Upgrade of the Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometer for Precise Identification of Failed Fuel in a Fast Reactor

Journal Article · Tue Dec 13 00:00:00 EST 2011 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3665327· OSTI ID:22003928

Iwata, Yoshihiro; Ito, Chikara ^[1]; Harano, Hideki ^[2]; Aoyama, Takafumi ^[1]

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1. Experimental Fast Reactor Department, Oarai Research and Development Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 4002 Narita, Oarai, Ibaraki 311-1393 (Japan)
2. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Central 2, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan)

Isotopic analysis of krypton (Kr) and xenon (Xe) by resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) is an effective tool for identification of failed fuel in fast reactors to achieve their safety operation and high plant availability. Reliability of the failed fuel detection and location (FFDL) system depends on the precise determination of {sup 78}Kr/{sup 80}Kr, {sup 82}Kr/{sup 80}Kr and {sup 126}Xe/{sup 129}Xe isotopic ratios, which is mainly hampered by statistical errors for detection of the corresponding isotopes except {sup 82}Kr generated in large amounts during operation of fast reactors. In this paper, we report on improvements of the laser optical system of our spectrometer to increase the resonance ionization efficiency of Kr and Xe atoms, focusing on (i) utilization of the uniform YAG laser beam to improve the wavelength conversion efficiency of sum frequency generation and (ii) reflection of the ultraviolet light by a concave mirror to increase the photon density. The results indicate that our upgraded resonance ionization mass spectrometer has enough performance for isotopic analysis of Kr and Xe required in the Monju FFDL system.

• OSTI ID: 22003928
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1412, Issue 1; Conference: 11. international conference on applications of nuclear techniques, Crete (Greece), 12-18 Jun 2011; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
EFFICIENCY
FAST REACTORS
ISOTOPE RATIO
KRYPTON 78
KRYPTON 80
KRYPTON 82
MASS SPECTROMETERS
NEODYMIUM LASERS
NUCLEAR FUELS
OPTICAL SYSTEMS
PERFORMANCE
REACTOR SAFETY
RESONANCE IONIZATION MASS SPECTROSCOPY
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
XENON 126
XENON 129