Notes on the Second Research Coordination Meeting of the FUWAC Coordinated Research Project, held at Chennai, 11-14 December 2007

The meeting was attended by representatives of 15 of the 16 Water Chemistry teams who have Agreements or Contracts to participate in FUWAC. The two teams that attended the first RCM as observers are now full members and a further team, from Korea, has also joined. The first day started with a welcome to the participants from Mr Krishnamurty of Madras Power Station on behalf the Indian hosts. He gave an overview of the nuclear programme in India, with a focus on topics of interest for the participants, for example describing problems with Flow Assisted Corrosion and the remediation measures undertaken. Mr Killeen, the Scientific Secretary also welcomed the participants on behalf of the Agency and gave a presentation covering the background to the CRP, and reminding the participants of the goals and initial work programme of the CRP that had been agreed at the First RCM in Vienna in 2006. He reviewed the Actions and collabotration expectations raised at the first meeting. The main research objectives to support the programme objectives are to understand the causal mechanisms for the following issues: Deposit Composition and Thickness on the Fuel; Axial Offset Anomaly (AOA) or Crud Induced Power Shift (CIPS) and Power Limitation; (Both AOA and CIPS are used for the same crud related phenomenon in Power Plants. For simplicity and consistency, throughout these notes AOA is used as the acronym); Corrosion Related Fuel Failure; Crud Induced Localized Corrosion (CILC); Radioactivity Build-up in RCS. During the course of the CRP, all participants will exchange information and experience in monitoring, maintaining and optimising water chemistry regimes in primary circuits of water cooled power reactors. They will study remedies for the minimization of corrosion and crud deposition by chemistry optimisation for high burnup, mixed cores, plant aging. At the end of the CRP it is expected that all participants will have an improved understanding of the causes and mechanisms of fuel corrosion and crud deposition on fuel, and be able to better control the composition and mode of formation of crud, particularly at high burnups and also for advanced water chemistry regimes (noble metals or zinc addition, etc) and in 'old' units. A final report, either as a TECDOC or as a TRS, will be published. Mr Killeen concluded by outlining the meeting programme and agenda. The Participants then each gave a presentation describing their work carried out during the first phase of the Coordinated Project.