Tellurium release and deposition during the TMI-2 accident

The estimated behavior of tellurium during and after the accident at the Three Mile Island Unit-2 is presented. The behavior is based on all available measurement data for /sup 129m/Te, 132Te, stable tellurium (126Te, 128Te and 130Te), and best estimate calculations of tellurium release and transport. The predicted release was calculated using current techniques that relate release rate to fuel temperature and holdup of tellurium in zircaloy until significant oxidation occurs. The calculated release fraction was low, approx. 7%, but the total measured release for samples analyzed to date is about 5.8%. Of the measured tellurium about 2.4, 1.8, 0.88, 0.42, 0.17 and 0.086% of core inventory were in the containment sump water, upper plenum assembly surfaces, containment solids in the sump water, makeup and purification demineralizer, containment inside surface, and the reactor primary coolant, respectively. A significant fraction (54%) of the tellurium calculated to be retained on the upper plenum surfaces (4.61% of the core inventory) was deposited during the high pressure injection of coolant at about 200 min after the reactor scram. Comparison of tellurium behavior with in-pile and out-of-pile tests strongly suggests that zircaloy holds tellurium until significant cladding oxidation occurs