The Westinghouse brochure that is referenced in my entry of January 27, 2007, lists the following eight sites that have applied ultrasonic fuel cleaning by the end of 2005.
- Callaway
- Catawba
- Ft. Calhoun
- McGuire
- Quad Cities
- South Texas 1 and 2
- Vogtle 1 and 2
- Vandellos
This Westinghouse brochure was recently updated during November 2006, therefore the list is very likely up to date.
Recent Patent in the Arena of Ultrasonic Fuel Cleaning
The U. S. Patent 7,134,441, HIGH THROUGHPUT ULTRASONIC CLEANER FOR IRRADIATED NUCLEAR FUEL ASSEMBLIES, that issued on October 14, 2006, is assigned to Dominion Engineering, Inc. The related provisional application, No. 60/398,726 was filed on July 29, 2002. Very likely the process changes that are thus covered have been applied in at least some of the eight plants listed above. Also, other process changes may be the subject of further patent applications that might now be under review.
Apparently Ultrasonic Fuel Cleaning Has Not Been Applied at River Bend
It is interesting that River Bend is not among the above list of eight plants in view of the extreme fouling that is documented in my entry of January 22, 2007, Fouling of Reactor Fuel at River Bend. Possibly the corrosion of the reactor fuel at River Bend has been so severe that the ultrasonic process would lead to unacceptable cracking of the cladding.
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