Fission Product Release to the Primary Coolant of a Reactor

Abstract

Data from an in-reactor research program at Chalk River was used to develop a physically-based model for the release of fission products from fuel defects to the primary coolant. This model differentiates between release from fuel failures and from uranium contamination on in-core surfaces and is used to yield an estimate of the average defect size and the number of defects. The model has been successfully applied to predict the number of defects in power reactors.