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Possibility of burning irradiated graphite from decommissioned nuclear power-generating units

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Abstract

The possibility of liquidating irradiated graphite by burning is examined by analyzing the computed and experimentally obtained information about the activity of 14C produced over the period of operation of uranium-graphite reactors and appearing naturally in the Earth’s biosphere. In nature, 14C activity fluctuates in the range ±1%. This work employs the criterion that the technogenic addition of 14C activity as a result of burning irradiated graphite should not exceed the fluctuations of the natural activity. It is shown that under this criterion an amount ~3.5·104 tons/yr can be burned with 14C activity in irradiated graphite ~1.8·1011 Bq/ton.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. A. I. Leipunskii Physics and Power Engineering Institute, State Science Center of the Russian Federation, Russia

    V. V. Frolov

  2. N. A. Dollezhal’ Scientifc-Research and Design Institute of Power Engineering, Russia

    A. V. Kryuchkov, Yu. N. Kuznetsov, V. A. Moskin, Yu. V. Pankrat’ev & A. A. Romenkov

Authors
  1. V. V. Frolov
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  2. A. V. Kryuchkov
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  3. Yu. N. Kuznetsov
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  4. V. A. Moskin
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  5. Yu. V. Pankrat’ev
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  6. A. A. Romenkov
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Additional information

Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 97, No. 5, pp. 370–374, November, 2004.

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Frolov, V.V., Kryuchkov, A.V., Kuznetsov, Y.N. et al. Possibility of burning irradiated graphite from decommissioned nuclear power-generating units. At Energy 97, 781–784 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-005-0062-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-005-0062-4

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