[en] At NPP Cernavoda-Unit 1 the fuel surveillance and the defect detection system in operation are based on monitoring the coolant activity concentration and on measuring the flux of delayed neutrons emitted by some short-lived fission products. In order to identify the failed fuel underwater non-destructive examination has to be performed. The major interest for the availability of underwater examination consists in the necessity of a speedy acquisition of the data on failed fuel in operation and of appropriate follow-up actions to be taken. Often the identification operation will be followed by more detailed examinations on selected fuel rods in the hot cells of the Post-irradiation Examination Laboratory of the Institute for Nuclear Research at Pitesti. Transfer of selected fuel rods will be done by the use of a type B(U) road transportation cask. Such an integrated approach will help to keep the level of activity concentration of the primary circuit well below the authorized limits. (author). 2 figs., 1 tab., 2 refs

[en] Deuterium retention and release behavior were investigated in this study, for beryllium, tungsten and mixed beryllium/tungsten thin layers which are of concern for next-generation thermonuclear fusion devices like International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. The layers prepared with thermionic vacuum arc technology by using two different ion acceleration voltages 0 V and −700 V respectively were subsequently implanted by exposure to a steady-state deuterium plasma with ion energies of 240 eV/D for D₃ and 360 eV/D for D₂ at a specific fluency of 2.85 × 10²⁰ m⁻² s. Morphology is strongly influenced by layer composition and by the ion acceleration voltage applied in-situ during layer deposition. Crystalline structure analysis shows the presence of a polycrystalline W metallic phase and also highlights a dependence between tungsten crystallite size and Be/W atomic ratio. The amount of deuterium in mixed layers is lower than in pure beryllium layers indicating that W is mitigating D binding states. Results extrapolated for a ‘cold chamber and divertor scenario’ indicate a limited desorption efficiency (∼20%), if the wall baking scenario, for tritium removal procedure in ITER, is to be applied to the investigated layers. (paper)