A method for analytical monitoring of surface deposits on jackets of fuel elements of reactors with water heat carrier

A method of postreactor analytical monitoring of elemental composition of deposits on jackets of fuel elements from zirconium alloys based on chemical removal and subsequent quantitative analysis of deposited elements using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) is described. The choice of the method of chemical removal of deposits from jackets of fuel elements is substantiated; data on the composition of solution of chemical reagents and temperature-time regime of the procedure are presented. Devices for nondestructively obtaining detailed and precise information on element distribution in deposits along the fuel element height by means of a small length of the analyzed segment and the capability of sequential segment analysis along the whole fuel element length are developed. Advantages of ICP-AES application for analysis of elemental composition of deposits with allowance for the specific features of studies of irradiated reactor materials are considered. A method of quantitative analysis of deposits is developed, its metrological aspects are considered, and results of determination of some elements of deposits on jackets of fuel elements of the RBMK-1000 of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant are given.