Study of evaporating the irradiated graphite in equilibrium low-temperature plasma

The paper describes a problem of accumulation of irradiated graphite due to operation of uranium-graphite nuclear reactors. The main noncarbon contaminants that contribute to the overall activity of graphite elements are iso-topes 137 Cs, 60 Co, 90 Sr, 36 Cl, and 3 H. A method was developed for proc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Thermophysics and aeromechanics 2018, Vol.25 (1), p.109-117
Main Authors: Bespala, E. V., Novoselov, I. Yu, Pavlyuk, A. O., Kotlyarevskiy, S. G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cesium isotopes
Chemical reactions
Computer simulation
Decontamination
Equilibrium
Flow velocity
Forming
Graphite
Helium
Low temperature
Nuclear reactions
Nuclear reactors
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Plasma
Plasma temperature
Radioactive contaminants
Strontium 90
Sublimation
Thermodynamics
Uranium
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Summary:The paper describes a problem of accumulation of irradiated graphite due to operation of uranium-graphite nuclear reactors. The main noncarbon contaminants that contribute to the overall activity of graphite elements are iso-topes 137 Cs, 60 Co, 90 Sr, 36 Cl, and 3 H. A method was developed for processing of irradiated graphite ensuring the volu-metric decontamination of samples. The calculation results are presented for equilibrium composition of plasma-chemical reactions in systems “irradiated graphite−argon” and “irradiated graphite−helium” for a wide range of tem-peratures. The paper describes a developed mathematical model for the process of purification of a porous graphite surface treated by equilibrium low-temperature plasma. The simulation results are presented for the rate of sublimation of radioactive contaminants as a function of plasma temperature and plasma flow velocity when different plasma-forming gases are used. The extraction coefficient for the contaminant 137 Cs from the outer side of graphite pores was calculated. The calculations demonstrated the advantages of using a lighter plasma forming gas, i.e., helium.
ISSN:0869-8643
1531-8699
DOI:10.1134/S0869864318010109