• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.7
• /
• pp.2591-2603
• /
• 2023

Simulating the Corrosion-Related Unidentified Deposit (CRUD) on the surface of fuel assemblies is necessary to predict the axial offset anomaly and the localized corrosion induced by the CRUD during the operation of nuclear power plants. A new CRUD model was developed to predict the formation of the CRUD deposits, considering the deposition and erosion mechanisms. The heat transfer and capillary flow within the CRUD were also considered to evaluate the boiling amount within the CRUD layer. This model predicted a CRUD deposit thickness of 44 ㎛ during a one-cycle operation of the Seabrook nuclear power plant. The CRUD deposition tended to accelerate and decelerate during the simulation, by being related to boiling mechanism on the deposits surface. Additionally, during a three-cycle operation corresponding to the refueling period, the CRUD deposition was saturated at a thickness of 80 ㎛, which was in good agreement with the suggested thickness for CRUD buildupin pressurized water reactors. Surface boiling on the thin CRUD deposits enhanced the acceleration of the deposition, even when the wick boiling properties were not favorable for CRUD deposition. To ensure the certainty of the simulation results, sensitivity analyses were conducted for the porosity, chimney density, and the constants employed in the proposed model of the CRUD.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.9
• /
• pp.3164-3182
• /
• 2023

The CRUD on the fuel cladding under the pressurized water reactor (PWR) operating condition causes several issues. The CRUD can act as thermal resistance and increases the local cladding temperature which accelerate the corrosion process. The hideout of boron inside the CRUD results in axial offset anomaly and reduces the plant's shutdown margin. Recently, there are efforts to revise the acceptance criteria of emergency core cooling systems (ECCS), and additionally require the modeling of the thermal resistance effect of the CRUD during the performance analysis. There is an urgent need for the evaluation of the effect of the CRUD deposition on the cladding heat transfer under PWR operating conditions, but the experimental database is very limited. The experimental facility called DISNY was designed and constructed to analyze the CRUD-related multi-physical phenomena, and the performance analysis of the constructed DISNY facility was conducted. The thermal-hydraulic and water chemistry conditions to simulate the CRUD growth under PWR operating conditions were established. The design characteristics and feasibility of the DISNY facility were validated by the MARS-KS code analysis and separate performance tests. In the current study, detailed design features, design validation results, and future utilization plans of the proposed DISNY facility are presented.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.265-271
• /
• 2018

CRUD specimens, scraped from twice-burned fuel cladding in the Korean Nuclear Power Plant, were analyzed using Shielded-EPMA. The principal elements of the CRUD were identified as Ni and Fe, at an approximate ratio of 1.3 Ni/Fe. To investigate the morphology and composition of the pure metallic materials in the CRUD, coolant impurities must be removed. This can be accomplished by increasing the EPMA current to an abnormally high intensity until the impurities are melted. Normally, EPMA applications are performed at conditions of 20 kV voltage and 20 nA current. But in our study, the applied current was increased up to 1200 nA, over time increments ranging from 5 to 30 seconds. This technique was performed by opening an adjustable aperture for the gun alignment. Results showed impurities contained in the CRUD material disappeared and pure metal materials, e.g., Ni and Fe, remained. This method presents an innovative way to analyze CRUD.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.554-560
• /
• 2021

CRUD (chalk river unidentified deposits) is a porous material deposited on the surface of nuclear fuel during nuclear power plant operation. The CRUD is composed of metal oxides, such as iron, nickel, and chromium. It is essential to investigate the effects of the CRUD layer on the wall heat transfer between the nuclear fuel surface and the coolant in the event of a nuclear accident. CRUD only negatively affects the temperature of the nuclear fuel due to heat resistance because the effects of the CRUD layer on two-phase boiling heat transfer are not considered. In this study, the physical property models for the porous CRUD layer were developed and implemented into the SPACE code. The effects of boiling heat transfer models on the peak cladding temperature and quenching were investigated by simulating a reflood experiment. The calculation results showed some positive effects of the CRUD layer.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.49 no.4
• /
• pp.668-674
• /
• 2017

Experimental verification of boron species in fuel CRUD (Chalk River Unidentified Deposit) would provide essential and important information about the root cause of CRUD-induced power shifts (CIPS). To date, only bonaccordite and elemental boron were reported to exist in fuel CRUD in CIPS-troubled pressurized water reactor (PWR) cores and lithium tetraborate to exist in simulated PWR fuel CRUD from some autoclave tests. We have reevaluated previous analysis of similar threadlike crystals along with examining some similar threadlike crystals from CRUD samples collected from a PWR cycle that had no indications of CIPS. These threadlike crystals have a typical [Ni]/[Fe] atomic ratio of ~2 and similar crystal morphology as the one (bonaccordite) reported previously. In addition to electron diffraction study, we have applied electron energy loss spectroscopy to determine boron content in such a crystal and found a good agreement with that of bonaccordite. Surprisingly, such crystals seem to appear also on corroded surfaces of Alloy 600 that was exposed to simulated PWR primary water with a dissolved hydrogen level of $5mL\;H_2/kg\;H_2O$, but absent when exposed under $75mL\;H_2/kg\;H_2O$ condition. It remains to be verified as to what extent and in which chemical environment this phase would be formed in PWR primary systems.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.91-97
• /
• 2010

