Investigation of the characteristics of the container for storage of radioactive waste of nuclear power plants with uranium-graphite reactors

Aleksey Ivshin,Alexandr Kalyutik,Anatolii Blagoveshchenskii,A Borodinecs,V Sergeev,N Vatin

doi:10.1051/matecconf/201824507016

Aleksey Ivshin, Alexandr Kalyutik + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201824507016

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Abstract

The article presents the results of the study of neutron-physical characteristics of the container for storage of radioactive waste of nuclear power plants with uranium-graphite reactors. The interaction of gamma quanta (in the energy range from 0.1 to 2 MeV) with the structural materials of the container is simulated. The numerical values of the parameters determining the radiation characteristic of the container with the estimation of the calculation error are obtained. The following main characteristics of the container are determined: the attenuation coefficient of the equivalent dose, the numerical factor of gamma radiation accumulation. These characteristics can be used to justify the radiation safety of the container, in particular when selecting protection materials, as well as when building additional heterogeneous protection barriers.

Highlights

The development of nuclear power in Russia and abroad envisages the construction of new power units and the decommissioning of reactors that have exhausted their life, which will lead to an increase in the rate of accumulation of radioactive waste (RW) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
Loading a container with radioactive material requires that the equivalent dose rate on the surface of the packaging will be matched to the standardized values
The attenuation coefficient Katt is the ratio of equivalent dose of the initial gamma radiation to the attenuated gamma radiation: Katt

Summary

Introduction

The development of nuclear power in Russia and abroad envisages the construction of new power units and the decommissioning of reactors that have exhausted their life, which will lead to an increase in the rate of accumulation of radioactive waste (RW) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. The tolerances for the loading of radioactive waste (mass, volume, radionuclide composition, activity) for each container are established, under which the standardized parameters will meet the requirements of regulatory documents The disadvantage of this method is that it is impossible to justify the safe handling of waste characteristics of which exceed the permissible limits. Based on the calculated radiation characteristics of this container, it is possible to create a library of constants and further supplement it with new information (the type of container and the corresponding values of the attenuation factor, accumulation factors) Such constants will allow designing an information system that automatically detects the amount of radioactive waste to be loaded into a container. The use of such a system will provide support for decision-making in the handling of radioactive materials

Formulation of the problem

The equivalent dose

The attenuation coefficient of gamma radiation

Numerical buildup factor of accumulation of ionization radiation

Conclusions