Development of Burnup Determination Technique by Destructive Measurement

The system for burnup measurements of spent nuclear fuel adopted in the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute is outlined, and the procedure of destructive measurement, which is the most important part of this system, is described in detail. In this procedure, various determinations by γ-ray and a-ray spectrometry, coulometry and mass-spectrometry are systematically employed after sequential ion-exchange separation. Treatment of the data and the method of analysis for burnup evaluation are also discussed. A description is also given of the present status of installations of the Burnup Measurement Cell, and some results obtained from test runs are presented.