Nuclear fuel , spent characterization

Lamouroux, C., Moulin, C., Tabet, J.C., Jankowki, C.K. 2000. Characterization of zirconium complexes of interest in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 14 1869-1877. 

Hydroxides. Pure and mixed metal actinide hydroxides have been studied for their potential utility in nuclear fuel processing. At the other end of the nuclear cycle, the hydroxides are important in spent fuel aging and dissolution, and environmental contamination. Tetravalent actinides hydrolyze readily, with Th more resistant and Pu more likely to undergo hydrolysis than and Np. All of these ions hydrolyze in a stepwise marmer to yield monomeric products of formula An(OH) with = 1,2,3 and 4, in addition to a number of polymeric species. The most prevalent and well characterized are the mono- and tetra-hydroxides, An(OH) and An(OH)4. Characterization of isolated bis and tri-hydroxides is frustrated by the propensity of hydroxide to bridge actinide centers to yield polymers. For example, for thorium, other hydroxides include the dimers. 

Uniform attack or general corrosion is the most common form of corrosion. It is normally characterized by a chemical or electrochemical reaction that proceeds uniformly over the entire exposed surface or a very large area. This mechanism has not been a significant concern with spent nuclear fuel in wet... 

In Chapter 2, we take a more detailed look at the analytical chemistry pertaining to key commercial activities, that is, uranium mining and its utilization in the nuclear fuel cycle (NFC) first, in the milling process, uranium-containing deposits are processed to form uranium ore concentrates (UOC) that are then shipped to uranium conversion facilities (UCF), where the uranium is transformed into high-purity nuclear grade compounds. These can serve as fuel for nuclear power plants or as feed material for isotope enrichment. Then we discuss the analytical aspects of compliance with the strict specifications of the materials used in enrichment plants and in fuel fabrication facilities. Finally, we deal with the analytical procedures to characterize irradiated fuel and waste disposal of spent fuel. 

FIGURE 2.9 Separation on Sm and Nd in irradiated mixed oxide sample after injection of 1 mL containing 20 pg fuel mL- measured with the HPLC-Quadrupole ICPMS system. (From Gunther-Leopold, I. et al.. Characterization of spent nuclear fuel by an online combination of chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques, in Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety, ICNC, Tokai, Japan, October 2003, JAERI-Conf 2003-019, 2003. With permission.)... 

Alonso, J.I.G., Thoby-Schulzendorff, D., Giovanonne, B. et al. (1994). Characterization of spent nuclear fuel dissolver solutions and dissolution residues by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, J. Anal. At. Spectmm. 9, 1209-1215. 

C1682. (2009). Standard guide for characterization of spent nuclear fuel in support of geologic repository disposal. West Conshohocken, PA ASTM. 

In many instances, qualitative results are sufficient to characterize the nuclear material (e.g.. Spent Fuel Attribute Tester (SFAT) to confirm the presence of the Cs peak at 662 keVas... 

Highlights. Treatment of the radioactive waste from nuclear reactors is one of the points that receive wide public attention and the disposal and burial of HLW in particular is a contentious issue due to the concerns about leakage to the environment. The technical solutions that are currently used to treat the waste that were listed earlier (concentrate-and-contain, dilute-and-disperse, and delay-and-decay) are not suitable for HLW, where safer solutions like vitrification or Synroc are sought. The characterization of the LLW and MLW waste is not as complicated as that of spent fuel but stiU greatly more complex than analysis of fresh fuel. Some of the procedures and methods used in other parts of the NFC are suitable for LLW and MLW. The composition of HLW must be determined in order to estimate the decay rate of the radioactivity and to classify the required protective measures that depend on the radionuclides and their products (emitters of alpha, beta, gamma, and neutrons). 

To accomplish these objectives, the project was organized into four main activities spent fuel characterization, nuclear safety and regulation, options for spent fuel management and public communication strategies. 

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