Abstract
Six Generation IV nuclear power concepts becoming global research topics
accepted by the GenIV international forum (GIF) with common objectives
of promoting technological efficiency and safety provide attractive
features and demanding new challenges e.g., increased operating
temperatures, higher irradiation doses, more aggressive coolants, and/or
longer life expectations than GenII and GenIII plants. This paper
reviews the performance of commercial candidate materials for in-core
super-critical water reactor (SCWR) applications focusing on corrosion,
stress corrosion cracking (SCC), and creep issues based on work within
the Euratom phase 2 high performance light water reactor phase 2 (HPLWR)
project. General corrosion, i.e., oxidation rate tests, and SCC tests
have been done on selected iron- and nickel-based alloys at 500°C and
650°C in supercritical water (SCW) at a pressure of 25 MPa with an
oxygen concentration of 125-150 ppb in all tests. Constant load creep
tests have been done on selected austenitic stainless steel at 650°C in
SCW at 25 MPa and 1 ppm O2 and in inert atmospheres of He and
0.1 MPa. Based on materials studies done during the HPLWR Phase2
project, current candidates for European SCWR core internals are
austenitic stainless steels having sufficient oxidation and creep
resistance up to 500°C or 550°C. High chromium austenitic steels and
ferritic/martensitic ODS steels are considered, in longterm, for fuel
rod cladding thanks to their good oxidation resistances up to 650°C.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 469-478 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Disaster Research |
Volume | 5 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- GenIV
- supercritical water
- corrosion
- stress corrosion cracking
- creep
- austenitic alloy
- ODS steel