RESPIRABLE AEROSOLS RESULTING FROM HEDD INTERACTION WITH SURROGATE FUEL PELLETS

An experimental program is underway to measure the aerosol source term for spent fuel and surrogate spent fuel subjected to the action of high energy density devices (HEDD). The program is supported and guided by an international working group composed of US, French, German, and United Kingdom agencies. Preliminary results as well as a description of the overall program are presented. Measurements made to date using cerium oxide pellets in Zircaloy cladding and a small precision HEDD indicate that about 1% to 3% of the disrupted surrogate pellet volume is converted to respirable aerosol. The completed experiment program will provide surrogate and spent fuel aerosol production in identical experiments which should permit an accurate estimate of the spent fuel ratio (SFR) that is needed to relate full scale attack release data on surrogate materials to expected releases from similar attack using HEDDs on spent fuel.