In-pile loop studies of the effect of PWR coolant pH on corrosion product radionuclide deposition

An in-pile loop which simulates the primary coolant system of a PWR has been constructed and operated in the MIT research reactor. A total of seven one-month-long irradiations have been carried out to evaluate the effect of coolant pH controlled by variation in LiOH/H3BO3 concentrations. With the exception of one run at zero boron, all employed 800 ppm B; pH300degreesC values of 6.5, 7.0, 7.2, 7.5 were studied, and two runs each at 7.0 and 7.2 were carried out. Finally, one of the runs at a pH300degreesC of 7.2 was conducted with special care to exclude zinc because of its potential effects on cobalt deposition. The results show the expected benefits of high pH in reducing the rate of activity deposition on plant surfaces, but pH300degreesC = 7.2 is approximately as effective as 7.5, while pH300degreesC = 6.5 exhibits much larger activity transport and qualitatively different deposition behavior. Significant heat flux effects not predicted by current models have been consistently observed. While not as extensively studied, the zero-boron run suggests that the presence of boron species, at fixed pH, may reduce the net amount of activity deposited on ex-core surfaces. Neutron activation analysis of a variety of samples ruled out Zircaloy as an important source of Co-60, since its cobalt content is less than one ppm, considerably less than the applicable ASTM specification of ≤ 20 ppm. Amendment of the latter has been recommended