Data summary report for fission product release test VI-3

Abstract

Test VI-3, the third in a series of high-temperature fission product release tests in the vertical test apparatus, was conducted in flowing steam. The test specimen was a 15.2-cm-long section of a fuel rod from the BR3 reactor in Belgium, which had been irradiated to a burnup of 42 MWd/kg. Using an induction furnace, it was heated under simulated light-water reactor (LWR) accident conditions to two test temperatures, 20 min at 2000 K and then 20 min at 2700 K, in a hot cell-mounted test apparatus. The released fission products were collected on components designed to facilitate sampling and analysis. Posttest inspection confirmed that the cladding had been completely oxidized during the test. Only minimal fragmentation of the fuel specimen was found, however, and very little melting or fuel-cladding interaction had occurred. Based on fission product inventories measured in the fuel or calculated by ORIGEN2, analyses of test components showed total releases from the fuel of 100% for {sup 85}Kr, 5% for {sup 106}Ru, 99% for {sup 125}Sb, and 99% for both {sup 134}Cs and {sup 137}Cs. A large fraction (27%) of the released {sup 125}Sb was retained in the furnace, but most of the released cesium (89%) escaped to the collection system. In addition, very small amounts of fuel material --- uranium and plutonium --- were released. Including fission products and fuel and structural materials, the total mass released from the furnace to the collection system was 3.17 g, 78% of which was collected on the filters. The results from this test were compared with previous tests in this series and with a commonly used model for fission product release. 25 refs., 22 figs., 14 tabs.

Data summary report for fission product release test VI-3

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