Phase analysis of simulated nuclear fuel debris synthesized using UO, Zr, and stainless steel and leaching behavior of the fission products and matrix elements

Tonna, Ryutaro*; Sasaki, Takayuki*; Kodama, Yuji*; Kobayashi, Taishi*; Akiyama, Daisuke*; Kirishima, Akira*; Sato, Nobuaki*; Kumagai, Yuta; Kusaka, Ryoji; Watanabe, Masayuki

Nuclear Engineering and Technology, 55(4), p.1300 - 1309, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2022.12.017

Simulated debris was synthesized using UO, Zr, and stainless steel and a heat treatment method under inert or oxidizing conditions. The primary U solid phase of the debris synthesized at 1473 K under inert conditions was UO, whereas a (U,Zr)O solid solution formed at 1873 K. Under oxidizing conditions, a mixture of UO and (Fe,Cr)UO phases formed at 1473 K whereas a (U,Zr)O solid solution formed at 1873 K. The leaching behavior of the fission products from the simulated debris was evaluated using two methods: the irradiation method, for which fission products were produced via neutron irradiation, and the doping method, for which trace amounts of non-radioactive elements were doped into the debris. The dissolution behavior of U depended on the properties of the debris and aqueous medium the debris was immersed in. Cs, Sr, and Ba leached out regardless of the primary solid phases. The leaching of high-valence Eu and Ru ions was suppressed, possibly owing to their solid-solution reaction with or incorporation into the uranium compounds of the simulated debris.

Basic research on the stability of fuel debris including alloy phase (Contract research); FY2020 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tohoku University*

JAEA-Review 2022-009, 73 Pages, 2022/06

JAEA-Review-2022-009.pdf:2.08MB

The Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), had been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project (hereafter referred to "the Project") in FY2020. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in the nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO). For this purpose, intelligence was collected from all over the world, and basic research and human resource development were promoted by closely integrating/collaborating knowledge and experiences in various fields beyond the barrier of conventional organizations and research fields. The sponsor of the Project was moved from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to JAEA since the newly adopted proposals in FY2018. On this occasion, JAEA constructed a new research system where JAEA-academia collaboration is reinforced and medium-to-long term research/development and human resource development contributing to the decommissioning are stably and consecutively implemented. Among the adopted proposals in FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Basic research on the stability of fuel debris including alloy phase" conducted from FY2018 to FY2021 (this contract was extended to FY2021). Since the final year of this proposal was FY2021, the results for four fiscal years were summarized. The present study focus on fuel debris consisting of oxide phase and alloy phase generated by the high temperature chemical reaction between structure materials (SUS pipes, pressure vessels, etc.) and fuels (melted fuels, claddings components, etc.). We synthesize the simulated debris of UO-SUS system and UO-Zr(ZrO)-SUS system by high-temperature heat treatment, and measure their chemical property and dissolution behavior in water.

Development and testing of a delayed gamma-ray spectroscopy instrument utilizing Cf-252 neutrons evaluated for nuclear safeguards applications

Rodriguez, D.; Abbas, K.*; Koizumi, Mitsuo; Nonneman, S.*; Rossi, F.; Takahashi, Tone

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1014, p.165685_1 - 165685_10, 2021/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.165685

Evaluation of high-energy delayed gamma-ray spectra dependence on interrogation timing patterns

Rodriguez, D.; Bogucarska, T.*; Koizumi, Mitsuo; Lee, H.-J.; Pedersen, B.*; Rossi, F.; Takahashi, Tone; Varasano, G.*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 997, p.165146_1 - 165146_13, 2021/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.165146

Basic research on the stability of fuel debris including alloy phase (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tohoku University*

JAEA-Review 2020-032, 97 Pages, 2021/01

JAEA-Review-2020-032.pdf:4.16MB

The Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), had been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project (hereafter referred to "the Project") in FY2019. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in the nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO). For this purpose, intelligence was collected from all over the world, and basic research and human resource development were promoted by closely integrating/collaborating knowledge and experiences in various fields beyond the barrier of conventional organizations and research fields. The sponsor of the Project was moved from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to JAEA since the newly adopted proposals in FY2018. On this occasion, JAEA constructed a new research system where JAEA-academia collaboration is reinforced and medium-to-long term research/development and human resource development contributing to the decommissioning are stably and consecutively implemented. Among the adopted proposals in FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Basic Research on the Stability of Fuel Debris Including Alloy Phase" conducted in FY2019. In the present study, we focus on fuel debris consisting of oxide phase and alloy phase generated by the high-temperature chemical reaction between structure materials (SUS pipes, pressure vessels, etc.) and fuels (melted fuels, claddings components, etc.). We synthesize the simulated debris of UO-SUS system and UO-Zr(ZrO)-SUS system by high-temperature heat treatment, and measure their chemical property and dissolution behavior in water. Also, we will conduct research and development to spectroscopically analyze secular changes of oxide phase and alloy phase in the simulated debris.

