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BackgroundDuring pressurized water reactor (PWR) power operation period, corrosion products tend to deposit in the fuel boiling zone and form chalk rivers unidentified deposit (CRUD). At a certain level of CRUD, boron acid will precipitate and depress local nuclear power, causing CRUD induced power shift (CIPS) incident, however, the operation data of reactors that have undergone CIPS indicate that CRUD thickness is not the only factor affecting CIPS.PurposeThis study aims to evaluate the CIPS risk of PWR more scientifically by establishing an evaluation methodology that comprehensively considers CRUD characteristics and thermal-hydraulic condition.MethodsBased on the internal mass transfer mechanism of the porous media, a model which could simulate boron deposition process inside CRUD was established by combining the consideration of CRUD morphology. According to the simulated results, the deep causes of CIPS in Callaway and Ulchin power plants were revealed.ResultsEvaluation results show that the most important factor of CIPS in Callaway power plant is CRUD thickness which is different from the contribution of CRUD porosity to Ulchin's CIPS.ConclusionsThe CIPS risk evaluation method of this study provides theoretical evidence and supporting data for more scientific CIPS analysis.

BackgroundUnder the condition of sub-cooled nucleate boiling (SNB), corrosion products in primary coolant of nuclear reactor will deposit on the outer surface of fuel cladding, which is commonly called fuel crud. Previous literature shown, zinc injection in primary coolant is an important method to inhibit the fuel crud deposition on the fuel cladding surface.PurposeThis study aims to investigate the influence of zinc concentration on the behavior of fuel crud deposition, and eventually provide guidance for zinc injection in primary coolant of nuclear power plant.MethodsThe fuel crud deposition tests of domestic zirconium alloy fuel cladding in different zinc concentrations were carried out by using a self-made fuel crud deposition device. Tubular crud deposition test specimen with built-in heating unit was designed and prepared for simulation study. After the tests, stereo microscope (SM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were employed to observe the macro and micro morphology of fuel crud whilst the composition of of fuel crud was observed and analyzed by the energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) with SEM, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to analyze the contents of Zn and B elements in the crud phase and inside the crud.ResultsObservation results show that the chimney-like crud formed on the fuel cladding surface becomes less obvious with increasing the zinc concentration in the coolant and the crud surface becomes flatter. Simutabeously, the crud thickness, the ratio of Ni/Fe and the boron precipitation mass within the crud are decreasing with increase of the zinc concentration. When the zinc concentration increases to 100 μg‧L-1, new Zn-containing phases precipitate within the crud.ConclusionsWithin the zinc concentration of 0~100 μg‧L-1, zinc injection in primary coolant of reactor can significantly inhibit the crud deposition on the fuel cladding surface.

BackgroundFor a pressurized water reactor (PWR), under the synthesis effects of primary water chemistry, reactor operation mode, system facilities replacement, fuel design and management, the corrosion products in primary coolant will deposit on the outer surface of fuel cladding, which is commonly called fuel crud. Fuel crud formed on the cladding surface may result in crud induced localized corrosion (CILC), crud induced power shift (CIPS) and raise the primary source term. The deposition behavior of fuel crud is affected by both the corrosion products concentration and the core boiling rate.PurposeThis study aims to investigate the influences of core power variation on the corrosion products concentration and the core boiling rate, and eventually evaluate the fuel crud deposition states under different core powers.MethodsThe core crud mass and the maximum crud thickness on fuel cladding surface were estimated by the CAMPSIS, an independent crud behavior analysis software developed by China Nuclear Power Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd (CNPRI). Influence of core power variation and the combined effect of core boiling rate and corrosion product concentration were analyzed.ResultsComputational results that, within the range of 75%⁓100% full power (FP), the lower the core power is, the smaller the core crud mass will be, but the maximum crud thickness will increase. When the core power decreases to 50% FP, the maximum boiling rate is close to zero, and both of the core crud mass and the maximum crud thickness are minimum.ConclusionsThe core power reduction of a nuclear reactor may lead to the increase of local fuel crud thickness, and adversely affect the heat transfer between the fuel cladding and the coolant. It is suggested that the influence of core power reduction on fuel crud deposition should be considered if a nuclear reactor tends to operate at a lower core power.