Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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ABRASIVE BLASTING TECHNOLOGY FOR DECONTAMINATION OF THE INNER SURFACE OF STEAM GENERATOR TUBES

  • Received : 2010.12.03
  • Accepted : 2011.04.11
  • Published : 2011.10.31
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Abstract

The inner surfaces of bundled inconel tubes from steam generators in South Korean nuclear power plants are contaminated with cobalt and abrasive blasting equipment has been developed to efficiently remove the cobalt. The principal parameters related to the efficient removal using this equipment are the type of abrasive, the distance from the nozzle, and the blasting time. Preliminary tests were performed using oxidized inconel samples which enabled the simulation of cobalt removal from the radioactive inconel samples. The oxygen in the oxidized samples and the cobalt in the radioactive inconel were removed more effectively using the blasting distance, blasting time, and a silicon carbide abrasive. Using the developed abrasive blasting equipment, the optimum decontamination conditions for radioactive inconel samples were blasting for more than 6 minutes using silicon carbides under 5 atmospheric pressures.

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