Validation of correlations between Nd isotopes and difficult-to-measure nuclides predicted with burn-up calculation code by post irradiation examination

Asai, Shiho; Okumura, Keisuke ; Hanzawa, Yukiko  ; Suzuki, Hideya; Toshimitsu, Masaaki; Inagawa, Jun; Kimura, Takaumi ; Kaneko, Satoru*; Suzuki, Kensuke*

The inventory estimation of difficult-to-measure (DTM) nuclides, such as Se-79, Cs-135, Tc-99, and Sn-126 is indispensable for the management of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW). In this study, the correlations between Nd isotopes and the four DTM nuclides, which are predicted using a burnup calculation code, MVP-BURN, have been validated by post irradiation examination (PIE). An irradiated PWR fuel with a burnup of 44.9 GWd/t was used as a standard sample. The calculation was performed with MVP-BURN based on the latest nuclear data library of JENDL-4.0. The calculated atom ratios of Se-79 and Cs-135 to Nd isotopes exhibited good agreement with those obtained by PIE. This demonstrates that the correlations predicted by MVP-BURN are applicable to the scaling factor method. For Tc-99 and Sn-126, the calculated values were higher than those obtained by PIE. These overestimations were mainly caused by the lack of the contribution of insoluble residue to the measured concentrations.