A comparison of crud phases appearing on some Swedish BWR fuel rods using Laser Raman Spectroscopy

Previous investigations showed that laser Raman spectroscopy (LRS) can be used as a phase specific analytical tool for radioactive fuel crud samples and also for details in the underlying layer of zirconium dioxide. It is relatively easy to record Raman spectra that discriminate between chemical phases for all crud oxides of interest. The method has therefore been recommended for crud investigations within the Swedish program. At ideal conditions the resolution is about 1 μm, permitting detailed position determination of crud phases in the sample. Therefore LRS is a very good complement to X-ray diffraction (XRD). The methods for sample preparation and handling of radioactive crud samples for LRS turn out to be relatively simple. A detailed LRS study on fuel crud samples from Barsebaeck 2, Forsmark 2, Forsmark 3 and Ringhals 1 was performed in this work. All of those Swedish BWRs were operated at different conditions at the time of sampling. The chemistry regimes covered NWC, HWC and other variable conditions. Also different types of fuel, exposure times and sampling positions were selected. (authors)