Reports Summarize Nuclear Power Study Results from Japan Atomic Energy Agency (Fission Gas Release From Irradiated Mixed-oxide Fuel Pellet During Simulated Reactivity-initiated Accident Conditions: Results of Bz-3 and Bz-4 Tests)

2021 JUN 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Energy Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Energy - Nuclear Power. According to news reporting from Ibaraki, Japan, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Fission gas release from high-burnup mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel pellet with Pu fissile contents of 4.1% during reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) was estimated based on radial Xe concentration profiles in fuel pellet using scanning electron microscopy/electron probe microanalysis (SEM/EPMA) before and after pulse irradiation tests called BZ-3 and BZ-4. The tests were conducted at the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor (NSRR) in Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA).”

Financial support for this research came from Secretariat of Nuclear Regulation Authority.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Japan Atomic Energy Agency, “The depression of Xe concentration in the Pu-spot and the crack formation in the peripheral region of fuel pellet were observed after BZ-3 and BZ-4. This kind of cracks was considered to promote the release of the fission gas retained in the Pu-spot. Based on the EPMA results and the effect of the crack formation, the amounts of the release of the gas retained in Pu-spot was estimated to be 0.13 and 0.04 in BZ-3 and BZ-4 tests, respectively. Moreover, taking account of the release of the gas accumulated in the grain boundary in Pu-spot-excluded region and the release of the gas dissolved in the matrix, the total amount of fission gas release was evaluated as 0.33-0.43 and 0.15-0.27 in BZ-3 and BZ-4 tests, respectively.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Comparing the results of the fission gas release with the results of rod-puncture test, it was suggested that fission gas release from not only the Pu-spot but also the Pu-spot-excluded region.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Fission Gas Release From Irradiated Mixed-oxide Fuel Pellet During Simulated Reactivity-initiated Accident Conditions: Results of Bz-3 and Bz-4 Tests. Annals of Nuclear Energy, 2021;155. Annals of Nuclear Energy can be contacted at: Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Annals of Nuclear Energy - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/annals-of-nuclear-energy/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Kazuo Kakiuchi, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Nuclear Safety Research Center, 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki 3191195, Japan. Additional authors for this research include Yutaka Udagawa and Masaki Amaya.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2021.108171. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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