An experimental apparatus to study the adsorption of water on proxies for spent nuclear fuel surfaces

Yadukrishnan Sasikumar; William J. Nuttall; Nigel J. Mason

doi:10.1088/1361-6501/ad67fa

An experimental apparatus to study the adsorption of water on proxies for spent nuclear fuel surfaces

Yadukrishnan Sasikumar, William J. Nuttall, Nigel J. Mason

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This paper describes the design, construction and testing of an experimental apparatus capable of conducting high temperature adsorption isotherm analyses on large quantities of powder samples inside an ultra-high vacuum chamber. Data is obtained by dosing in fixed amounts of water vapor and measuring precise pressure changes using a high temperature capacitance manometer. The rig is designed to provide insight into the wetting of failed spent nuclear fuel (SNF) under conditions conventionally regarded as ‘dry’. Validation experiments are reported based on powder CeO₂ (a non-radioactive surrogate for SNF) at 100 °C. It is planned that this and successor rigs can provide ever more direct experimental evidence to address a key policy-relevant problem.

Original language	English
Article number	116008
Journal	Measurement Science and Technology
Volume	35
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6501/ad67fa
State	Published - Nov 2024
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This work was funded by the Imperial Cambridge Open Centre for Doctoral Training with an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Grant EP/L015900/1.

Keywords

spent nuclear fuel disposal
spent nuclear fuel drying
spent nuclear fuel management
water-fuel interaction

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10.1088/1361-6501/ad67fa

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title = "An experimental apparatus to study the adsorption of water on proxies for spent nuclear fuel surfaces",

abstract = "This paper describes the design, construction and testing of an experimental apparatus capable of conducting high temperature adsorption isotherm analyses on large quantities of powder samples inside an ultra-high vacuum chamber. Data is obtained by dosing in fixed amounts of water vapor and measuring precise pressure changes using a high temperature capacitance manometer. The rig is designed to provide insight into the wetting of failed spent nuclear fuel (SNF) under conditions conventionally regarded as {\textquoteleft}dry{\textquoteright}. Validation experiments are reported based on powder CeO2 (a non-radioactive surrogate for SNF) at 100 °C. It is planned that this and successor rigs can provide ever more direct experimental evidence to address a key policy-relevant problem.",

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AB - This paper describes the design, construction and testing of an experimental apparatus capable of conducting high temperature adsorption isotherm analyses on large quantities of powder samples inside an ultra-high vacuum chamber. Data is obtained by dosing in fixed amounts of water vapor and measuring precise pressure changes using a high temperature capacitance manometer. The rig is designed to provide insight into the wetting of failed spent nuclear fuel (SNF) under conditions conventionally regarded as ‘dry’. Validation experiments are reported based on powder CeO2 (a non-radioactive surrogate for SNF) at 100 °C. It is planned that this and successor rigs can provide ever more direct experimental evidence to address a key policy-relevant problem.

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An experimental apparatus to study the adsorption of water on proxies for spent nuclear fuel surfaces

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