European Commission, Joint Research Centre

2 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Education

Laser-heating and Radiance Spectrometry for the Study of Nuclear Materials in Conditions Simulating a Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Dario Manara¹, Luca Soldi^1,2,4, Sara Mastromarino^1,3,5, Kostantinos Boboridis¹, Davide Robba¹, Luka Vlahovic¹, Rudy Konings¹

¹European Commission, Joint Research Centre, ²Energy Department, Politecnico di Milano, ³Department of Chemical Physics, Sapienza - Università di Roma, ⁴CEA Saclay, ⁵TU Delft

We present experiments in which real nuclear fuel, cladding, and containment materials are laser heated to temperatures beyond 3,000 K while their behavior is studied by radiance spectroscopy and thermal analysis. These experiments simulate, on a laboratory scale, the formation of a lava-phase following a nuclear reactor core meltdown.

Chemistry

A Novel Technique for Raman Analysis of Highly Radioactive Samples Using Any Standard Micro-Raman Spectrometer

Jean-Yves Colle¹, Mohamed Naji¹, Mark Sierig¹, Dario Manara¹

¹European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)

We present a technique for Raman spectroscopic analysis of highly radioactive samples compatible with any standard micro-Raman spectrometer, without any radioactive contamination of the instrument. We also show some applications using actinide compounds and irradiated fuel materials.