Hydrogen Release from Irradiated Vanadium Alloy V-4Cr-4Ti

The present work is an attempt to obtain data concerning the influence of neutron and ? irradiation upon hydrogen retention in V-4Cr-4Ti vanadium alloy. The experiments on in-pile loading of vanadium alloy specimens at the neutron flux density 1014 n/cm2s, hydrogen pressure of 80 Pa, and temperatures of 563, 613, and 773 K were carried out using the IVG.1M reactor of the Kazakhstan National Nuclear Center. A preliminary set of loading/degassing experiments with non-irradiated material has been carried out to obtain data on hydrogen interaction with vanadium alloy. The, data presented in this work are related both to non-irradiated and irradiated samples

Experiments Performed in Substantiation of the Conditioning of BN-350 Spent Cesium Traps Using Lead or Lead-Bismuth Alloy Filling Technology

The technology of cleaning cesium radionuclides from sodium coolant at the BN-350 fast reactor was realized in the form of cesium traps of two types: stationary devices connected to the circuit that was to be cleaned and in-core devices installed into the core of reactor when it was not under operation. Carbon-graphite materials were used as sorbents to collect and concentrate radioactive cesium, accumulated in the BN-350 reactor circuits over the decades of their operation, in relatively small volume traps which provided effective radiation-safe conditions for personnel working in proximity to the coolant and equipment of the primary circuit during BN-350 decommissioning. Spent cesium traps, as products unfit for further use, represent solid radioactive wastes. The presence of chemically active sodium, potassium and cesium that are able to react violently with water results in series of problems related to their disposal in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Considering the technology of filling spent cesium traps with lead/lead-bismuth alloy as a priority one for their conditioning, evaluations for safety substantiation were implemented. A set of experiments was implemented aimed at verification of calculations performed in substantiation of the proposed technology: filling a full scale cesium trap mock-up with sodium followed by its draining to determine the optimal regimes of draining; filling bench scale cesium trap mock-ups with sodium and cesium followed by sodium draining and filling with lead or lead-bismuth alloy at different temperatures and filling rates to chose the optimal regimes for filling spent cesium traps; implementation of leachability tests to determine the rate of cesium release from the filling materials into water. This paper provides a description of the experimental program carried out and the main results obtained

Immobilization of Cesium Traps from the BN-350 Fast Reactor (Aktau, Kazakhstan) -11062

ABSTRACT During BN-350 reactor operations and also during the initial stages of decommissioning, cesium traps were used to decontaminate the reactor's primary sodium coolant. Two different types of carbon-based trap were used -the MAVR 1 series, low ash granulated graphite adsorber (LAG) contained in a carrier designed to be inserted into the reactor core during shutdown; and a series of ex-reactor trap accumulators (TAs) which used reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) to reduce Cs-137 levels in the sodium after final reactor shutdown. In total four MAVRs and seven TAs were used at BN-350 to remove an estimated cumulative 755 TBq of cesium. The traps, which also contain residual sodium, need to be immobilized in an appropriate way to allow them to be consigned as waste packages for long term storage and, ultimately, disposal. The present paper reports on the current status of the implementation phase of immobilization, with particular reference to the work done to date on the trap accumulators, which have the most similarity with the cesium traps used at other fast reactors

Immobilization of Cesium Traps from the BN-350 Fast Reactor (Aktau, Kazakhstan)

During BN-350 reactor operations and also during the initial stages of decommissioning, cesium traps were used to decontaminate the reactor’s primary sodium coolant. Two different types of carbon-based trap were used – the MAVR series, low ash granulated graphite adsorber (LAG) contained in a carrier designed to be inserted into the reactor core during shutdown; and a series of ex-reactor trap accumulators(TAs) which used reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) to reduce Cs-137 levels in the sodium after final reactor shutdown. In total four MAVRs and seven TAs were used at BN-350 to remove an estimated cumulative 755 TBq of cesium. The traps, which also contain residual sodium, need to be immobilized in an appropriate way to allow them to be consigned as waste packages for long term storage and, ultimately, disposal. The present paper reports on the current status of the implementation phase, with particular reference to the work done to date on the trap accumulators, which have the most similarity with the cesium traps used at other reactors