Characterization of bremsstrahlung and γ-rays of fuel debris

Abstract

The characterization of bremsstrahlung and γ-rays from fuel debris differs from that of spent fuels evaluated to date, due to factors such as material composition and release of volatile fission products. In this work, in order to clarify the conditions under which the effect of bremsstrahlung compared to the total photons (bremsstrahlung and γ-rays) in fuel debris is maximized, the average energies and dose rates from the energy spectra of bremsstrahlung and γ-rays on the fuel debris surface were obtained using a Monte Carlo simulation. In the simulation, the average energies and dose rates were evaluated with consideration of the composition, size, fission product release, and retrieval time of the fuel debris. The simulation showed that the composition with the largest amount of change to the average total photons energy caused by bremsstrahlung was the molten fuel debris, and the composition with the maximum fraction of bremsstrahlung in the dose rate was the UO2. The maximum value of the fraction of bremsstrahlung in the dose rate was evaluated to be about 17%. This work is expected to contribute to the prediction of the radiation characteristics of the fuel debris that will be retrieved from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in the near future.