| Abstract: | The fate of radionuclides produced in a light water moderator was investigated by assaying with a Ge(Li) detector sampled coolant water and the waste water produced by regeneration of resins, measuring the radiation dose rates along the surface of the resin column length with TLDs, and studying the sorption of radionuclides to resins in dynamic experiments. The buildup concentrations of short-lived radionuclides, produced by activation in the reactor core water and the amounts of radionuclides sorbed on the resin bed, as estimated from a compartment model, are reported. A method for estimating the production rate of soluble radionuclides with long half-lives in the core water has been developed. Changes in the radiation dose rates along the resin column length recorded during reactor operation and after shut-down, showed that the sorbed radionuclides did not migrate downward, as expected from the chromatography theory, rather they were decreased by the decay process. Moreover, the slopes of the dose rates on both sides of the resin surface were almost identical. These results show the behavior and distribution of radionuclides in the light water moderator of a research reactor. |
