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Powder Leaching Study for Grain Boundary Inventory of Two High Burnup Fuels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2019

Alexandre Barreiro Fidalgo ,
Olivia Roth ,
Anders Puranen ,
Lena Z. Evins ,
Kastriot Spahiu  and
Charlotta Askeljung
Alexandre Barreiro Fidalgo*
Affiliation:
Studsvik Nuclear AB, Nyköping, Sweden
Olivia Roth
Affiliation:
Studsvik Nuclear AB, Nyköping, Sweden
Anders Puranen
Affiliation:
Studsvik Nuclear AB, Nyköping, Sweden
Lena Z. Evins
Affiliation:
The Swedish Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Company (SKB), Stockholm, Sweden
Kastriot Spahiu
Affiliation:
The Swedish Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Company (SKB), Stockholm, Sweden
Charlotta Askeljung
Affiliation:
Studsvik Nuclear AB, Nyköping, Sweden
*
*(Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

In the context of safety assessment, the fraction of inventory that is expected to rapidly dissolve when water contacts the spent fuel is called the Instant Release Fraction (IRF). Conceptually, this fraction consists of radionuclides outside of the uranium dioxide matrix and therefore the fraction can be further divided into the radionuclides in the fuel/cladding gap and radionuclides in the grain boundaries. The relative importance of these two fractions is investigated here for two Swedish high burnup fuels through simultaneous grinding and leaching fuel fragments in simplified groundwater for a short period of time. The hypothesis is that this will expose grain boundaries to leaching solution and provide an estimate of the release of the grain boundary inventory upon contact with water. The studied fragments were used in previous leaching experiments and thus pre-washed to remove any pre-oxidized phases. The results showed a significant release of iodine, cesium and rubidium and to a lower extent molybdenum and technetium. The fraction of inventory in the aqueous phase of actinides and lanthanides was 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than for the elements associated to the IRF. Both fuels displayed a very similar behavior and no correlation as a function of burnup or fission gas release was found.

Keywords

grain boundariesnuclear materialswaste management
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Advances , Volume 4 , Issue 17-18: Energy-Transfer, Storage and Conversion , 2019 , pp. 981 - 986
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2019 

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References

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