Exposure from a spent fuel rod from the US supplied Research Reactor

[Myung Chul Jo <mjo@scs.unr.edu>]

I was a DOE sponsored training class. An instructor stated that the
exposure rate would be 320 REM/hr at an arms length from a spent fuel rod.
If this fuel has been in dry
storage for 10 years and not used, what causes that high exposure and
what would be main fission or activation products causing the exposure.
The fuel rod was 1.5 inch cylinder and about 3 feet long. I would
appreciate any comments. Thank you in advance.


Myung Chul Jo <mjo@scs.unr.edu>
University of Nevada, Reno
Health Physics
EH&S/MS 328
Reno, NV 89557
(702) 784-4540(voice)
(702) 784-4553(fax)