Radionuclides in primary coolant of a fluoride salt-cooled hightemperature reactor during normal operation

The release of fission products from coated particle fuel to primary coolant, as well as the activation of coolant and impurities, were analysed for a fluoride saltcooled high-temperature reactor(FHR) system, and the activity of radionuclides accumulated in the coolant during normal operation was calculated. The release rate(release fraction per unit time) of fission products was calculated with STACY code, which is modelled mainly based on the Fick's law, while the activation of coolant and impurities was calculated with SCALE code. The accumulation of radionuclides in the coolant has been calculated with a simplified model, which is generally a time integration considering the generation and decay of radionuclides. The results show that activation products are the dominant gamma source in the primary coolant system during normal operation of the FHR while fission products become the dominant source after shutdown. In operation condition,health-impacts related nuclides such as ~3H, and ^(14)C originate from the activation of lithium and coolant impurities including carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. According to the calculated effective cross sections of neutron activation,~6Li and ^(14)N are the dominant ~3H production source and ^(14)C production source, respectively. Considering the high production rate,~3H and ^(14)C should be treated before being released to the environment.

Development of an innovative detection system for pebble bed kinematic studies

Pebble bed reactors enable the circulation of pebble fuel elements when the reactors are in operation.This unique design helps to optimize the burnup and power distribution, reduces the excessive reactivity of the reactor,and provides a mean to identify and segregate damaged fuel elements during operation. The movement of the pebbles in the core, or the kinematics of the pebble bed,significantly affect the above features and is not fully understood. We designed and built a detection system that can measure 3-axis acceleration, 3-axis angular velocity,3-axis rotation angles, and vibration and temperature of multiple pebbles anywhere in the pebble bed. This system uses pebble-shaped detectors that can flow with other pebbles and does not disturb the pebble movement. We used new technologies to enable instant response, precise measurement, and simultaneous collection of data from a large number of detectors. Our tests show that the detection system has a negligible zero drift and the accuracy is better than the designed value. The residence time of the pebbles in a moving pebble bed was also measured using the system.

Numerical analysis of the activity of irradiated alloy-N in an FHR

The fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor(FHR) uses molten FLi Be salt as the coolant, which introduces a corrosive effect on the alloy-N structure material. Fission neutrons activate the corroded alloy-N,along with alloy-N structures inside the reactor vessel. The activation products of the alloy-N have a big impact on radiation protection during operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of the reactor. We have constructed a SCALE 6.1 model for the core of a typical 10 MW th FHR and analyzed the activity of each constituent of the irradiated alloy-N. The results show that the activity is predominantly due to short-lived^(28) Al,^(60m) Co,^(56) Mn,^(51)Ti, and ^(52) V, as well as long-lived ^(60) Co,^(51)Cr,^(55)Fe,^(59)Fe, and ^(54) Mn.Furthermore, because of their relatively long half-life and high-energy c-rays emissions,^(60) Co and ^(54)Mn are the major contributors to the radiation source terms introduced by alloy-N activation. The yield of ^(60)Co and ^(54)Mn per unit mass of alloy-N under the current core design is 5.58*10~5 and 1.55 * 10~3 Bq MWd^(-1)g^(-1), respectively.The results of this paper, combined with future corrosion studies, may provide a basis for evaluating long-term radiation source terms of the primary loop salt and components.