• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권7호
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• pp.2591-2603
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• 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
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• 제55권9호
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• pp.3164-3182
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• 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
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• 제17권6호
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• pp.265-271
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• 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.

• 한국산학기술학회논문지
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.554-560
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• 2021

크러드는 원자력 발전소 운전 시 핵연료 표면에 침적되는 철-니켈-크롬 등의 금속 산화물로 이루어진 다공성 물질이다. 그 두께는 수십 ㎛ 수준이다. 발전소의 냉각재상실사고 시 크러드 층은 핵연료-냉각수 열전달에 영향을 미치게 되어 원전 안전성 측면에서 그 영향을 살펴보는 것이 중요하다. 일반적으로 크러드는 열저항으로 인하여 핵연료 온도를 높이는 부정적 효과가 있는 것으로 알려져 있었다. 그 이유는 크러드에 의하여 핵비등, 최소막비등온도, 단상증기 열전달, 임계열유속, 막비등 열전달 등 2상유동 열전달 특성을 고려하지 않았기 때문이다. 본 연구에서는 다공성 크러드 물질의 물성치를 모델링하고 이를 국내 원전안전해석 코드인 SPACE에 탑재하였다. 크러드는 다공성 고체 물질이고 표면이 거칠기 때문에 최소막비등온도와 단상증기 열전달이 증가할 것으로 예상된다. 이에 최소막비등온도와 단상증기 열전달이 최대 피복재 온도 및 급냉에 미치는 영향을 평가하였다. 시험 계산은 기존 FLECHT-SEASET 재관수 실험 장치에 기반으로 수행되었다. 계산결과 최소막비등온도가 상승하여 급냉시간이 줄어들었다. 단상증기 열전달의 경우 약 20% 증가할 때까지는 최대 피복재 온도가 하강하였다. 크러드 층이 원전 안정성 측면에서 긍정적인 효과가 있음을 확인하였다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.668-674
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• 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.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.109-116
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• 2023

This study presents a CRUD modelling to simulate the thermal resistance behavior of CRUD, deposited on the surface of a cladding tube of a fuel assembly. When heat produced from fuels transfers to a coolant through a cladding tube, the CRUD acting as an additional thermal resistance is expressed as two layers, i.e., a solid oxide layer and an imaginary fluid layer, which are added to the experimental tube's heat structure of the MARS-KS input data. The validation calculation for the experiments performed in UNIST-DISNY facility showed that the center and surface temperatures of the cladding tube increased as the porosity and the steam amount inside pores of the CRUD got higher. In addition, the temperature gradient in the imaginary fluid layer was calculated to be larger than that in the solid oxide part, indicating that the steam amount inside the layer acted more largely as thermal resistance. It was also evaluated through sensitivity calculations that the cladding tube temperature was more sensitive to the CRUD porosity and the steam amount in pores than to the inlet flow rate of the coolant.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권6호
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• pp.2099-2112
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• 2024

This study examined the effects of CRUD on reflood heat transfer behaviors of nuclear fuel rods during a loss-of-coolant-accident (LOCA) in a pressurized water reactor using a best-estimate thermal-hydraulic analysis code. Changes in thermal properties and boiling heat transfer characteristics of the CRUD layer were extensively reviewed, and a set of correction factors to reflect the changes was implemented into the code. A heat structure layer reflecting the effects of CRUDs on the properties was added to the outer surface of the fuel cladding. Numerical simulations were conducted to examine the effects of CRUDs on reflood cooling of overheated fuel rods for representative separate and integral effect tests, FLECHT-SEASET and LOFT. In LOFT analysis, the average cladding temperature was increased due to the low thermal conductivity of CRUD during steady-state operation; however, in both analyses, the peak cladding temperature decreased, and the quenching time was reduced. Obtained results revealed that when the porous CRUD layer is deposited on the fuel cladding, two opposite effects appear. Low thermal conductivity of the CRUD layer always increases fuel temperature during normal operation; however, its hydrophilic porous structures may contribute to accelerated reflood cooling of fuel rods during a LOCA.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.91-97
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• 2010

국내 원자력발전소의 가동년수 경과에 따른 방사능 오염증가로 제염공정에 대한 관심은 점차 점증되어 가고 있다. 화학제염은 방사성폐기물의 생성과 방사선량율을 낮추는데 매우 중요하다. 이에 앞서, 원전 주요 계통 및 부품 등의 화학제염을 위해서는 대상 재질에 적합한 산화제 및 제염제를 우선 선정하여야 한다. 이를 위해서는 제염대상물 혹은 제염대상 계통에서 채취한 크러드에 대한 각종 분석을 실시하여 크러드의 화학조성 및 결정구조에 대한 정보를 확보해야 하나 실제적으로 방사능을 띤 계통으로부터 시료를 직접 채취할 수 있는 특별한 프로그램이 마련되어 있지 않는 한 극히 제한된 방사능을 띠고 있는 부식산화물의 자료만을 얻을 수 있다. 크러드의 조성은 모재의 성분과도 밀접한 관계가 있기 때문에 재장전 주기에 따라서도 차이가 많다. 따라서 가능한 한 제염대상을 선정한 다음 제염대상으로 채취한 크러드에 대한 각종 분석자료를 확보하거나 분석을 실시하여야 한다. 본 논문은 미확보 시료에 대한 대안으로 모의크러드를 다양한 방법으로 제조하는 기술에 대해 언급하였다. 금속 산화물과 금속 수화물이 12가지의 각기 다른 방법으로 실제 시료와 유사한 화학조성과 결정구조를 지닌 모의크러드의 합성에 사용되어졌다. CRUD#4(압력용기속의 금속산화물)와 CRUD#10(하이드라진 전 처리후 도가니속의 금속산화물)시료가 Type 1, 2에 대해 가장 양호하게 합성되어졌다. 이들 크러드 시료들은 특별한 장비를 사용하지 않고도 짧은 시간 내에 반응이 이루어지고 많은 량의 시료를 쉽게 합성할 수 있게 됨으로서 제염제와 제염공정을 개발하는데 매우 유용하게 활용될 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.1-6
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• 2024

Crud is a corrosion deposit that forms in equipments and piping of nuclear reactor's primary systems. When crud circulates through the reactor's primary system coolant and adheres to the surface of the nuclear fuel cladding tube, it can lead to the Axial Offset Anomaly (AOA) phenomenon. This occurrence is known to potentially reduce the output of a nuclear power plant or to necessitate an early shutdown. Consequently, worldwide nuclear power plants have employed ultrasonic cleaning methods since 2000 to mitigate crud deposition, ensuring stable operation and economic efficiency. This paper details the system configuration of ultrasonic nuclear fuel cleaning equipment, outlining the function of each component. The objective is to contribute to the local domestic production of ultrasonic nuclear fuel cleaning equipment. Additionally, the paper introduces a method for accurately measuring the weight of removed crud, a crucial factor in assessing cleaning effectiveness and providing input data for the BOA code used in core safety evaluations. Accurate measurement of highly radioactive filters containing crud is essential, and weighing them underwater is a common practice. However, the buoyancy effect during underwater weighing may lead to an overestimation of the collected crud's weight. To address this issue, the paper proposes a formula correcting for buoyancy errors, enhancing measurement accuracy. This improved weight measurement method, accounting for buoyancy effects in water, is expected to facilitate the quantitative assessment of filter weights generated during chemical decontamination and system operations in nuclear power plants.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 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 ㎛.