WP3 Zircaloy

The objective of WP3 Zircaloy was to obtain a better understanding of ¹⁴C behaviour in waste Zr fuel claddings under disposal conditions with regard to ¹⁴C inventory (and origins), release from waste packages and speciation of released ¹⁴C. This was achieved by

• assessing ¹⁴C inventories in zirconium alloy metals and oxides;
• characterising ¹⁴C release from Zr corrosion and Zr oxide dissolution
• determining ¹⁴C speciation under simulated disposal conditions.

Published reports are:

1. State of the art of C14 in zircaloy and zirconium alloys
2. Definition of operating conditions and presentations of the leaching experiments
3. Description of the analytical procedure for gaseous and dissolved C14 species quantification
4. Progress report on corrosion test in the hot-cell - experimental set-up
5. Annual Progress Report - year 1
6. Intermediate report on the analysis of samples total C14 content
7. Definition of the analytical strategy for C14 measurements
8. Description of zircaloy-4 dissolution experiment in hot-cell
9. Quantification of C14 in liquid and gas phases
10. Progress report on year 2
11. Annual Progress report - year 2
12. Progress report on year 3
13. Annual Progess report - year 3
14. Final report on the full analysis of the 12 months sampling and surface characteristics
15. Final report on C14 release and speciation from Zircaloy-4 and comparision to literature
16. Final report on experimental results on long-term corrosion tests and C14 release
17. Final report on C14 release from M5 zirconium alloy in hihgly alkaline conditions
18. Final report on leaching results analysis
19. Final report on Zr alloys corrosion
20. Final report on C14 behaviour in Zr fuel clad wastes under disposal conditions

The last General Assembly Meeting has been held in France (Lyon) in January 2018 as the CAST Final Symposium. Presentations from this work package were:

Overview of Main WP3 outcomes, summary and conclusions - Sophia Necib (ANDRA)

¹⁴C inventory in irradiated Zircaloys - Michel Herm (KIT)

Leaching test and corrosion measurements for irradiated Zr - Crina Bucur (RATEN ICN)

Analytical strategy to measure ¹⁴C released from irradiated Zr - Tomo Suzuki (University of Nantes)

Corrosion rate measurements on Zircaloy-4 in alkaline media - Sébastian Ceas (SCK·CEN)

Corrosion of zirconium alloys and ¹⁴C release from compacted waste - Antoine Ambard (ANDRA)

The poster that was presented and is relevant for this workpackage is:

Corrosion behavior or irradiated and non-irradiated zirconium alloys: investigations on corrosion rate, released ¹⁴C species, and IRF

Contact: Sophia Necib