KARAKTERISASI RADIONUKLIDA PADA BAHAN BAKAR NUKLIR BEKAS DARI EXPERIMENTAL PEBBLE BED REACTOR. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor (AVR) merupakan reaktor nuklir jenis High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor (HTGR) yang menggunakan bahan bakar berbentuk pebble berlapis TRISO dengan tipe yang sama  dengan Reaktor Daya Eksperimental (RDE) yang direncanakan akan dibangun di Indonesia. Oleh karena itu karakteristik radionuklida dalam bahan bakar bekas (BBNB) reaktor AVR dapat digunakan untuk mempelajari karakteristik BBNB reaktor RDE. Salah satu hal penting dalam operasional reaktor nuklir adalah pengelolaan BBNB yang ditimbulkannya. Pengelolaan BBNB reaktor AVR dilakukan dengan penyimpanan dalam dry cask untuk jangka waktu yang lama. Upaya untuk mendisain keselamatan dalam sistem penyimpanan BBNB salah satu kajian penting yang diperlukan adalah karakterisasi radionuklida yang terkandung dalam BBNB. Pada penelitian ini dilakukan karakterisasi radionuklida yang terkandung dalam BBNB dengan menggunakan software ORIGEN 2.1 yang didasarkan pada operasional reaktor AVR. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk analisis keselamatan penyimpanan BBNB pebble pada dry cask dalam jangka panjang. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa sampai dengan waktu penyimpanan selama 100 tahun, BBNB sebuah pebble memiliki karakteristik radionuklida hasil aktivasi, aktinida dan anak luruhnya, serta radionuklida hasil fisi dengan total konsentrasi aktivitas sebesar 4,03x1010 Bq/g. Sampai dengan waktu penyimpanan 100 tahun konsentrasi aktivitas radionuklida total dalam dry cask sebesar 7,66x1013 Bq/g untuk kapasitas dry cask yang berisi BBNB pebble berjumlah 1900 buah. Terdapat BBNB pebble dalam dry cask yang mengalami kerusakan pada lapisan TRISO, sehingga dalam  dry cask kemungkinan terdapat beberapa radionuklida hasil fisi yang dapat lepas dari BBNB  seperti 85Kr, 135Xe, dan 131I yang berupa gas, serta  137Cs,106Ru, 110mAg dan 107Pd yang bersifat logam.Kata kunci: Karakterisasi radionuklida, AVR, bahan bakar nuklir bekas, pebble berlapis TRISO

A key issue contributing to the success of NPP technology is the safe handling of radioactive waste, particularly spent nuclear fuel. According to the IAEA safety standard, the spent fuel must be stored in interim wet storage for several years so the radiation and the decay heat of the spent fuel will decrease to the safe limit values, after which the spent fuel can be moved to dry storage. In this study, we performed a theoretical analysis of heat removal by natural convection airflow in spent nuclear fuel dry storage. The temperature difference between the air inside and outside dry storage produces an air density difference. The air density difference causes a pressure difference, which then generates natural airflow. The result of the theoretical analysis was validated with simulation software and experimental investigation using a reduced-scale dry storage prototype. The dry storage prototype consisted of a dry cask body and two canisters stacked to store materials testing reactor (MTR) spent fuel, which generates decay heat. The cask body had four air inlet vents on the bottom and four air outlet vents at the top. To simulate the decay heat from the spent fuel in the two canisters, the canisters were wrapped with an electric wire heater that was connected to a voltage regulator to adjust the heat power. The theoretical analysis results of this study are relatively consistent with the experimental results, with the mean relative deviation (MRD) values for the prediction of air velocity, the heat rate using natural airflow, and the heat rate using the thermal resistance network equation are +0.76, −23.69, and −29.54%, respectively.

The back end of the utilization of nuclear technology is safety and management of spent fuel, which is a key element contributing to the success of the nuclear power plant program. Indonesia’s National Nuclear Energy Agency resolved to establish an experimental power reactor, called RDE, as a nuclear power plant demo. The fuel of this reactor is similar to that of German’s experimental pebble-bed reactor (PBR), Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor(AVR). In this study, the spent fuel of AVR was studied to obtain the safety parameter data for storage of RDE spent fuel by varying the fission in the initial metallic atoms (%FIMA). These parameters that must be studied include the radioactivity, decay heat, proliferation threats of both 239Pu and 235U, and the presence of 137Cs, a dangerous fission product that can escape from damaged spent fuels. The calculation was conducted by ORIGEN 2.1. The result of the study demonstrates a higher %FIMA indicates a higher safety level that is required since the activity and decay heat of the spent fuel will increase and, as will be the total amounts of 239Pu and 137Cs. However, the 235U amount will decrease. For a 100 years storage of spent fuel, the optimum %FIMA is 8.2 with a canister capacity of 1,900 pebbles. Further, the activity and decay heat of the spent nuclear fuel are 2.013 × 1013 Bq and 6.065 W, respectively. The activities of 239Pu, 137Cs, and 235U are 5.187 ×1011, 7.100 × 1012, and 7.339 × 107 Bq, respectively.

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Radiation protection is the means for protecting radiation workers and the general public from the harmful effects of radioactive substances and/or other radiation sources. The principle of radiation protection is to reduce the radiation intensity, one of which can be done by using a radiation absorbing materials. Lead is a material that effectively absorbs radiation due to its high atomic number and density. A research has been conducted by using lead components of waste accumulators dopped with yukalac C108B. Samples were made with variations in lead concentrations of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% and with variations in thickness of 0.5 cm; 1 cm; 1.5 cm; 2 cm; 2.5 cm, 3 cm. Tests were carried out by exposing samples to X-ray and measure its absorbtion dose rate using a surveymeter. The increase in lead concentration and thickness causes an increase in the X-ray absorption dose rate. In addition, it also shows an increase in logarithm of light intensity that enters the film against the intensity of light transmitted through the film as the alternative to optical density, and a decrease in X-Ray Transmittance which is the X-ray-to-sample transmission value. The results obtained show, the attenuation coefficient value with variation in lead concentration and average thickness were 0.11328048 cm-1; 0.15691327 cm-1; 0.1831095 cm -1; and 0.21584088 cm -1. The lead components from waste accumulators can be used as an alternative for the manufacture of radiation absorbing materials with consideration of its ability to absorbs radiation.