Réalisation d'un écran hydraulique sur un bassin contenant des éléments radioactifs

¹ Ingénieur, Saint-Gobain Techniques Nouvelles.
² Ingénieur, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Service de Construction des Usines de Traitement des Combustibles Irradiés.

Résumé

Reactor fuel elements are frequently handled in pools so has to protect the personnel from radiation whilst enabling direct visual control to be maintained over the operations. The method used is to bring about stratification of the water into two layers with little mixing occurring, by setting up a slight temperature difference and promoting circulation in the water in order to prevent undesirable turbulence effects. An upper layer with little contamination is thus achieved, which acts as a screen across its thickness against the lower layer and the elements it contains. A systematic study on a model under predetermined similarity conditions gave the parameters required to reproduce the installation full-scale. Prototype and laboratory test results were then compared.