Chemical composition of aerosols generated by heating prototypic fuel debris samples

Journeau, C.*; Delacroix, J.*; Guvar, C.*; Testud, V.*; Brackx, E.*; Porcheron, E.*; Bouland, A.*; Berlemont, R.*; Ikeda, Atsushi  

One of the important challenges for the decommissioning of the damaged reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F) is the fuel debris retrieval. The URASOL (URAnium and aeroSOL) project has been undertaken by the French consortium laboratories consisting of ONET, CEA, and IRSN for JAEA. It aims at acquiring basic data on the generation and characteristics of radioactive aerosols from the thermal or mechanical processing of fuel debris simulant. Prototypic fuel debris samples were fabricated based on the average of the lower head compositions computed in the OECD/BSAF benchmark. Samples were heated in an induction furnace to simulate thermal cutting and released aerosols were collected during three temperature ramps using impactors. The collected aerosols were chemically analyzed by ICP-AES and ICP-MS. Iron and tin are the major elements found in these aerosols, followed by chromium and silicon. Significant releases of tellurium, barium and cerium were observed.