| Toxicity of irradiated advanced heavy water reactor fuels. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 23274823 Owner: NLM Status: In-Data-Review |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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ABSTRACT: The good neutron economy and online refueling capability of the CANDU® heavy water moderated reactor (HWR) enable it to use many different fuels such as low enriched uranium (LEU), plutonium, or thorium, in addition to its traditional natural uranium (NU) fuel. The toxicity and radiological protection methods for these proposed fuels, unlike those for NU, are not well established. This study uses software to compare the fuel composition and toxicity of irradiated NU fuel against those of two irradiated advanced HWR fuel bundles as a function of post-irradiation time. The first bundle investigated is a CANFLEX® low void reactor fuel (LVRF), of which only the dysprosium-poisoned central element, and not the outer 42 LEU elements, is specifically analyzed. The second bundle investigated is a heterogeneous high-burnup (LEU,Th)O2 fuelled bundle, whose two components (LEU in the outer 35 elements and thorium in the central eight elements) are analyzed separately. The LVRF central element was estimated to have a much lower toxicity than that of NU at all times after shutdown. Both the high burnup LEU and the thorium fuel had similar toxicity to NU at shutdown, but due to the creation of such inhalation hazards as Pu, Pu, Am, Cm, and Cm (in high burnup LEU), and U and Th (in irradiated thorium), the toxicity of these fuels was almost double that of irradiated NU after 2,700 d of cooling. New urine bioassay methods for higher actinoids and the analysis of thorium in fecal samples are recommended to assess the internal dose from these two fuels. |
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Authors:
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N D Priest; R B Richardson; G W R Edwards |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Health physics Volume: 104 ISSN: 1538-5159 ISO Abbreviation: Health Phys Publication Date: 2013 Feb |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2012-12-31 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 2985093R Medline TA: Health Phys Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 195-210 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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*Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Chalk River Laboratories, Chalk River Ontario, K0J 1J0, Canada. |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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