Deposit Formation on Fuel Cladding in PWR Primary Systems
Formation of deposits on Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) fuel cladding has been an inherent problem in these systems since their inception and remains a problem to-date. The report provides: 1) a brief history of fuel crud in PWR systems, 2) mechanisms for material release, transport and deposition in the core and the influence by material choice, coolant chemistry and core design 3) discussions of what occurs within fuel crud that may affect its deposition rate, its effect on core neutronics and possible impact on clad corrosion leading to failure. Finally, a discussion is given summarizing our current understanding and where future work is required to further this knowledge.
