Abstract
Radiolytic fluorine gas production at temperatures of 40°C to 60°C was investigated for the fluoride salts LiF, BeF2, UF4, ThF4, and 71.7LiF-16BeF2-12.3UF4 (FliBe-UF4) by gamma irradiation of powdered samples using spent fuel elements from the High Flux Reactor (HFR) Petten as the irradiation source; work of a similar nature was previously performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the period 1965 to 1995. Gamma irradiation was conducted for just over 41 days, with total absorbed gamma dose ranging from ~45 MGy for the lightest salts to ~170 MGy for ThF4 and UF4. By measuring the gas pressure within salt-filled capsules during irradiation, it was possible to quantify radiolytic gas production for all salt samples except UF4. Production rates are reported as the salt G-values, measured as number of fluorine molecules produced per 100 eV of energy absorbed (molecules F2/100 eV). The G-values of the salts were found to be G(LiF) ~0.004, G(BeF2) ~0.009, G(ThF4) ~0.021, and G(FLiBe-UF4) ~0.005.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 633-646 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Nuclear Science and Engineering |
Volume | 197 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-careOtherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.
Keywords
- fluoride salt
- G-value
- Gamma radiolysis
- molten salt reactor
- nuclear reactor fuel