Study of the Chernobyl hot particles' destruction by soil micromycetes' influence

Solids flow pattern in the bottom zone of a rectangular cross-section CFB was investigated by using hot particles as the tracer. The experiments were carried out in a cold model circulating fluidized bed. The riser has an inner cross-section of 0.3 m by 0.5 m and a height of 5.8 m. The solids were returned into the riser at a height of 0.75 m above the air distributor within an angle of about 40 degree. Quartz sand was used as the bed material. The hot particles were also quartz sand but with a little smaller size. Specially designed miniature electrically heating devices were installed flush with the inner bed wall or inside the bed. At each run, about 10–15 cm3 hot particles were slowly pulled into the bed. The temperature response around the device was measured with four copper-constantan thermocouples. Based on the experimental results, a 3-D core-annulus model describing the solids flow pattern in the bottom zone of the CFB riser is proposed.

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Study of an alpha track analysis and a fission track analysis for determining the hot particles contaminated with Pu and U isotopes

Applied Radiation and Isotopes ◽

10.1016/j.apradiso.2006.06.012 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 65 (1) ◽

pp. 85-91 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

M.H. Lee ◽

Y.J. Park ◽

K.Y. Jee ◽

W.H. Kim ◽

Sue B. Clark

Keyword(s):

Fission Track ◽

Fission Track Analysis ◽

Hot Particles ◽

Track Analysis

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To a Burst of 137Cs Activity in the Air under the “Arch” Object on October 17, 2019

Nuclear Power and the Environment ◽

10.31717/2311-8253.21.2.11 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 107-115

Author(s):

V. K. Shynkarenko ◽

◽

V. A. Kashpur ◽

G. G. Skorjak ◽

P. V. Sabenin

Keyword(s):

Nuclear Power ◽

Total Activity ◽

137Cs Activity ◽

Beta Activity ◽

Hot Particles ◽

Safe Work ◽

Before And After ◽

Isolation Systems ◽

October 17 ◽

The One

The construction of a New Safe Confinement (NSC) is one of the main stages in the transformation of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant 4th power unit into an ecologically safe system. On the one hand, this system is designed to ensure the safety of personnel, the population and the environment, on the other — to allow safe work with the remnants of the unit. At the same time, the project allows quite high levels of bulk activity of radioactive aerosols inside the NSC — up to 210 Bq/m3 for total β-activity. The sharp increase in the volumetric air activity, observed on October 17–19, 2019 in a number of rooms of the Shelter object and in the space under the “Arch” object in the absence of a burst of activity outside these objects, can be considered as a successful kind of spontaneous test of the NSC isolation systems. The chronology of the dynamics of volume activity according to the act of official investigation of the precedent is given. The results of studies of aerosol filters exposed in the near zone of the Chornobyl NPP before and after the burst of activity in the air under the “Arсh” object are presented. Autoradiograms of fragments of these filters demonstrate a significant (≈2 orders of magnitude) increase in the number of hot particles immediately after the fall of the concrete fragment of the floor in the room 402/3. The analysis of features of the hot particles after the collapse indicates a significant contribution to the total activity of a large number of low-activity particles (0.005÷5 Bq), and the low 137Cs/241Am ratio that indicates their fuel nature. Based on the assumption about the fuel nature of hot particles, their minimum possible aerodynamic diameters were calculated, which are in the range 2.91<d<36.7 μm, which does not exclude the presence of smaller hot particles on the filter that are not visible using this method. The contribution of particles with aerodynamic diameters less than 10 μm, determined using the impactor, did not exceed 20% of the total beta activity of the aerosol.

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