Journal of Nuclear Science, Engineering and Technology (JONSAT)
In cooperation with the Iranian Nuclear Society

Measurement and simulation of water-to-air dose conversion factor for gamma rays emitted from spent fuels of Tehran Research Reactor

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

M. Arkani
A. Pourrostam

Reactor and Nuclear Safety Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, AEOI, P.O.BOX: 14395-836, Tehran – Iran

https://doi.org/10.24200/nst.2024.1629
Abstract
One of the primary challenges faced by operational personnel at the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) is the handling and management of spent fuel assemblies. Estimating the radiation dose from these fuels in the air is crucial for assessing risks and implementing necessary safety measures during transportation. Due to the high radiation intensity and dose rates of spent fuels, direct measurement of their airborne dose rate is impractical. Instead, the dose rate is measured within the reactor pool water and then converted to an estimate for the air using conversion factors. This research focuses on estimating the dose conversion factor from water to air for gamma rays emitted by spent fuels at TRR. Experimental data from a fission molybdenum source and Monte Carlo simulations using the MCNP code were utilized to determine this conversion factor. The results obtained from both methods demonstrate relatively good agreement with each other.

Highlights

  1. Kralik M, Kulich V, Studeny J. Dosimetry at the interim spent fuel storage facility of the Czech nuclear power plant Dukovany. Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology. 2000;37(sup1):762-766.

 

  1. Kryuchkov E.F, Opalovsky V.A, Tikhomirov G.V. Modelling of radiation field around spent fuel container. Radiation Protection Dosimetry. 2005;116(1-4):575-578.

 

  1. Campbell L.W, Smith L.E, Misner A.C. High-energy delayed gamma spectroscopy for spent nuclear fuel assay. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. 2011;58(1):231-240.

 

  1. Bagheri S, Faghihi F, Khalafi H. An efficient method for detecting damaged FAs; burnup and PPF estimations by gamma spectroscopy. Applied Radiation and Isotopes. 2018;140:185-192.

 

  1. Kim H, Lee H, Yoo B, Sohn J, Kim B, Choo Y, Hong K. Burnup Estimation of Nuclear Fuels with Gamma Spectrometry. 2006.

 

  1. Kirchknopf P, Almasi I, Radocz G, Nemes I, Völgyesi P, Szaloki I. Determining burnup, cooling time and operational history of VVER-440 spent fuel assemblies based on in-situ gamma spectrometry at Paks Nuclear Power Plant. Annals of Nuclear Energy. 2022;170:108975.

 

  1. Fast JE, Chenault J.W, Glasgow B.D, Rodriguez D.C, VanDevender B.A, Wood L.S. Spent nuclear fuel Measurements. No. PNNL-23561. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). 2014.

 

  1. Abrefah R.G, Essel P.A.A, Odoi H.C. Estimation of the dose rate of nuclear fuel of Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1) using ORIGEN-S and MCNP 6. Progress in Nuclear Energy. 2018;105:309-317.

 

  1. Pelowitz D. MCNP6 Users Manual (Los Alamos National Laboratory). LACP-00634, 2013 May.

 

  1. Hermann O.W, Westfall R.M. ORIGEN-S: SCALE system module to calculate fuel depletion, actinide transmutation, fission product buildup and decay, and associated radiation source terms. Vol. II, Sect. F7 of SCALE: A Modular Code System for Performing Standardized Computer Analyses for Licensing Evaluation, NUREG/CR-0200. Rev 6. 1995.

 

  1. Gholamzadeh Z, Adeli R, Keivani M. Investigation of the air to water conversion factor dependency to the spent fuel cooling time, irradiation history and burnup for gamma dose rate determination of TRR spent fuels. Radiation Physics and Engineering. 2021;2(1):1-7.

 

  1. TRR Safety Analysis Report. Safety Analysis Report for Tehran Research Reactor. Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). 2011.

 

  1. Final report of the project "Study, design and commissioning of equipment required for experimental dosimetry of irradiated fuels of Tehran Research Reactor. Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute. 1402.

 

  1. Arkani M, Raisali G. Measurement of dead time by time interval distribution method. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 2015;774:151-158.

 

  1. Vacutec datasheet for Type 70018E, REF 0180001, www.vacutec-gmbh.de.

Keywords

Spent fuel
Tehran Research Reactor
Water-to-air dose conversion factor
Fission molly
MCNP code
  1. Kralik M, Kulich V, Studeny J. Dosimetry at the interim spent fuel storage facility of the Czech nuclear power plant Dukovany. Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology. 2000;37(sup1):762-766.

 

  1. Kryuchkov E.F, Opalovsky V.A, Tikhomirov G.V. Modelling of radiation field around spent fuel container. Radiation Protection Dosimetry. 2005;116(1-4):575-578.

 

  1. Campbell L.W, Smith L.E, Misner A.C. High-energy delayed gamma spectroscopy for spent nuclear fuel assay. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. 2011;58(1):231-240.

 

  1. Bagheri S, Faghihi F, Khalafi H. An efficient method for detecting damaged FAs; burnup and PPF estimations by gamma spectroscopy. Applied Radiation and Isotopes. 2018;140:185-192.

 

  1. Kim H, Lee H, Yoo B, Sohn J, Kim B, Choo Y, Hong K. Burnup Estimation of Nuclear Fuels with Gamma Spectrometry. 2006.

 

  1. Kirchknopf P, Almasi I, Radocz G, Nemes I, Völgyesi P, Szaloki I. Determining burnup, cooling time and operational history of VVER-440 spent fuel assemblies based on in-situ gamma spectrometry at Paks Nuclear Power Plant. Annals of Nuclear Energy. 2022;170:108975.

 

  1. Fast JE, Chenault J.W, Glasgow B.D, Rodriguez D.C, VanDevender B.A, Wood L.S. Spent nuclear fuel Measurements. No. PNNL-23561. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). 2014.

 

  1. Abrefah R.G, Essel P.A.A, Odoi H.C. Estimation of the dose rate of nuclear fuel of Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1) using ORIGEN-S and MCNP 6. Progress in Nuclear Energy. 2018;105:309-317.

 

  1. Pelowitz D. MCNP6 Users Manual (Los Alamos National Laboratory). LACP-00634, 2013 May.

 

  1. Hermann O.W, Westfall R.M. ORIGEN-S: SCALE system module to calculate fuel depletion, actinide transmutation, fission product buildup and decay, and associated radiation source terms. Vol. II, Sect. F7 of SCALE: A Modular Code System for Performing Standardized Computer Analyses for Licensing Evaluation, NUREG/CR-0200. Rev 6. 1995.

 

  1. Gholamzadeh Z, Adeli R, Keivani M. Investigation of the air to water conversion factor dependency to the spent fuel cooling time, irradiation history and burnup for gamma dose rate determination of TRR spent fuels. Radiation Physics and Engineering. 2021;2(1):1-7.

 

  1. TRR Safety Analysis Report. Safety Analysis Report for Tehran Research Reactor. Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). 2011.

 

  1. Final report of the project "Study, design and commissioning of equipment required for experimental dosimetry of irradiated fuels of Tehran Research Reactor. Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute. 1402.

 

  1. Arkani M, Raisali G. Measurement of dead time by time interval distribution method. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 2015;774:151-158.

 

  1. Vacutec datasheet for Type 70018E, REF 0180001, www.vacutec-gmbh.de.
Journal of Nuclear Science, Engineering and Technology (JONSAT)
Volume 45, Issue 4 - Serial Number 110
January 2025
Pages 158-167

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