Chemical interaction between Sr vapor species and nuclear reactor core structure

Mohamad, A. B.; Nakajima, Kunihisa; Miwa, Shuhei; Osaka, Masahiko

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 60(3), p.215 - 222, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2092227

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

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

Nuclear Technology, 208(3), p.484 - 493, 2022/03

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1905472

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.

Improvement of intragranular fission gas behavior model for fuel performance code FEMAXI-8

Udagawa, Yutaka; Tasaki, Yudai

JAEA-Data/Code 2021-007, 56 Pages, 2021/07

JAEA-Data-Code-2021-007.pdf:5.05MB

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has released FEMAXI-8 in 2019 as the latest version of the fuel performance code FEMAXI, which has been developed to analyze thermal and mechanical behaviors of a single fuel rod in mainly normal operation conditions and anticipated transient conditions. This report summarizes a newly developed model to analyze intragranular fission gas behaviors considering size distribution of gas bubbles and their dynamics. While the intragranular fission gas behavior models implemented in the previous FEMAXI versions have supported only treating single bubble size for a given fuel element, the new model supports multiple gas groups according to their size and treats their dynamic behaviors, making the code more versatile. The model was first implemented as a general module that takes arbitrary number of bubble groups and spatial mesh division for a given fuel grain system. An interface module to connect the model to FEMAXI-8 was then developed so that it works as a 2 bubble groups model, which is the minimum configuration of the multi-grouped model to be operated with FEMAXI-8 at the minimum calculation cost. FEMAXI-8 with the new intragranular model was subjected to a systematic validation calculation against 144 irradiation test cases and recommended values for model parameters were determined so that the code makes reasonable predictions in terms of fuel center temperature, fission gas release, etc. under steady-state and power ramp conditions.

Development methodology on determination of instant release fractions for generic safety assessment for direct disposal of spent nuclear fuel

Kitamura, Akira; Akahori, Kuniaki; Nagata, Masanobu*

Genshiryoku Bakkuendo Kenkyu (CD-ROM), 27(2), p.83 - 93, 2020/12

https://doi.org/10.3327/jnuce.27.2_83

Direct disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in deep underground repositories (hereafter "direct disposal") is a concept that disposal canisters stored fuel assemblies dispose without reprocessing. Behavior of radionuclide release from SNF must be different from that from vitrified glass. The present study established a methodology on determination of instant release fraction (IRF) of radionuclides from SNF, which is the one of the parameters on radionuclide release based on the latest safety assessment reports in other countries, especially for IRF values proportional to a fission gas release ratio (FGR). Recommended and maximum values of FGR have been estimated using the fuel performance code FEMAXI-7 after collecting FGR values on Japanese SNFs. Furthermore, recommended and maximum values of IRF for Japanese SNFs used in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) have been estimated using the presently obtained FGR values and experimentally obtained IRF values on foreign SNFs. The recommended and maximum IRF values obtained in the present study have been compared with those of the latest safety assessment reports in other countries.

Feasibility study of tritium recoil barrier for neutron reflectors

Ishitsuka, Etsuo; Sakamoto, Naoki*

Physical Sciences and Technology, 6(2), p.60 - 63, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.26577/phst-2019-2-p8

Tritium release into the primary coolant of the research and test reactors during operation had been studied, and it is found that the recoil release from chain reaction of Be is dominant. To reduce tritium concentration of the primary coolant, feasibility study of the tritium recoil barrier for the beryllium neutron reflectors was carried out, and the tritium recoils of various materials were calculated by PHITS. From these calculation results, it is clear that the thickness of tritium recoil barrier depends on the material and 2040 m is required for three orders reduction.

