Patent ID: 8804897

Claim:
A method to analyze crystals in a deposit on a surface of a nuclear generating station heating surface, comprising the steps of: extracting a deposit from the surface of the nuclear generating station heating surface; preparing a sample of material from the deposit for testing, wherein the sample of material is configured to examine at least one of said crystals in its environment within the deposit such that an as found state of the extracted deposit can be tested; conducting at least one of a high resolution scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry of the sample and a scanning transmission electron microscope/selected area electron diffraction/spot and elemental mapping analysis of the sample; if high resolution scanning microscope/energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry is conducted, further comprising the steps of: conducting at least one of three-dimensional morphology, surface topography aggregation and determination of flake size/shape, phase separation and chemical composition quantification after the high resolution scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry of the sample; performing a Monte Carlo simulation of electron beam-specimen interaction after the at least one of three-dimensional morphology, surface topography aggregation and determination of flake size/shape, phase separation and chemical composition quantification; and storing results of the Monte Carlo simulation and the at least one of the high resolution scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry of the sample, the three-dimensional morphology, surface topography aggregation and determination of flake size/shape, phase separation and chemical composition quantification in a structural data base; if high resolution scanning microscope/energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry is not conducted, further comprising the steps of: conducting at least one of an internal structure, morphology and crystal size/shape determination, a crystallography investigation and a chemical composition investigation after the scanning transmission electron microscope/selected area electron diffraction/spot and elemental mapping analysis of the sample; and storing results of the at least one of the internal structure, morphology and crystal size/shape determination, crystallography investigation and the chemical composition investigation in a crystallographic data system.