Nuclear power plant water chemistry is important for the maintenance of nuclear safety, major component reliability, and the overall economic viability of plant operation.  Each nuclear power plant has a set of water chemistry matrices that are often specific for that plant and usually based on the water chemistry history and metallurgy of the plant.  In general though, the typical matrices are:

• Pure water
• Pure water with amine additives
• Borated water
• Closed cooling water (with high nitrite concentrations)
• Environmental samples (effluents, soils, air etc.)

Reagent-Free Ion Chromatography has been adopted in most Nuclear Power Plants over the past 5 years due to its ease of use and improved detection limits which make for a good fit with the typical matrices and analytes which need to be monitored in this industry.

Webinar Archive

Capillary Ion Chromatography in the Nuclear Power Industry

The original webcast was broadcast on September 16, 2010
Duration: 90-minutes

Introducing the ICS-5000 Capillary Ion Chromatograph for use in nuclear power plant applications. The advent of capillary scale ion chromatography brings multiple advantages to the area of high purity water analysis. With "IC on Demand" a capillary system can operate continuously for a full year (24/7) on just 5.25 L of DI water. With Cap IC the typical injection volume is just 400 nL and trace level work can be accomplished with a 10 µL injection. Capillary eluent generation cartridges (KOH and MSA) last 18 months and the amount of waste generated is greatly reduced. Specific nuclear power plant applications (both PWR and BWR) will be highlighted.