Abstract
A simple and effective method has been developed for the determination of the transuranium isotopes in primary coolant samples of WWER-440 type reactors. Membrane filters containing undissolved particles from about one liter coolant were destroyed by mineral acids, then americium-curium isotopes and neptunium-plutonium isotopes were coprecipitated sequentially with NdF3 based on their different redox behavior. Alpha-spectra were determined by silicon semiconductor detectors connected to multichannel analyzers. Activity ratios measured in a reactor unit with a failed fuel element were compared with calculated values of the same type of reactor under similar conditions. Parameters of the defective fuel (burnup, original enrichment) could be estimated.
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References
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W. MOLLER, H. BURMESTER, Calculation of passive neutron emission from spent WWER-440 fuel, Technical report SAAS-347, Staatliches Amt für Atomsicherheit und Strahlenschutz, 1987.
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Vajda, N., Larosa, J., Pintér, T. et al. Analysis of actinides in the primary coolant of a WWER-440 type reactor. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Articles 170, 399–409 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02041476
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02041476