CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) reactor utilizes Pressure Tube (PT) fuel channel design and heavy water as a coolant. Fuel channel annulus gas acts as an insulator to minimize heat losses from the coolant to the moderator. Since fuel bundles are continuously under high neutron fluxes, annulus gas nuclides undergo different nuclear transformations generating new composition of the gas that might have different physical properties which are undesirable for the annulus system. In addition, gas nuclides become radioactive and lead to an increase of the radioactive material inventory in the reactor and consequently to an increase of radiation levels. Pressure Tube Reactor (PTR) and Pressure Tube Supercritical Water Reactor (PT SCWR) fuel channel models have been developed in Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code. Neutron fluxes in the fuel channel annulus gas have been obtained by simulating different types of neutron sources in both PTR and PT SCWR fuel channels. Transmutation rates of annulus gases have been calculated for different gases (CO2, N2, Ar and Kr) at different pressures and temperatures in both fuel channels. The variation of the transmutation rates, neutron fluxes and gas densities in the annulus gas have been investigated in PTR and PT SCWR fuel channels at constant pressures and different temperatures. MCNP code along with NIST REFPROP [14] and other software tools have been used to conduct the calculations. / UOIT

Increasing surface pressure buildup levels and surface venting flow rates on intermediate wellbore casing strings provided an opportunity to analyze wellbore field data to determine a distribution of leakage path permeability values. The gas leakage source in the leaky wellbore originated at depth, and formation gas/fluid traveled along defects in the cement to accumulate at the surface wellhead. The most likely pathway is the cement interface with casing or formation. Due to uncertainty about the location of the leak, and the different methods that were used for calculating leakage parameter values, a range of leakage path permeability values was produced. Most leakage pathway permeability values were greater than intact cement permeability (few microdarcies). This finding supports the practice of using cement filled annuli to provide a safe protective barrier against leakage and to prevent gas flow to surface. Proper cementing techniques are presented in order to identify possible reasons for cracks to form. It is hypothesized that the higher permeability values are a result of cracks in the cement interface with the casing or formation. These types of defects could also be found in wellbores that are in communication with CO2 sequestration reservoirs. The risk of leakage along such existing wellbores associated with CO2 sequestration projects is quantified by the distribution of leakage path permeability. The gas migration path through existing leaky wellbores is an analog for wellbores that are in contact with migrating CO2 plumes. Cracks in the leaky wellbores provide a highly permeable conduit for CO2 to migrate out of the injection zone to the surface. By quantifying leakage path permeability, proper leakage risk assessment can be further developed. / text