Study on combustible gas generation and radionuclide release during underwater handling of the AM reactor spent fuel

Introduction. The paper addresses studies on the accumulation of combustible gases during underwater handling simulations for the leaky spent nuclear fuel from the AM reactor. Two fuel compositions were studied- uranium-molybdenum dispersed in magnesium and uranium carbide dispersed in calcium.

Methods. The ¹³⁷Cs release rate was measured during underwater storage of the uranium-molybdenum fuel. The kinetics of hydrogen release for both fuels and methane release for the carbide SNF were obtained. The kinetics approximate most with exponential dependences that formally correspond to first-order chemical reactions.

A contribution of radiolytic hydrogen to the gases generated during the experiments was estimated. It was demonstrated that the determining source of the gases is the chemical interaction between the spent fuel and the water.

The experiment with the uranium-molybdenum fuel demonstrated a pronounced passivation effect of the chemical processes on the fuel surface due to insoluble corrosion products. For the carbide SNF, an incubation period of about 20 hours was observed followed by an intensive release of hydrogen and methane.

Results. The obtained results were subject to a comparative analysis against publications on the behavior of the fuel components in water.

Conclusion. The findings can be applied to justify fire and explosion safety of underwater handling techniques for the damaged spent nuclear fuel with the considered fuel compositions (the spent fuel from reactors AM, AMB, EGP-6, etc.), e.g., to justify underwater preparations of the AMB spent fuel for reprocessing.