Technical Bases For Estimating Fission Product Behavior During Lwr Accidents PDF Download

In response to the accident at Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2), the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) initiated a series of Severe Fuel Damage tests that were performed in the Power Burst Facility at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory to obtain data necessary to understand (a) fission product release, transport, and deposition; (b) hydrogen generation; and (c) fuel/cladding material behavior during degraded core accidents. Data are presented about fission product behavior noted during the second experiment of this series, the Severe Fuel Damage Test 1-1, with an in-depth analysis of the fission product release, transport, and deposition phenomena that were observed. Real-time release and transport data of certain fission products were obtained from on-line gamma spectroscopy measurements. Liquid and gas effluent grab samples were collected at selected periods during the test transient. Additional information was obtained from steamline deposition analysis. From these and other data, fission product release rates and total release fractions are estimated and compared with predicted release behavior using current models. Fission product distributions and a mass balance are also summarized, and certain probable chemical forms are predicted for iodine, cesium, and tellurium. An in-depth evaluation of phenomena affecting the behavior of the high-volatility fission products - xenon, krypton, iodine, cesium, and tellurium - is presented. Analysis indicates that volatile release from fuel is strongly influenced by parameters other than fuel temperature. Fission product behavior during transport through the Power Burst Facility effluent line to the fission product monitoring system is assessed. Tellurium release behavior is also examined relatve to the extent of Zircaloy cladding oxidation. 81 fig., 53 tabs.