Important mechanisms to ensure the safe operation of nuclear power plants have been created in Moscow. The author of the development is Arslan Zabirov, an employee of the Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety.
The work is aimed at preventing the explosive parazirconium reaction that occurs when zirconium shells of fuel pellets overheat at nuclear power plants. Together with a team of young scientists, Arslan Zabirov investigated and discovered the mechanisms of interaction of very hot shells of fuel elements (fuel rods) with the cooling liquid.
In the future, it is planned to conduct experiments in conditions as close as possible to the real environment at nuclear power plants. The scientist intends to be the first in the world to cool red-hot samples in liquid metals (mercury, sodium, and lead). The results will also be useful in the field of metal hardening. This will allow a better understanding of the patterns of cooling high-temperature metals to achieve the desired internal structure and mechanical properties.
Materials of tolerant fuel are cooled in aqueous solutions of boric acid – this simulates an accident with loss of coolant; hot bodies – in liquid metal, including taking into account the properties and condition of their surfaces. Experiments are carried out in a wide range of pressures and temperatures, when not only water is used as a coolant, but also other liquids – from alcohols and their solutions to polymer liquids and fluorhexanes.
Earlier www1.ru reported that the construction of a new power unit began at the Leningrad NPP.
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