Impacts of Tritium Management Approaches on Tritium Distribution and Capture Requirements for UNF Reprocessing
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6152 (United States)
Four radionuclides have been identified as being sufficiently volatile in reprocessing of nuclear fuel that their gaseous release needs to be controlled to meet U.S. regulatory requirements. These radionuclides are {sup 3}H, {sup 14}C, {sup 85}Kr, and {sup 129}I. Although iodine has been the focus of a number of studies due to the high decontamination factor (DF) requirements on multiple escape pathways, it is clear from prior studies that the control of tritium will also be a significant issue for future reprocessing plants, especially if processing relatively short-cooled fuels (<10 yr post reactor discharge). Tritium contained in a used nuclear fuel (UNF) matrix will be released into the liquid and off-gas streams during fuel reprocessing. The amounts released into the process streams are a function of the type and burnup of the fuel processed, and the chemical processes employed within the reprocessing plant. Previous studies have examined the tritium capture requirements for the reprocessing facility assuming that all of the tritium is volatilized in the head-end operations; i.e., tritium pretreatment is employed and tritium is completely released from the cladding. This scenario tends to limit the release pathway to the head-end off-gas stream. (authors)
- OSTI ID:
- 23042576
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 115; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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