Lesson 3 3.8 Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuels

Table 3.4: Representative Dose Rates from a MOX Fuel Element with 4.3 wt% PuO2_2

Radiation TypeAt ContactAt 1 m Distance
Gamma~500 μ\muSv/h~5 μ\muSv/h
Neutron~100 μ\muSv/h~2 μ\muSv/h
Total~600 μ\muSv/h~7 μ\muSv/h

(Source: IAEA Technical Report 305, 1989, p73)

Note that these dose rates are ~30 times higher than the ~20 μ\muSv/h surface dose rate from a fresh UO2_2 fuel element.