Applications of the total absorption technique to improve reactor decay heat calculations: study of the beta decay of {sup 102,104,105}Tc

Journal Article · Wed Jan 28 00:00:00 EST 2009 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3087014· OSTI ID:21255409

Algora, A ^[1]; Jordan, D; Tain, J L; Rubio, B; Agramunt, J; Perez-Cerdan, A B; Molina, F; Caballero, L; Nacher, E ^[2]; Krasznahorkay, A; Hunyadi, M D; Gulyas, J; Vitez, A; Csatlos, M; Csige, L ^[3]; Aeystoe, J; Penttilae, H; Moore, I D; Eronen, T; Jokinen, A ^[4]

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1. IFIC (CSIC-Univ. Valencia), Valencia (Spain) and Institute of Nuclear Research, Debrecen (Hungary)
2. IFIC (CSIC-Univ. Valencia), Valencia (Spain)
3. Institute of Nuclear Research, Debrecen (Hungary)
4. University of Jyvaeskylae, Jyvaeskylae (Finland)

The decay heat of the fission products plays an important role in predicting the heat-up of nuclear fuel after reactor shutdown. This form of energy release is calculated as the sum of the energy-weighted activities of all fission products P(t) = {sigma}E{sub i}{lambda}{sub i}N{sub i}(t), where E{sub i} is the decay energy of nuclide i(gamma and beta component), {lambda}{sub i} is the decay constant of nuclide i and N{sub i}(t) is the number of nuclide i at cooling time t. Even though the reproduction of the measured decay heat has improved in recent years, there is still a long standing discrepancy at t{approx}1000 s cooling time for some fuels. A possible explanation for this disagreement can been found in the work of Yoshida et al., who demonstrated that an incomplete knowledge of the {beta}-decay of some Tc isotopes could be the source of the systematic discrepancy. We have recently measured the {beta}-decay process of some Tc isotopes using a total absorption spectrometer at the IGISOL facility in Jyvaeskylae. The results of the measurements are discussed, along with their impact on summation calculations.

• OSTI ID: 21255409
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1090, Issue 1; Conference: 13. international symposium on capture gamma-ray spectroscopy and related topics, Cologne (Germany), 25-29 Aug 2008; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3087014; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ABSORPTION
BETA DECAY
COOLING TIME
FISSION PRODUCTS
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
NUCLEAR FUELS
REACTOR SHUTDOWN
SHOWER COUNTERS
TECHNETIUM 102
TECHNETIUM 104
TECHNETIUM 105