Source term investigation for a prolonged loss of cooling accident, for a typical CANDU spent fuel pool, during the refurbishment process

Significant concerns after Fukushima disaster were raised on the potential of radioactive release from Spent Fuel Pool accidents. In case of CANDU type reactors a set of factors, such as the low discharge burnup of the spent fuel and the pool configuration with trays and racks placed on the bottom of the pool, contributes to the reducing of this potential. In this paper a peculiar state is analysed in relation with the refurbishment process, when a full core is added into the spent fuel pool, in a shorter time then the normal refuelling discharge. A prolonged loss of cooling is postulated in order to boil and evaporate the water. The claddings of the fuel bundles accidently entered in the air will be progressively heated and then degraded. Fission products will be released into the atmosphere of the spent fuel pool and, possibly, into the environment through the existing junctions. The paper investigates the source term formation at the level of the environment considering a prolonged accident without any interventions. The simulation is structured into three phases: de-watering of the pool, fuel degradation, transport of the radioisotopes to the environment. In order to estimate the maximum potential of the accident, three scenarios for the discharge of the core were considered, all of them requiring an enlarged cooling capacity in comparison with the normal refuelling, aiming a reduction of the duration of the refurbishment process to reduce the economic penalties.