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THE DETERMINATION OF BURN-UP IN SPENT FUEL ELEMENTS
A.P. Smirnov-Averin, V. I. Galkov, I. G. Sheinker, V.P. Meshcheryakov, L. A. Stabenova, B. S. Kir'yanov
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Abstract
A simple method of determining the burn-up of U/sup 235/ depends on the determination of long-lived Cs/sup 137/ by scintillation counting. Corrections for the Cs/sup 134/ content can be made by counting the beta - gamma - coincidences which are due only to the Cs/sup 134/ activity content. The burn-up at various points of a spent fuel rod was obtained by determinign the Cs/sup 137/ content. The results agreed within 10% with the massspectrometric determinations of the U/sup 235/ content. The content of Tc/sup 99/ (T/sub 1/2/ = 2.2 x 10/sup 5/ years) was also determined by multiple extraction with methylethylketone and final purification on a cation exchange. The Tc/sup 99/ was counted on a 4 pi - counter. The burnup determined from the Tc/sup 99/ content was found to be 67%. A Cs/sup 137/ determination on the same sample gave a burnup of 68%, while the mass-spectroscopic value for the same sample was 66.2%. As is evident, the agreement between the various methods is good. (TTT)