US Patent 7132651 In-situ BWR and PWR CRUD flake analysis method and tool

Patent 7132651 was granted and assigned to Framatome on November, 2006 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Overview Structured Data Issues Contributors Activity

Is a

Patent

Patent attributes

Current Assignee

Framatome

Patent Jurisdiction

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Patent Number

71326510

Patent Inventor Names

Brian G. Lockamon0

Mihai G. M. Pop0

Laurence S. Lamanna0

John T. Willse0

Date of Patent

November 7, 2006

Patent Application Number

108309130

Date Filed

April 23, 2004

Patent Primary Examiner

Jack I. Berman

Patent abstract

The invention provides a method and tool to perform an analysis of CRUD on a nuclear fuel rod. The method recites providing a nuclear fuel rod with a layer of CRUD on an exterior of the fuel rod, scraping the CRUD from the fuel rod with a CRUD scraping tool and collecting CRUD flakes from the CRUD scraping tool. The method also provides for sorting the CRUD flakes into particle fractions, and analyzing the CRUD with a scanning electron microscope, wherein the scraping tool has a blade with a rigidity that is matched to an anticipated CRUD deposit shear strength.