Influence of chemical speciation in reactor cooling system on pH of suppression pool during BWR severe accident

Shiotsu, Hiroyuki; Ishikawa, Jun; Sugiyama, Tomoyuki; Maruyama, Yu

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 55(4), p.363 - 373, 2018/04

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2017.1403381

Experimental investigation of the influence of Mo contained in stainless steel on Cs chemisorption behavior

Di Lemma, F. G.; Nakajima, Kunihisa; Yamashita, Shinichiro; Osaka, Masahiko

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 484, p.174 - 182, 2017/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.11.031

Chemisorption phenomena can affect fission products retention in the nuclear reactor vessel during a Severe Accident (SA). This paper will describe the influence of molybdenum contained in type 316 stainless steel (SS) on Cs chemisorption. Our experiments showed the formation of Cs-Mo compounds in addition to CsFeSiO, observed previously on SS304. The results of high temperature stability tests on the deposits are also presented. These tests aimed at simulating the revaporization of FP from structural materials during a SA. From our results, it can be inferred that Cs-Mo deposits may revaporize, contributing as a delayed source to the radioactive release.

Boron release kinetics from mixed melts of boron carbide, stainless steel and Zircaloy; A Literature review on the behavior of control rod materials under severe accidents

Di Lemma, F. G.; Miwa, Shuhei; Osaka, Masahiko

JAEA-Review 2016-007, 27 Pages, 2016/03

JAEA-Review-2016-007.pdf:1.88MB

During a nuclear power plant Severe Accident, complex boron melts can be formed, due to interaction of the control rods with the cladding materials. These can affect ultimately the source term assessment. This review will describe the results of previous studies on boron carbide/stainless steel/Zircaloy (BC/SS/Zry) melts, which will finally provide guidance for the needs of future experiments. This review showed that models for the behavior of complex BC/SS/Zry melts are limited, and unsuccessful in simulating core degradation, thus the improvement of the database for BC/SS/Zry melts is needed. Our experimental plan aims in providing thermodynamics and kinetics models for such melts, with the final aim of improving boron modelling in SA codes analysis and of understanding its effect on fission products behavior.

Analysis of pressure- and temperature- induced steam generator tube rupture during PWR severe accident initiated from station blackout

Hidaka, Akihide; Maruyama, Yu; Nakamura, Hideo

Proceedings of 6th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics, Operations and Safety (NUTHOS-6) (CD-ROM), 15 Pages, 2004/00

Severe accident studies showed that Direct Containment Heating issue was resolved for PWRs because a creep rupture at pressurizer surge line would occur prior to the melt-through of Reactor Pressure Vessel during station blackout (TMLB'). However, it was recently concerned that, if the secondary system is depressurized during TMLB', the creep rupture at SG U-tubes would occur earlier than the surge line. This pressure- and temperature-induced SG U-tube rupture (PTI-SGTR) is not preferable because of the increase in offsite consequences. The SCDAP/RELAP5 analyses by USNRC showed that the surge line would fail earlier than the U-tubes. However, the analyses used a coarse nodilization for steam mixing at the SG inlet plenum that could affect the temperature of U-tubes. To investigate the effect of steam mixing, an analysis was performed with MELCOR1.8.4. The analysis showed that the surge line would fail earliest during TMLB' while the U-tubes could fail earliest during TMLB' with secondary system depressurization. Further investigation is needed for occurrence conditions of PTI-SGTR.

The JAERI-KEK joint RIB project

Takeuchi, Suehiro

AIP Conference Proceedings 680, p.229 - 236, 2003/00

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1619704

JAERI and KEK-Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies are collabarating to build an ISOL-type radioactive ion beam(RIB) acceleration system in the JAERI-Tokai tandem accelerator lab. In this project, the tandem accelerator is used as a proton beam driver to create RIB from fission products of a uranium target and a RIB accelerator already built by KEK will be installed in an old target room of the tandem accelerator lab. The beam energy is 1.1 MeV/nucleon, which is not sufficient for experiments related to nuclear reactions. They have a plan to boost the beams to 5 - 9 MeV/u by developing a pre-booster and using existing super-conducting tandem-booster. The plan of this project, acceleration divices and present status will be outlined in the RIB session of the CAARI.