The measurement of compositions and the isotopic distribution of released fission gas in the fuel rods of pressurized water reactors (PWR) of Korea

In this work the analysis procedures of fission gas compositions and their isotopic distributions using a gas chromatography (GC) system and/or a quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) system were established, and their analysis results were reviewed in order to evaluate their analytical performance. Also, the accumulated data, up to now, regarding fission gas measurement were reviewed to discern any irradiation histories of the punctured fuel rods. A simple gas injection apparatus was designed and fabricated for the quantitative injection of a small volume of fission gas into the GC and the QMS system. With an appropriate temperature controlling of a molecular sieve 5A column, nitrogen, krypton and xenon of a mixture gas was clearly separated within 7 min. According to the analysis results, the relative standard deviation in the determination of fission gas compositions, krypton and xenon, by the GC analysis or by the QMS analysis was about 1%. Based on the review results of the isotopic ratios of krypton and xenon of the released fission gas, it is likely that no abnormally irradiated rods, i.e. defected rods, were included among the punctured rods.