Go to GOOGLE
and enter Ultrasonic Fuel Cleaning. Hunt a bit and you will find a lot: Areva,
EPRI, 50.59 game,
Following is the text
of Areva's advertisement, minus the photographs.
Ultrasonic Fuel
Cleaning
Effective fuel cleaning technology to help assure performance
and improve safety. AREVA NP offers patented Electric Power Research Institute
(EPRI) Ultrasonic Fuel Cleaning (UFC) to prevent uneven crud deposits that can
negatively affect fuel performance. With proven performance in applications at
several domestic U.S. utilities, UFC can also reduce dose rates on primary
components contaminated by the migration of activation products from core
surfaces. Plus, we are an official EPRI licensee authorized to supply UFC
equipment and services to nuclear stations worldwide. We can provide UFC for
your next outage.
UFC was developed by EPRI to eliminate in-core flux
depression by effectively removing deposits from fuel assemblies during
refueling outages. Ultrasonic waves cause small particles of crud to release
from the fuel assembly. Fuel pool water cools the fuel and transports particles
to the filter banks where they are collected for final disposal. The system
employs disposable filters to remove radioactive corrosion and activation
products. Customers can store the filters in their fuel pool or process them for
immediate shipping.
Cleaning Chamber Ensures Even Distribution A special
cleaning chamber, similar to a fuel rack, holds ultrasonic transducers
positioned on each face of the fuel assembly in an overlapping pattern. This
configuration ensures even distribution of the ultrasonic energy into the fuel
assembly. Reliable Console Controls the Process An operating console, located on
the refuel floor near the edge of the spent fuel pool or reactor vessel,
controls the process. The operator can easily observe the cleaning parameters
and performance of the filtration unit. Underwater Filters Capture Removed
Deposits. The underwater filters contain removed deposits while maintaining
radiation to acceptable levels. A variety of filtration system designs are
available to provide custom optimization.
BENEFITS
BWR or PWR
application
Effectively removes crud
Improves fuel flux
distribution
Improves fuel utilization
Reduces radiation source
term
Reduces primary system dose rate
And here is the notice of EPRI's R&D award, also on
GOOGLE:
October 05,
2005 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
EPRI's Patented Nuclear Fuel
Cleaning Technology Receives R&D 100 Award; Award Reception Slated for Oct.
20
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(
BUSINESS
WIRE)--Oct. 5, 2005--The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), three
member companies, AmerenUE, Exelon Corp., and South Texas Project Nuclear
Operating Co., and Dominion Engineering, Inc. (DEI) have earned a prestigious
2005 R&D 100 Award for ultrasonic cleaning of nuclear fuel, a promising new
technology that safely removes deposits from irradiated fuel assemblies in
nuclear power plants.
The annual awards are given by R&D Magazine for the
most outstanding technology developments with commercial potential. The award
reception will take place Thursday, Oct. 20 in Chicago; EPRI Senior Vice
President and Chief Technology Officer Ted Marston is scheduled to
attend.
"The future of the energy industry relies on pursuing innovative
technologies that advance efficient, reliable and environmentally sensitive
power generation and transmission," said EPRI CEO Steven R. Specker. "I applaud
our team and member companies for their contribution towards this end."
The
technology awarded delivers a patented process for removing corrosion products
deposited on irradiated nuclear fuel pins using a unique form of ultrasonic
technology. The technology was first applied at their nuclear power plants by
the three EPRI member companies noted above, using equipment supplied by
DEI.
"We were pleased to hear that our technology received an R&D Award,"
said Christopher J. Wood, a technical manager in EPRI's Nuclear Sector. "This
breakthrough technology allows the full potential of current nuclear fuel
designs to be achieved while maintaining excellent fuel reliability.
Availability of a safe, reliable cleaning technology will also now allow
utilities to further optimize fuel performance, core design, and reduce
radiation fields and electricity generating costs."
This unique technology,
developed in EPRI's Fuel Reliability Program, solves a significant emerging
problem by removing deposits from nuclear fuel assemblies in nuclear power
plants. Enhancing the performance of nuclear fuel is crucial to continue the
improvement in electricity production from nuclear units. Over the past decade,
nuclear power production has increased by over 20 percent, but this has placed
additional demands on the fuel, as fuel temperatures have increased.
