Radiation induced dissolution of uranium dioxide (UO2) nuclear fuel and the consequent release of radionuclides to intruding groundwater are key-processes in the safety analysis of future deep geological repositories for spent nuclear fuel. For several decades, these processes have been studied experimentally using both spent fuel and various types of simulated spent fuels. The latter have been...

generators’ risks Richard Green Institute for Energy Research and Policy University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT Tel: +44 121 415 8216 Email: [email protected] October 2007 Abstract Volatile fuel prices affect both the cost and price of electricity in a liberalized market. Generators with the price-setting technology will face less risk to their profit margins than those with costs that...

In 2003, the Swiss parliament decided to introduce a 10-year moratorium on the export of spent fuel for reprocessing which started in July 2006. Before the start of the moratorium, the utilities were free to choose between reprocessing and direct disposal of the spent fuel. The Nuclear Energy Act states a series of conditions which must be fulfilled for an authorisation of the export of spent f...

Fuel cycles are designed with the aim of obtaining the highest amount of energy possible. Since higher burnup values are reached, it is necessary to improve our disposal designs, traditionally based on the conservative assumption that they contain fresh fuel. The criticality calculations involved must consider burnup by making the most of the experimental and computational capabilities develope...

Dissolution of UO2, U3O8, and solid solutions of actinides in UO2 in subacid aqueous solutions (pH 0.9-1.4) of Fe(III) nitrate was studied. Complete dissolution of the oxides is attained at a molar ratio of ferric nitrate to uranium of 1.6. During this process actinides pass into the solution in the form of U(VI), Np(V), Pu(III), and Am(III). In the solutions obtained U(VI) is stable both at ro...

Zirconium-based alloys are used in water-cooled nuclear reactors for both nuclear fuel cladding and structural components. Under this harsh environment, the main factor limiting the service life of zirconium cladding, and hence fuel burn-up efficiency, is water corrosion. This oxidation process has recently been linked to the presence of a sub-oxide phase with well-defined composition but unkno...

One of the key issues that has emerged in performing a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) for the spent fuel pool during the decommissioning phase of a nuclear power plant's lifecycle is how much credit can be given to the operating staff to respond to an incident that impacts the spent fuel pool that would, if not attended to, lead to a loss of cooling of the spent fuel and eventually to a zi...