Method of Routine Monitoring of Fuel-Element Cladding Tightness During Icebreaker Core Removal

Abstract

The tightness of fuel-element cladding is monitored in order to identify fuel assemblies where depressurization has occurred in the course of operation. The condition of the fuel elements in the fuel assemblies of icebreaker cores is determined during refueling of the reactor immediately after a spent assembly is loaded into a dry cell of the storage facility cover in the floating technical service facility by extracting an air sample from its active part into a standard radiation-monitoring measurement system. This method of monitoring cladding tightness does not disrupt the refueling of icebreaker reactors or the refueling cycle time and allows routine evaluation of the condition of the core for representative extraction of spent fuel assemblies for materials studies.