated pressure was decreased as in the case with UO. The total fractional release of Cs reached almost 100% while almost no release of low-volatile FP even after the fuel melting. The release rate of plutonium above 2800K increased rapidly although the amount was small. Since the existing models cannot predict this increase, an empirical model was prepared based on the data. There is no large difference in FP inventories between UO and MOX, and the fractional releases from MOX can be mostly predicted by the model for UO. This suggests that the consequences of LWR using MOX are mostly equal to those using UO from a view point of risks.