KüFA safety testing of HTR fuel pebbles irradiated in the High Flux Reactor in Petten

The Cold Finger Apparatus (KühlFinger-Apparatur—KüFA) in operation at JRC-ITU is designed to experimentally scrutinize the effects of Depressurization LOss of Forced Circulation (D-LOFC) accident scenarios on irradiated High Temperature Reactor (HTR) fuel pebbles. Up to 1600 °C, the reference maximum temperature for these accidents, high-quality German HTR fuel pebbles have already demonstrated a small fission product release. This paper discusses and compares the releases obtained from KüFA-testing the pebbles HFR-K5/3 and HFR-EU1/3, which were both irradiated in the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in Petten. We present the time-dependent fractional release of the volatile fission product 137Cs as well as the fission gas 85Kr for both pebbles. For HFR-EU1/3 the isotopes 134Cs and 154Eu as well as the shorter-lived 110mAg have also been measured. A detailed description of the experimental setup and its accuracy is given. The data for the recently tested pebbles is discussed in the context of previous results.

SEEGER Oliver;  LAURIE Mathias;  EL ABJANI Abdelilah;  EJTON John;  BOUDAUD Denis;  FREIS Daniel;  CARBOL Paul;  RONDINELLA Vincenzo;  FUETTERER Michael;  ALLELEIN H.J.; 

2016-12-07

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA

JRC89464

0029-5493,   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC89464,   

10.1016/j.nucengdes.2015.11.033,