Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T20:29:11.153Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

C-14 Release Behavior and Chemical Species from Irradiated Hull Waste under Geological Disposal Conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2014

Yu Yamashita
Affiliation:
Toshiba Corporation, 4-1 Ukishima-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki 210-0862, Japan
Hiromi Tanabe
Affiliation:
Radioactive Waste Management Funding and Research Center, Pacific Marks Tsukishima, 1-15-7 Tsukishima, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0052, Japan
Tomofumi Sakuragi
Affiliation:
Radioactive Waste Management Funding and Research Center, Pacific Marks Tsukishima, 1-15-7 Tsukishima, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0052, Japan
Ryota Takahashi
Affiliation:
Toshiba Corporation, 4-1 Ukishima-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki 210-0862, Japan
Michitaka Sasoh
Affiliation:
Toshiba Corporation, 4-1 Ukishima-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki 210-0862, Japan
Get access

Abstract

C-14 contained in Hull waste is one of the most important radionuclides in the safety assessment of transuranic (TRU) waste disposal. For more realistic safety assessment, it is important to clarify the release mechanism and chemical species of C-14 from Hull waste. In this research, leaching tests were conducted using an irradiated Zry cladding tube from a boiling-water reactor (BWR) to obtain leaching data and to investigate the relationship between Zry metal corrosion and C-14 release behavior. Both organic and inorganic C-14 compounds existed in the the liquid phase, and some C-14 moved to the gaseous phase. The release rate of C-14 obtained from the BWR cladding tube after two-year leaching tests was lower than the release rate from a pressurize water reactor (PWR) cladding tube. It is considered that the BWR cladding tube used in this test did not easily corrode since it used a comparatively new material. The release rate of C-14 was slightly lower as compared with the corrosion rate of unirradiated Zry. This is thought to be the result of improved corrosion resistance conferred by neutron irradiation, which encouraged the dissolution of grain boundary precipitation elements, such as Fe, Cr, and Ni, into the crystal grains. The leaching tests will be continued for 10 years.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Sakuragi, T., et al. ., Estimation of Carbon 14 Inventory in Hulls and Endpieces Wastes from Japanese Commercial Reprocessing Plant, ICEM2013, September, Brussels, Belgium (2013)Google Scholar
Yamaguchi, T., et al. ., A Study on Chemical forms and Migration Behavior of Radionuclides in HULL Waste, ICEM1999, September, Nagoya, Japan (1999).Google Scholar
Kato, O., et al. ., Corrosion Tests of Zircaloy Hull Waste to confirm applicability of corrosion model and to evaluate influence factors on corrosion rate under Geological Disposal Conditions, Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXXVII (2013).Google Scholar
Sasoh, M., et al. ., Improvement of C-14 Measurements for Inventory and Leaching Rate for Hull Waste, and Separation of the Organic Compound for Chemical Species Identification, Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXXVII (2013).Google Scholar
Etoh, Y., Shimada, S., and Kikuchi, K., Irradiation Effects on Corrosion Resistance and Microstructure of Zircaloy-4, Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 29, pp.11731183 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, B., et al. ., Corrosion behavior of irradiated Zircloy, 10th Int. Symp., ASTM-STP-1245, American Society for Testing and Materials, Conshohocken, W.. PA, pp. 400418 (1994).Google Scholar
Kido, T., et al. ., PWR Zircaloy cladding corrosion behavior: quantitative analyses, Journal of Nuclear Materials 248, pp.281287 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouineau, V., et al. ., A New Model to Predict the Oxidation Kinetics of Zirconium Alloys in Pressurized Water Reactor, Zirconium in the Nuclear Industry; 15th International Symposium, pp. 405427 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanabe, H., et al. ., Long Term Corrosion of Zircaloy Hull Waste under Geological Disposal Conditions – Corrosion Correlations, Factors Influencing Corrosion, Corrosion Test Data, and a Preliminary Evaluation, Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXXVII (2013).Google Scholar
FEPC and JAEA, Second Progress Report on Research and Development for TRU Waste Disposal in Japan (2007).Google Scholar
Tanabe, H., et al. ., Characterization of Hull Waste in Underground Condition, Proceedings of the International Workshop on Mobile Fission and Activation Products in Nuclear Waste Disposal, L’Hermitage, La Baule, France, January 1619 (2007).Google Scholar
The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, Zirconium Alloy Handbook (1997).Google Scholar
RWMC, Research and development of processing and disposal technique for TRU waste containing I-129 and C-14 (FY2012) (2013).Google Scholar