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A sodium-cooled fast reactor is a fast neutron reactor cooled by liquid sodium. The initials SFR in particular refer to two Generation IV reactor proposals, one based on existing liquid metal cooled reactor (LMFR) technology using mixed oxide fuel (MOX), and one based on the metal-fueled integral fast reactor .
Since tritium itself is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, the coolant becomes contaminated with radioactive isotopes and must be kept from leaking into the environment. Additionally, this effect must be taken into account for longer cycles of nuclear reactor operation and thus requires higher initial concentration of boron in the coolant. [7]
Na decays, it causes a buildup of magnesium in the coolant. Since the half-life is short, the 24 Na portion of the coolant ceases to be radioactive within a few days after removal from the reactor. Leakage of the hot sodium from the primary loop may cause radioactive fires, [12] as it can ignite in contact with air (and explodes in contact with ...
An activation product is a material that has been made radioactive by the process of neutron activation.. Fission products and actinides produced by neutron absorption of nuclear fuel itself are normally referred to by those specific names, and activation product reserved for products of neutron capture by other materials, such as structural components of the nuclear reactor or nuclear bomb ...
Shutting down the reactor involved the removal of all of the fuel and sodium coolant. The radioactive sodium was collected in 55-gallon drums with the intention to use that in the Clinch River reactor. Fike Chemical agreed to take the non-radioactive sodium at its plant in Nitro, West Virginia.
The use of an intermediate coolant loop between the reactor and the turbines minimizes the risk of a sodium fire in the reactor core. Under neutron bombardment, sodium-24 is produced. This is highly radioactive, emitting an energetic gamma ray of 2.7 MeV followed by a beta decay to form magnesium-24. Half-life is only 15 hours, so this isotope ...
The tube is welded shut at the top to form a unit 73 cm (29 in) long. The purpose of the sodium is to function as a heat-transfer agent. As more and more of the uranium undergoes fission, it develops fissures and the sodium enters the voids. It extracts an important fission product, caesium-137, and hence becomes intensely radioactive.
The reactor is a pool type LMFBR with 1,750 tonnes of sodium as coolant. Designed to generate 500 MWe of electrical power, with an operational life of 40 years, it will burn a mixed uranium-plutonium MOX fuel , a mixture of PuO