As nuclear power plants are getting older, interests on a decontaminating process are increasingly attracting more attention. Chemical decontamination is crucial to lower the production of radioactive waste and radiation dose rate. Prior to this, oxidizers and detergents for target material should be chosen so as to decontaminate major systems and components of a nuclear power plant chemically. In order to decontaminate it properly, it is crucial to have information about the chemical composition and crystalline structure of CRUD, analyzing its samples from the target or the decontamination system with components. However, there is no program which enables the extraction of samples directly from the object or the decontamination system with components carrying genuine radioactivity. Therefore, it is limited to samples from corrosion products carrying partial radioactivity as a resource. The composition of CRUD varies considerably depending on refueling cycle because it is closely related to the constituent of basic material. After settling a target, it is crucial to analyze and obtain analytical information about CRUD as a decontamination target. In this paper, various technologies for manufacturing simulated CRUD are introduced as alternatives to unattained samples. A metal oxide or metal hydroxide was used to synthesize simulated cruds having chemical compositions and crystalline stricture similar to the actual one by 12 different methods. CRUD 4(metal oxides in the autoclave vessel) and CRUD 10(metal oxides in a crucible after hydrazing pretreatment)were chosen as the best method for Type 1 and Type 2.respectively. As these CRUD can be synthesized easily without using any specialized equipment or reagents in a short time and in large quantities, they are expected to stimulate the development of decontaminating agents and processes.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2020

Chalk River Unidentified Deposits (CRUDs) were collected from the Korean pressurized water reactor (PWR) plant (A, B, and C) where the axial offset anomaly (AOA) occurred. AOA, also known as a CRUD-induced power shift, is one of the key issues in maintaining stable PWR plant operations. CRUDs were sampled from spent nuclear fuel rods and analyzed using an electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA). This paper describes the characteristics of boron-deposits from the CRUDs sampled from twice-burnt assemblies from the Korean PWR. The primary coolant of a PWR contains boron and lithium. It is known that boron deposition occurs in a thick CRUD layer under substantial sub-cooled nucleate boiling (SNB). The results of this study are summarized as follows. Boron was not found at the locations where the existence was confirmed in simulated CRUDs, in other words, the cladding and CRUD boundaries. Nevertheless, we clearly observed the presence of boron and confirmed that boron existed as a lump in crystalline form. In addition, the study confirmed that CRUD existed in a crystal form with a unique size of about 10 ㎛.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.5
• /
• pp.1676-1685
• /
• 2021

We develop a new high-fidelity multiphysics model to simulate boron chemistry in the porous Chalk River Unidentified Deposit (CRUD) deposits. Heat transfer, capillary flow, solute transport, and chemical reactions are fully coupled. The evaporation of coolant in the deposits is included in governing equations modified by the volume-averaged assumption of wick boiling. The axial offset anomaly (AOA) of the Seabrook nuclear power plant is simulated. The new model reasonably predicts the distributions of temperature, pressure, velocity, volumetric boiling heat density, and chemical concentrations. In the thicker CRUD regions, 60% of the total heat is removed by evaporative heat transfer, causing boron species accumulation. The new model successfully shows the quantitative effect of coolant evaporation on the local distributions of boron. The total amount of boron in the CRUD layer increases by a factor of 1.21 when an evaporation-driven increase of soluble and precipitated boron concentrations is reflected. In addition, the concentrations of B(OH)₃ and LiBO₂ are estimated according to various conditions such as different CRUD thickness and porosity. At the end of the cycle in the AOA case, the total mass of boron incorporated in CRUD deposits of a reference single fuel rod is estimated to be about 0.5 mg.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.12
• /
• pp.4798-4808
• /
• 2022

The porous corrosion deposits (known as CRUD) adhered to the cladding have an important effect on the heat transfer from fuel rods to coolant in PWRs. The vapor film is the main constituent in the two-phase film boiling model. This paper presents a vapor film thickness correlation, associated with CRUD porosity, CRUD chimney density, CRUD particle size, CRUD thickness and heat flux. The dependences of the vapor film thickness on the various influential factors can be intuitively reflected from this vapor film thickness correlation. The temperature, pressure, and boric acid concentration distributions in CRUD can be well predicted using the two-phase film boiling model coupled with the vapor film thickness correlation. It suggests that the vapor thickness correlation can estimate the vapor film thickness more conveniently than the previously reported vapor thickness calculation methods.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.56-61
• /
• 2014

The purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of dissolved hydrogen concentration on crud deposition onto the fuel cladding surface in the simulated primary environments of a pressurized water reactor. Crud deposition tests were conducted in the dissolved hydrogen concentration range of 5~70 cc/kg at $325^{\circ}C$ for 14 days. Needle-shaped NiO deposits were formed in the hydrogen range of 5~25 cc/kg, while polygonal nickel ferrite deposits were observed at a hydrogen concentration above 35 cc/kg. However, the dissolved hydrogen content seems to have little effect on the amount of crud deposits.