Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
2003 International RERTR Meeting

ASSESSMENT OF CONDITIONS OF THE SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL STORED IN THE STAINLESS STEEL CHANNEL-HOLDERS

M. Pešić, O. Šotić, S. Cupać, T. Maksin, N. Dašić

Centre for Nuclear Technologies and Research - NTI
VINČA Institute of Nuclear Sciences, P. O. Box 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

ABSTRACT

The IAEA technical co-operation project “Safe Removal of Spent Fuel of the Vinca RA Research Reactor” is carried out at the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, since January 2003. Present activities will provide up-to-date information on the conditions of the spent nuclear fuel, stored in the stainless steel channel-holders (‘chekhols’) and on the water quality in the storage basins. Water samples taken out from the chekhols and the basins are measured to determine their activity and chemical parameters. Until September 2003, about 1/3 of the chekhols containing spent fuel elements with initial enrichment of 2% and 80% of uranium were inspected. High activity of Cs-137 was found in several water samples taken out from chekhols. All water samples show very high electrical conductivity, while those taken from the basins show the presence of chlorides and aluminium ions, too. Information on established procedures and measuring results are given in this paper.  The obtained results, so far, show that the spent nuclear fuel elements are leaking in about 10 % of chekhols.