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Assessment of the Evolution with Time of the Instant Release Fraction of Spent Nuclear Fuel in Geological Disposal Conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Christophe Poinssot ,
Patrick Lovera  and
Marie-Hélène Faure
Christophe Poinssot
Affiliation:
Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Nuclear Energy Division, CEA-SACLAY, Department of Chemical Physics, Service for Physical and Analytical Chemistry, Laboratory for the study of the radionuclides Behavior in their Environment, BP11, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex
Patrick Lovera
Affiliation:
Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Nuclear Energy Division, CEA-SACLAY, Department of Chemical Physics, Service for Physical and Analytical Chemistry, Laboratory for the study of the radionuclides Behavior in their Environment, BP11, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex
Marie-Hélène Faure
Affiliation:
Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Nuclear Energy Division, CEA-SACLAY, Department of Chemical Physics, Service for Physical and Analytical Chemistry, Laboratory for the study of the radionuclides Behavior in their Environment, BP11, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex
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Abstract

Under the geological disposal conditions, spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is expected to evolve during the first thousands years while being maintained isolated from the biosphere before water comes in. Under those circumstances, several driving forces would lead to the progressive intrinsic SNF transformations within the rod which would basically modify the physical and chemical state of the fuel and the subsequent release of radionuclides in solution. In this paper, we briefly summarize the mechanisms we estimate to be significant and propose a new framework for the quantitative assessment of the radionuclide (RN) inventory we estimate to be associated to the classically referred to “Instant Release Fraction” (IRF). We hence demonstrate that in this framework, significantly high IRF values have to be expected for the long term due mainly to the presence of athermal diffusion processes.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 713: Symposium JJ – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXV , 2002 , JJ14.2
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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References

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