Evaluation of cesium trapping characteristic with SA filter

Pyroprocessing has been investigated in Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) which reduces the accumulated spent fuel and increases the efficiency of fuel cycle. In head-end process of pyroprocessing, UO₂ pellets are produced from a fuel bundle and various radioactive gases from a spent fuel are released during thermal treatment. Within these gases, Cs-137 is a semi-volatile gas which had very high radioactivity, and therefore it is important to trap Cs. It is well known that Cs highly reacts with aluminosilicate to form CsAlSi₂O₆ or CsAlSiO₄, and these structures are very stable in storing for long period. KAERI had developed a silica-alumina (SA) filters from kaolinite and had confirmed that it is effective in trapping Cs. It is advantageous to fabricate SA filters because the size, shape, and porosity can be easily controlled by using suitable support material. In this study, SA filters were fabricated and the capture characteristic was investigated by using highly developed trapping system with SA filters.