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Spent fuel recycling and conditioning topic of U.S.-Japan meeting
Officials with the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management discussed spent nuclear fuel recycling and conditioning with counterparts from Japan during the 13th U.S.-Japan Technical Meeting of the Civil Nuclear Energy Research and Development Working Group, held recently in Santa Fe, N.M.
J. W. Kormuth
Nuclear Technology | Volume 37 | Number 2 | February 1978 | Pages 99-102
Technical Paper | Plant Water Chemistry / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A31976
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Westinghouse pressurized water reactors have experienced soluble releases of 58Co and natural 58Ni into the reactor coolant during refueling shutdowns. When the soluble inventory of 58Co was not managed properly, the refueling water became contaminated, forcing delays in refueling operation schedules. Subsequent testing at other refueling shutdowns identified the development of oxygen species in the coolant as the prime reactant causing the dissolution. Hydrogen peroxide addition to reactor coolant under prescribed conditions was successfully used to create a controllable and soluble release of 58Co and nickel. The controlled release permitted a more deliberate removal of the activity by ion-exchange purification. A lesser, soluble release of the activity was shown to be caused by the depression in reactor coolant pH resulting from dissociation of boric acid following reactor coolant system boration and cooldown.