Initial experimental evaluation of crud-resistant materials for light water reactors
Name
JNM_2017_554_Revision 1_V0.pdf
Description
Main article after revisions
Size
9.42 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Dumnernchanvanit, Ittinop
Zhang, N.Q.
Robertson, Sean Gunn
Delmore, Alexandra R.
Carlson, M.B.
Hussey, D.
Short, Michael Philip
Date Issued
January 2018
Journal
Journal of Nuclear Materials
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Citation
Dumnernchanvanit, I., et al. “Initial Experimental Evaluation of Crud-Resistant Materials for Light Water Reactors.” Journal of Nuclear Materials, 498 (January 2018): 1–8 © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
Version
Original manuscript
Abstract
The buildup of fouling deposits on nuclear fuel rods, known as crud, continues to challenge the worldwide fleet of light water reactors (LWRs). Crud causes serious operational problems for LWRs, including axial power shifts, accelerated fuel clad corrosion, increased primary circuit radiation dose rates, and in some instances has led directly to fuel failure. Numerous studies continue to attempt to model and predict the effects of crud, but each assumes that it will always be present. In this study, we report on the development of crud-resistant materials as fuel cladding coatings, to reduce or eliminate these problems altogether. Integrated loop testing experiments at flowing LWR conditions show significantly reduced crud adhesion and surface crud coverage, respectively, for TiC and ZrN coatings compared to ZrO2. The loop testing results roughly agree with the London dispersion component of van der Waals force predictions, suggesting that they contribute most significantly to the adhesion of crud to fuel cladding in out-of-pile conditions. These results motivate a new look at ways of reducing crud, thus avoiding many expensive LWR operational issues.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.10.010
