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Swiss nuclear power and the case for long-term operation
Designed for 40 years but built to last far longer, Switzerland’s nuclear power plants have all entered long-term operation. Yet age alone says little about safety or performance. Through continuous upgrades, strict regulatory oversight, and extensive aging management, the country’s reactors are being prepared for decades of continued operation, in line with international practice.
K. V. Vrinda Devi, T. Soreng, J. P. Panakkal, H. S. Kamath
Nuclear Technology | Volume 164 | Number 2 | November 2008 | Pages 305-308
Technical Note | Radiation Measurements and Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT08-A4028
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Passive gamma scanning (PGS) for detecting the variations in relative PuO2 content (composition) in (U,Pu) mixed oxide (MOX) fuel pins with low PuO2 content (0.4%) for pressurized heavy water reactors is demonstrated. Experiments are carried out with MOX pins of varying compositions with a NaI(Tl) detector. An annular detector was used to improve the counting statistics, and it was demonstrated that a change of PuO2 content of ±0.02% could be detected at a very low level of PuO2 content of 0.4%. It was also observed that a larger-sized PuO2 agglomerate of 1 mm located near the surface of the pellets could be detected during PGS of the welded fuel pins.