Ruthenium release from fuel in accident conditions

During a hypothetical nuclear power plant accident, fission products may be released from the fuel matrix and then reach the containment building and the environment. Ruthenium is a very hazardous fission product that can be highly and rapidly released in some accident scenarios. The impact of the atmosphere redox properties, temperature, and fuel burn-up on the ruthenium release is discussed. In order to improve the evaluation of the radiological impact by accident codes, a model of the ruthenium release from fuel is proposed using thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. In addition, a model of fuel oxidation under air is described. Finally, these models have been integrated in the ASTEC accident code and validation calculations have been performed on several experimental tests.