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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]
If sodium comes into contact with water it reacts to produce sodium hydroxide and hydrogen, and the hydrogen burns in contact with air. This was the case at the Monju Nuclear Power Plant in a 1995 accident. In addition, neutron capture causes it to become radioactive; albeit with a half-life of only 15 hours. [6] Another problem is leaks.
NaK was used as the coolant in the first breeder reactor prototype, the Experimental Breeder Reactor-1, in 1951. Sodium and NaK do, however, ignite spontaneously on contact with air and react violently with water, producing hydrogen gas. This was the case at the Monju Nuclear Power Plant in a 1995 accident and fire. Sodium is also the coolant ...
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 ...
Passive decay heat removal is achieved in MSRs. In some designs, the fuel and the coolant are a single fluid, so a loss of coolant carries the fuel with it. Fluoride salts dissolve poorly in water, and do not form burnable hydrogen. The molten salt coolant is not damaged by neutron bombardment, though the reactor vessel is.
In some molten salt-fueled reactor designs, such as the liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR), this fuel salt is also the coolant; in other designs, such as the stable salt reactor, the fuel salt is contained in fuel pins and the coolant is a separate, non-radioactive salt. There is a further category of molten salt-cooled reactors in which ...
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 ...
[1] [2] In July 1959, the reactor experienced a partial meltdown when 13 of the reactor's 43 fuel elements partially melted, and radioactive gas was released into the atmosphere. [3] The reactor was repaired and restarted in September 1960. In February 1964, the Sodium Reactor Experiment was in operation for the last time.