Abstract
Samples of Chernobyl fuel debris, including massive corium and “lava” were collected inside the Chernobyl “Sarcophagus” or “Shelter” in 1990, transported to Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and stored under laboratory conditions for many years. In 2011 aged samples were visually re-examined and it was confirmed that most of them remained intact, although some evidence of self-destruction and chemical alteration were clearly observed. Selected samples of corium and “lava” were affected by static leaching at temperatures of 25, 90 and 150 °C in distilled water. A normalized Pu mass loss (NLPu) from corium samples after 140 days was noted to be 0.5 g/m2 at 25 °C and 1.1 g/m2 at 90 °C. For “lava” samples NLPu was 2.2–2.3 g/m2 at 90 °C for 140 days. The formation of secondary uranyl phases on the surface of corium and “lava” samples altered at 150 °C was confirmed. The results obtained are considered as an important basis for the simulation of fuel debris aging at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (NPP).
Highlights
The severe nuclear accident in the 4th Unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP)—presently in the territory of Ukraine—occurred on 26 April 1986 [1,2]
In some local parts of the reactor core, very high temperatures were reached as a result of prompt supercriticality
Chernobyl corium was formed before the explosion as a result of the short time high-temperature (≥2400–2600 ◦ C) interaction between the nuclear fuel and the zirconium cladding in the local part of the reactor core [5,6,7]
Summary
The severe nuclear accident in the 4th Unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP)—presently in the territory of Ukraine—occurred on 26 April 1986 [1,2]. Chernobyl corium was formed before the explosion as a result of the short time high-temperature (≥2400–2600 ◦ C) interaction between the nuclear fuel and the zirconium cladding in the local part of the reactor core [5,6,7]. A study of Chernobyl sample aging is important for the optimal retrieval of highly radioactive materials located inside the Chernobyl “Shelter”, and for the evaluation of fuel debris’ chemical behavior at Fukushima Daiichi NPP. Another important task is to conclude the role of self-irradiation on aging phenomena in corium and similar solids containing high amounts of radionuclides [10]. Experiments on the chemical alteration of Chernobyl corium and “lava” were recently carried out at KRI
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