Chemical behaviour and steam transport of nitrogen-13 in BWR primary system

The chemical forms of the¹³N activity in the BWR primary coolant have been determined in four reactors during hydrogen water chemistry tests. Under normal water chemistry conditions, most of the¹³N activity was found in the forms of NO ₂ ^– and NO ₃ ^– in reactor water, and NO ₂ ^– was also found in the steam condensate where the majority of the activity was in NH ₄ ⁺ . On the other hand, under HWC conditions, practically all¹³N activity in both the reactor water and steam condensate was in the NH ₄ ⁺ form. The steam transport of the¹³N activity was significantly enhanced by the addition of hydrogen in the reactor water.