The impact of fuel cladding failure events on occupational radiation exposures at nuclear power plants: Case study, PWR (pressurized-water reactor) during an outage

This report is the second in a series of case studies designed to evaluate the magnitude of increase in occupational radiation exposures at commercial US nuclear power plants resulting from small incidents or abnormal events. The event evaluated is fuel cladding failure, which can result in elevated primary coolant activity and increased radiation exposure rates within a plant. For this case study, radiation measurements were made at a pressurized-water reactor (PWR) during a maintenance and refueling outage. The PWR had been operating for 22 months with fuel cladding failure characterized as 105 pin-hole leakers, the equivalent of 0.21% failed fuel. Gamma spectroscopy measurements, radiation exposure rate determinations, thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) assessments, and air sample analyses were made in the plant's radwaste, pipe penetration, and containment buildings. Based on the data collected, evaluations indicate that the relative contributions of activation products and fission products to the total exposure rates were constant over the duration of the outage. This constancy is due to the significant contribution from the longer-lived isotopes of cesium (a fission product) and cobalt (an activation product). For this reason, fuel cladding failure events remain as significant to occupational radiation exposure during an outage as during routine operations. Asmore » documented in the previous case study (NUREG/CR-4485 Vol. 1), fuel cladding failure events increased radiation exposure rates an estimated 540% at some locations of the plant during routine operations. Consequently, such events can result in significantly greater radiation exposure rates in many areas of the plant during the maintenance and refueling outages than would have been present under normal fuel conditions.« less