Surface Treatment to Improve Corrosion Resistance in Lead-Alloy Coolants. Final Report

摘要

One of the six proposed advanced reactor designs of the Generation IV Initiative, the Leadcooled Fast Reactor (LFR) possesses many characteristics that make it a desirable candidate for future nuclear energy production and responsible actinide management. These characteristics include favorable heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and neutronic performance compared to other candidate coolants. However, the use of a heavy liquid metal coolant presents a challenge for reactor designers in regards to reliable structural and fuel cladding materials in both a highly corrosive high temperature liquid metal and an intense radiation fieldi. Flow corrosion studies at the University of Wisconsin have examined the corrosion performance of candidate materials for application in the LFR concept as well as the viability of various surface treatments to improve the materials compatibility. To date this research has included several focus areas, which include the formulation of an understanding of corrosion mechanisms and the examination of the effects of chemical and mechanical surface modifications on the materials performance in liquid lead-bismuth by experimental testing in Los Alamos National Laboratorys DELTA Loop, as well as comparison of experimental findings to numerical and physical models for long term corrosion prediction. This report will first review the literature and introduce the experiments and data that will be used to benchmark theoretical calculations. The experimental results will be followed by a brief review of the underlying theory and methodology for the physical and theoretical models. Finally, the results of theoretical calculations as well as experimentally obtained benchmarks and comparisons to the literature are presented.