Some of
the potential problems with fuel reliability result from the buildup of deposits
on the surfaces of the fuel elements, which produces an insulating layer that
could result in corrosion of the fuel cladding material at increased fuel pin
temperatures. Until EPRI's developed technology, there was no effective way of
removing these deposits during the working life of the fuel. Including early
development demonstrations, this ultrasonic fuel cleaning technology has been
used successfully eight times at nuclear power plants in the USA through 2004,
and has been licensed worldwide. Seven additional commercial applications have
taken place in 2005, including one in Spain. The technology used cleans all the
fuel elements in every fuel assembly without any adverse effects. The cleaning
process does not extend the schedule of routine refueling outages and is very
cost-effective in pressurized water reactors. It is expected to result in a
major reduction in radiation fields in boiling water reactors.
About the
Electric Power Research Institute
The Electric Power Research Institute
(EPRI), with major locations in Palo Alto, California, and Charlotte, North
Carolina, was established in 1973 as an independent, nonprofit center for public
interest energy and environmental research. EPRI brings together member
organizations, the Institute's scientists and engineers, and other leading
experts to work collaboratively on solutions to the challenges of electric
power. These solutions span nearly every area of power generation, delivery, and
use, including health, safety, and environment. EPRI's members represent over
90% of the electricity generated in the United States. International
participation represents nearly 15% of EPRI's total R&D
program.
And here is how NRC accepted
Ultrasonic Fuel Cleaning under 50.59!
And here we have EPRI, way back in 1999, highlighting
its Ultrasonic Fuel Cleaning Process at Callaway as a 1999 payoff:
And, during September 2003, Westinghouse advertised its
ultrasonic fuel cleaning service. "As a result, the plant safety review
committee granted the application 10 CFR 50.59 approval."
Ultrasonic cleaning means fast, safe removal of fuel-assembly crud
buildup
Crud — corrosion products that accumulate on fuel surfaces — can break loose
and spread to other parts of the system, causing radioactive buildup. Over time,
crud that builds up on fuel surfaces becomes activated by neutrons to form
radioactive nuclides, making crud cleanup a high priority.
Ultrasonic fuel
cleaning can break up crud deposits during normal refueling, trapping
particulates in filters for storage in the fuel pool. Designed by Dominion
Engineering, Inc. (DEI), and patented by EPRI, the technique blasts crud with
ultrasonic transducers.
Ultrasonic cleaning reduces the risk of fuel damage
and takes a fraction of the time required by other methods. Controlling crud and
other particulate inventory reduces out-of-core radiation fields and lowers
radiation dosage levels.
Eliminating crud also mitigates local in-core flux
supression and decreases the likelihood of axial offset anomaly (AOA) caused by
lithium and boron concentrations. Ultrasonic cleaning also helps prevent
crud-induced power shifts that can reduce output by as much as 20
percent.
Ultrasonic fuel cleaning was first used and verified at the Callaway
plant in Missouri in 2001. After a year, no evidence of core-wide AOA was found,
and early ex-core dosage was reduced significantly with no impact on critical
path time. Measurements of assemblies before and after cleaning, and of
particulate discharge at the filters, showed that ultrasound cuts crud deposits
by about 80 percent.
As a result, the plant safety review committee
granted the application 10 CFR 50.59 approval.Ultrasonic cleaning
is fast, too. During routine refueling, an assembly scheduled for reuse can be
cleaned in as little as seven to ten minutes. Westinghouse is the first vendor
to use this technique commercially. Our partnership with DEI gives utilities
access to ultrasonic cleaning with minimal incremental costs.
Dominion (DEI), the inventors of Ultrasonic Fuel
Cleaning, may have discussed this at a very recent meeting of PWR
operators.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
PWR ALARA Association Board
Meeting - Board Room
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
General PWR Session – Day
2
10:00 Ultrasonic Fuel Cleaning Process/Success – Dr. Robert Verrin
(Dominion Engineering) Tentative
