Some studies on the oxidation states of fission-product iodine (/sup 129/I) in irradiated UO/sub 2/ (LWBR Development Program)

Technical Report · Tue Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1969

OSTI ID:7092080

Clayton, J C; Riddle, J M

Both the UO/sub 2/ fuel and Zircaloy cladding from seven irradiated (approximately 5 x 10/sup 20/ fissions/cm/sup 3/) PWR blanket rods were leached, first with methyl chloroform to extract any free iodine, followed by a second extraction with water to collect iodide and iodate ions. Only trace amounts of /sup 129/I activity were detected in the organic leaching solutions, but definite /sup 129/I peaks were identified in the water leachings of the UO/sub 2/ fuel from one rod. Further leachings with HCl solutions increased the amount of /sup 129/I extracted. It was concluded that, for the quantity of /sup 129/I leached from the irradiated UO/sub 2/, the major fraction is in the combined iodine (probably as iodide) rather than in the free iodine elemental state. The dominant amount of iodine is most likely tightly chemically bound, probably with metallic fission products. This appears reasonable because the oxidation reaction between unirradiated UO/sub 2/ and I/sub 2/, as evidenced by x-ray diffraction measurements, would permit the reduction to iodide of any fission-product free iodine produced by fissioning. (NSA 23: 47371)

• Research Organization: Bettis Atomic Power Lab., Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AT(11-1)-GEN-14
• OSTI ID: 7092080
• Report Number(s): WAPD-TM-851
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050700 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Fuels Production & Properties
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
400702* -- Radiochemistry & Nuclear Chemistry-- Properties of Radioactive Materials
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BREEDER REACTORS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMICAL STATE
ELEMENTS
FISSION PRODUCTS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HALOGENS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
IODIDES
IODINE
IODINE 129
IODINE COMPOUNDS
IODINE ISOTOPES
IODINE OXIDES
ISOTOPES
LWBR TYPE REACTORS
NONMETALS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXIDATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTORS
THERMAL REACTORS
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM DIOXIDE
URANIUM OXIDES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES