Monitoring Defective CANDU Fuel Bundles

Abstract

In 2005, it was proposed that a passive substance such as Nanocrystals could be used to monitor and locate defect fuel elements in-core. The experimental goal was to determine if Nanocrystals could be used for this application. Originally nanocrystals tagging was suggested for current operational CANDU 600 fuel. Other methods, including noble gas tagging, are also being investigated. Moreover, the scope of the project has been extended to include the identification of Dysprosium-doped fuel in the new ACR fuel design. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the experimental progress made at RMC on this project.