Development of fuel performance code FEMAXI-8; Model improvements for light water reactor fuel analysis and systematic validation

Udagawa, Yutaka; Yamauchi, Akihiro*; Kitano, Koji*; Amaya, Masaki

JAEA-Data/Code 2018-016, 79 Pages, 2019/01

JAEA-Data-Code-2018-016.pdf:2.75MB

FEMAXI-8 is the latest version of the fuel performance code FEMAXI developed by JAEA. A systematic validation work has been achieved against 144 irradiation test cases, after many efforts have been made, in development of new models, improvements in existing models and the code structure, bug-fixes, construction of irradiation-tests database and other infrastructures.

Calculations of Tritium Recoil Release from Li and U Impurities in Neutron Reflectors (Joint research)

Ishitsuka, Etsuo; Kenzhina, I.*; Okumura, Keisuke; Ho, H. Q.; Takemoto, Noriyuki; Chikhray, Y.*

JAEA-Technology 2018-010, 33 Pages, 2018/11

JAEA-Technology-2018-010.pdf:2.58MB

As a part of study on the mechanism of tritium release to the primary coolant in research and testing reactors, tritium recoil release rate from Li and U impurities in the neutron reflector made by beryllium, aluminum and graphite were calculated by PHITS code. On the other hand, the tritium production from Li and U impurities in beryllium neutron reflectors for JMTR and JRR-3M were calculated by MCNP6 and ORIGEN2 code. By using both results, the amount of recoiled tritium from beryllium neutron reflectors were estimated. It is clear that the amount of recoiled tritium from Li and U impurities in beryllium neutron reflectors are negligible, and 2 and 5 orders smaller than that from beryllium itself, respectively.

Evaluation of tritium release curve in primary coolant of research reactors

Ishitsuka, Etsuo; Kenzhina, I. E.*

Physical Sciences and Technology, 4(1), p.27 - 33, 2018/06

https://doi.org/10.26577/phst-2017-1-120

Increase of tritium concentration in the primary coolant for the research and testing reactors during reactor operation had been reported. To clarify the tritium sources, a curve of the tritium release rate into the primary coolant for the JMTR and the JRR-3M are evaluated. It is also observed that the amount of released tritium is lower in the case of new beryllium components installation, and increases with the reactor operating cycle. These results show the beryllium components in core strongly affect to the tritium release into the primary coolant. As a result, the tritium release rate is related with produced Li by (n,) reaction from Be, and evaluation results of tritium release curve are shown as the dominant source of tritium release into the primary coolant for the JMTR and the JRR-3M are beryllium components. Scattering of the tritium release rate with irradiation time were observed, and this phenomena in the JMTR occurred in earlier time than that of the JRR-3M.

Development of experimental and analytical technologies for fission product chemistry under LWR severe accident condition

Miyahara, Naoya; Miwa, Shuhei; Nakajima, Kunihisa; Osaka, Masahiko

Proceedings of 2017 Water Reactor Fuel Performance Meeting (WRFPM 2017) (USB Flash Drive), 9 Pages, 2017/09

This paper presents the development of a reproductive experimental setup for FP release and transport and an analysis tool considering chemical reaction kinetics for the construction of the FP chemistry database. The performance test of the reproductive experimental setup TeRRa using CsI compounds show that TeRRa can reproduce well a FP chemistry-related behavior such as aerosol formation, growth and deposition behavior. An analytical tool has been developed based on the commercial ANSYS-FLUENT code. Some additional models was added to evaluate detailed FP chemistry during release and transport in this study. A test analysis simulating the CsI heating test in steam atmosphere was carried out to demonstrate the performance of the improved code. The result shows the appropriateness of the additional models.

An Overview of progress in environmental research on radioactive materials derived from the Fukushima Nuclear accident

Ohara, Toshimasa*; Miyahara, Kaname

Global Environmental Research (Internet), 20(1&2), p.3 - 13, 2017/03

http://www.airies.or.jp/ebook/Global_Environmental_Research_Vol.20.pdf

Toward the environmental regeneration in Fukushima Prefecture and other areas after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accidents, JAEA and NIES working with many public and private sector organizations and academia have carried out multifaceted research that will help to restore the environment of affected areas. These challenging efforts need to be further strengthened.