Safety Assessment on the Storage of Irradiated Graphite Waste Produced from the Decommissioning of KRR-2
- Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (Korea, Republic of)
Irradiated graphite waste arising from the decommissioning of KRR-2 (Korean Research Reactor 2) has shown evidence of Wigner energy, specific radioactivity and the resulting radioactive chemicals/ nuclides upon examination of its graphite structure. Plans of annealing and disposal of the irradiated graphite must consider whether the stored Wigner energy will allow for its safe storage. Wigner energy is a latent explosive energy in the graphite structure due to fast neutron irradiation that caused carbon atomic rearrangements or dimensional distortions in the graphite crystal lattice. It is important to forecast the thermal stability of this graphite in long-term storage since in potential accident scenarios where high temperatures could occur, the Wigner energy has a greater potential to be released. Since nuclide emissions will also result if the thermal stability of the graphite in storage is not maintained, the elimination or control of Wigner energy content at a lower level in the waste program of the irradiated graphite will be necessary. A fire accident scenario was simulated to assess the feasibility of drum disposal storage of the graphite without any physical and/or chemical treatment of Wigner energy. Simulation results indicate that within 30 minutes of outer drum surface fire exposure, graphite waste containing Wigner energy reaches temperatures sufficient for the graphite to ignite. Therefore it is necessary to remove Wigner energy from the graphite waste for its safe storage. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 13023, Tucson, AZ, 85732-3023 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21208607
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-09-WM-06101; TRN: US09V0918079394
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste Management 2006 Symposium - WM'06 - Global Accomplishments in Environmental and Radioactive Waste Management: Education and Opportunity for the Next Generation of Waste Management Professionals, Tucson, AZ (United States), 26 Feb - 2 Mar 2006; Other Information: Country of input: France; 10 refs
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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