Open AccessExperimental study of the dissolution of spent fuel at 85{sup 0} in natural ground water
Author(s) -
C.N. Wilson,
Henry F. Shaw
Publication year - 1986
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/60002
Subject(s) - cladding (metalworking) , rod , dissolution , spent nuclear fuel , materials science , radioactive waste , nuclear engineering , environmental science , nuclear fuel , groundwater , waste management , composite material , engineering , geotechnical engineering , chemical engineering , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
Semi-static dissolution tests using pressurized water reactor spent fuel rod segments and NNWSI reference J-13 well water in sealed stainless steel vessels at 85{sup 0}C are being conducted in support of the Waste Package Task of the NNWSI Project. Test specimens include: bare fuel plus the empty cladding hulls, fuel rod segments with artificially induced cladding defects and water-tight end caps, and undefected fuel rod segments with water-tight end caps. The test conditions approximate those expected in the proposed NNWSI Project repository when the waste package has cooled sufficiently to allow water to enter a breached container and contact the fuel rods, some of which may exhibit various degrees of cladding failure. Periodic solution samples (unfiltered and filtered) were analyzed for most radionuclides for which cumulative release limits are listed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Results from the first six-month cycle of the 85{sup 0}C tests are presented and are compared with results from the first cycle of a previous test series run at 25{sup 0}C in fused silica test vessels