Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Long term activity measurement of the primary circuit water on the LVR-15 research reactor

  • Received : 2023.04.24
  • Accepted : 2023.11.13
  • Published : 2024.04.25
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Activity measurement of the primary circuit water of fission reactors is one method that can provide early detection of a damaged fuel assembly in the reactor core. This is an important aspect in the safe operation of the reactor and for radiation protection of staff. Radionuclides in the primary circuit water are produced by the activation of stable nuclides and the fission of fissile nuclides, mainly the isotope 235U. In the LVR-15 research reactor, measurement of the activity of the primary circuit water has been regularly undertaken since 1996. A water sample is taken from the primary circuit every week and the activities are measured four days later using gamma spectrometry. The results of these long-term measurements from 1996 to 2022 are presented. The activity time dependences of the individual radionuclides are discussed in relation to fuel assembly damage and for events connected to contamination of the water by objects inserted into the primary circuit during experiments carried out near the reactor core.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

Presented results were obtained with the use of infrastructure Reactors LVR-15 and LR-0, which is financially supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports - project LM2018120.

References

  1. IAEA, Fuel Failure in Water Reactors: Causes and Mitigation, IAEA-TECDOC-1345, Vienna, 2003.
  2. M. Koleska, Z. Lahodova, J. Soltes, L. Viererbl, J. Ernest, M. Vins, J. Stehno, Capabilities of the LVR-15 research reactor for production of medical and industrial radioisotopes, J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. 305 (2015) 51-59.
  3. IAEA, Modelling of Transport of Radioactive Substances in the Primary Circuit of Water Cooled Reactors, IAEA-TECDOC-1672, Vienna, 2012.
  4. L. Viererbl, F. Tomasek, E. Listik, Activities of water from the primary circuit of LVR 15, Nucleon 4 (1998) 13-16.
  5. ASTM E181, Standard Test Methods for Detector Calibration and Analysis of Radionuclides, 2017.
  6. L. Viererbl, M. Marek, A. Voljanskij, V. Broz, J. Burian, Detection of damaged fuel assembly in LVR-15 reactor with spectrometric water activity measurement, in: International Conference on Topical Issues in Nuclear Installation Safety, 2004. IAEA-CN-120/23, Beijing, China.
  7. L. Viererbl, Z. Lahodova, V. Klupak, M. Marek, A. Voljanskij, Source of radionuclides in primary circuit water of LVR-15 reactor, in: RRFM-IGORR Conference, 2007. Lyon, France.
  8. L. Viererbl, M. Miletic, Z. Lahodova, V. Broz, V. Klupak, Uranium contamination in primary circuit of the LVR-15 reactor, in: 13th International Topical Meeting on Research Reactor Fuel Management, 2009. Vienna, Austria.