EXTREME WATER CHEMISTRY - HOW GEN Ⅳ WATER CHEMISTRY RESEARCH IMPROVES GEN Ⅲ WATER-COOLED REACTORS

摘要

Operating water-cooled nuclear reactors at temperatures above the thermodynamic critical temperature is a natural evolution, conferring much higher thermodynamic efficiency. The water chemistry conditions in the core of such a supercritical water-cooled reactor will be extreme, a combination of high temperatures, high pressures, and irradiation. However, even at 300 °C water is already a very different fluid than at 25 °C, with a much lower dielectric constant and extent of hydrogen bonding. These changes affect solute-solvent interactions, which in turn affect properties such as the stability of ions versus ion pairs and the rates of chemical reactions that affect practical phenomena such as corrosion reactions, deposition of radioactive species and water radiolysis. This paper highlights the impacts of on-going R&D work on Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor water chemistry on our understanding of the water chemistry of Generation II and III reactors. Applications and implications of these insights will be drawn from areas such as water radiolysis, corrosion, and corrosion product transport.