Release of radioactive materials from high active liquid waste in small-scale hot test for boiling accident in reprocessing plant

Abstract

The release behavior of radioactive materials from high active liquid waste (HALW) has been experimentally investigated under boiling accident conditions. In the experiments using HALW obtained through laboratory-scale reprocessing, the release ratio was measured for fission product (FP) nuclides such as Ru, Tc-99, Cs, Sr, Nd, Y, Mo, Rh and actinides such as Cm-242 and Am-241. As a result, the release ratio was 0.20 for Ru and was around 1×10−4 for the FP and actinide nuclides. Ru was released into the gas phase in the form of both mist and gas. For its released amount, weak dependency was found to its initial concentration in the test solution. The release ratio decreased with the increase in the initial concentration. For other FP nuclides and actinides as non-volatile, released into the gas phase in the form of mist, the released amount increased with the increase in the initial concentration. The release ratio of Ru and NOx concentration increased with the increase in the temperature of the test solutions. They were released together almost at the same temperature between 200 and 300 °C. Size distribution of particles like mist was measured. The data show that there was a difference between distributions at the temperatures below 150 °C and over 200 °C.