Release behaviors of elements from an Ag-In-Cd control rod alloy at temperatures up to 1673 K

Nagase, Fumihisa ; Otomo, Takashi; Uetsuka, Hiroshi*

An Ag-In-Cd control rod alloy was heated in argon or oxygen at 1073-1673 K for 60-3600 s and the release behavior of the elements was examined. Complete liquefaction of the alloy occurred between 1123 and 1173 K, and elemental release was quite limited below the liquefaction temperature. In argon, almost all of the Cd content was released within 3600 s at 1173 K and within 60 s at 1573 K, while the released fractions of Ag and In were 3% and 8%, respectively. In oxygen, the release of Cd, which was quite small at temperatures up to 1573 K, drastically increased to 30-50% at 1673 K for short periods. Releases of Ag and In were also small in oxygen under the examined conditions. Comparison with the experimental data suggests that conventional empirical release models may underestimate the Cd release at lower temperatures just after control rod failure in severe accidents.