Oxidation and Release of Ruthenium from Short Fuel Rods above 1500oC

The fission product ruthenium is radiotoxic and in oxidized form as ruthenium-tetroxide (RuO4) also chemical toxic. During fuel element change or in case of a leakage in fuel storages, air flows in the containment or fuel storage. If the circulation pump fails, the fuel elements are heated-up, and at high temperatures gaseous ruthenium oxides are formed and rapidly released from the fuel. Due to the significant higher volatility of RuO4 in the Chernobyl Catastrophe the measured concentration of the Ru-isotopes in the fall-outs was comparable to those of iodine and caesium. In order to get more insight in the chemical and physical behaviour of this fission product under severe accident conditions, the Ruthenium release was studied in a series of Separate Effect Tests (RUSET). In the test short fuel rod segments were used and exposed to air and steam atmosphere at high temperatures. The experiments in air atmosphere showed, that the partial pressures of the released Ru-oxides was two orders of magnitudes lower compared to those measured in previous tests with Ru-powder diluted in a ZrO2 matrix. It was found that ruthenium was not released in steam atmosphere in the examined temperature range. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of the deposition was detected by XRF analysis.JRC.F.4-Nuclear design safet