A novel technique to remove deuterium from CANDU pressure tubes

Deuterium ingress into the pressure tubes of a Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU) nuclear reactor can cause the pressure tubes to crack prematurely. A novel technique, based on the rapid diffusion of deuterium in zirconium alloys, and subsequent preferential segregation of deuterium at the surface, has been developed to remove dissolved deuterium. This technique involves a simple continuous plasma treatment of the surface of a pressure tube, and can remove as much as 70% of the dissolved deuterium from the entire wall thickness of a pressure tube in realistic time scales. The proposed technique has considerable economic incentive: it may extend the life of pressure tubes without channel replacement. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.