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Detection of gaseous fission products in water - a method of monitoring fuel sheathing failures

Abstract

The gaseous activities stripped from samples of effluent coolant from the NRU fuel elements tested in the central thimble of the NRX reactor (NRU loop) and from the NRX main effluent have been investigated. The activities obtained from the NRU loop can be attributed to gaseous fission products only. Design data have been obtained for a 'Gaseous Fission Product Monitor' to be installed for use with the NRU reactor. It is expected that this monitor will have high sensitivity to activity indicative of an incipient fuel element sheath failure. No qualitative determination of the various gaseous activities obtained from the NRX effluent has been made. A strong component of 25 {+-}1 seconds half-life is not consistent with O-19. Limited information concerning sheath failures in NRX was obtained. Of six failures observed in parallel with the installed delayed neutron monitors, three of these gave pre-warnings and in each case the gaseous fission product monitor showed a substantially greater sensitivity. An experiment in which small samples of uranium, inserted into the NRX reactor, could be exposed at will to a stream of water showed the behaviour of the two types of monitors to be similar. However, a number of signals were detected  More>>
Publication Date:
May 15, 1959
Product Type:
Technical Report
Report Number:
AECL-839; RDP-51
Resource Relation:
Other Information: 5 refs., 4 tabs., 20 figs.
Subject:
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS; CANDU TYPE REACTORS; COOLANT LOOPS; FISSION PRODUCTS; FUEL ELEMENT FAILURE; FUEL ELEMENTS; NRU REACTOR
OSTI ID:
22016402
Research Organizations:
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, Ontario (Canada)
Country of Origin:
Canada
Language:
English
Other Identifying Numbers:
TRN: CA1200016103505
Availability:
Available from INIS in electronic form
Submitting Site:
CANN
Size:
47 page(s)
Announcement Date:
Jan 10, 2013

Citation Formats

Tunnicliffe, P. R., and Whittier, A. C. Detection of gaseous fission products in water - a method of monitoring fuel sheathing failures. Canada: N. p., 1959. Web.
Tunnicliffe, P. R., & Whittier, A. C. Detection of gaseous fission products in water - a method of monitoring fuel sheathing failures. Canada.
Tunnicliffe, P. R., and Whittier, A. C. 1959. "Detection of gaseous fission products in water - a method of monitoring fuel sheathing failures." Canada.
@misc{etde_22016402,
title = {Detection of gaseous fission products in water - a method of monitoring fuel sheathing failures}
author = {Tunnicliffe, P. R., and Whittier, A. C.}
abstractNote = {The gaseous activities stripped from samples of effluent coolant from the NRU fuel elements tested in the central thimble of the NRX reactor (NRU loop) and from the NRX main effluent have been investigated. The activities obtained from the NRU loop can be attributed to gaseous fission products only. Design data have been obtained for a 'Gaseous Fission Product Monitor' to be installed for use with the NRU reactor. It is expected that this monitor will have high sensitivity to activity indicative of an incipient fuel element sheath failure. No qualitative determination of the various gaseous activities obtained from the NRX effluent has been made. A strong component of 25 {+-}1 seconds half-life is not consistent with O-19. Limited information concerning sheath failures in NRX was obtained. Of six failures observed in parallel with the installed delayed neutron monitors, three of these gave pre-warnings and in each case the gaseous fission product monitor showed a substantially greater sensitivity. An experiment in which small samples of uranium, inserted into the NRX reactor, could be exposed at will to a stream of water showed the behaviour of the two types of monitors to be similar. However, a number of signals were detected only by the gaseous fission product monitor. These can be attributed to its sensitivity to relatively long lived fission products. (author)}
place = {Canada}
year = {1959}
month = {May}
}