Abstract
Part I of this publication deals with the analysis of fission product releases consecutive to the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident. Reactor core damages are assessed relying on radionuclide detections performed by the CTBTO radionuclide network, especially at the particulate station located at Takasaki, 210 km away from the nuclear power plant. On the basis of a comparison between the reactor core inventory at the time of reactor shutdowns and the fission product activities measured in air at Takasaki, especially 95Nb and 103Ru, it was possible to show that the reactor cores were exposed to high temperature for a prolonged time. This diagnosis was confirmed by the presence of 113Sn in air at Takasaki. The 133Xe assessed release at the time of reactor shutdown (8 × 1018 Bq) turned out to be in the order of 80 % of the amount deduced from the reactor core inventories. This strongly suggests a broad meltdown of reactor cores.
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Notes
Disclaimer: the views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission.
134Cs is mainly an activation product formed in the fuel from the reaction: \( {}^{133}{\text{Xe}} \to {}^{133}{\text{Cs}} + \beta^{ - } + \bar{\nu } \to {}^{133}{\text{Cs}}(n,\gamma ){}^{134}{\text{Cs}} \). It is often denoted as a secondary fission product.
(Vidal et al., 2006) developed by CEA and was qualified for BWR fuel elements to be reprocessed at the La Hague French centre. It has also been validated from calculations based on the representative BWR EOLE model.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization for fruitful discussions about the data collected by radionuclide stations of the International Monitoring Network during the Fukushima event. A special thanks should be expressed to the local operators of the CTBTO Takasaki radionuclide stations for maintaining data availability in such exceptional circumstances.
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Le Petit, G., Douysset, G., Ducros, G. et al. Analysis of Radionuclide Releases from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident Part I. Pure Appl. Geophys. 171, 629–644 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-012-0581-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-012-0581-6