Comprehensive nuclear materials 5 09 material performance in lead and lead bismuth alloy

Comprehensive nuclear materials 5 09 material performance in lead and lead bismuth alloy Comprehensive nuclear materials 5 09 material performance in lead and lead bismuth alloy Comprehensive nuclear materials 5 09 material performance in lead and lead bismuth alloy Comprehensive nuclear materials 5 09 material performance in lead and lead bismuth alloy Comprehensive nuclear materials 5 09 material performance in lead and lead bismuth alloy Comprehensive nuclear materials 5 09 material performance in lead and lead bismuth alloy

5.09 Material Performance in Lead and Lead-bismuth Alloy K Kikuchi Ibaraki University, Ibaraki, Japan ß 2012 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved 5.09.1 Recent Lead-Alloy Activity 207 5.09.2 5.09.2.1 5.09.3 5.09.4 5.09.5 5.09.6 5.09.7 5.09.8 References Utilization of LA The Conceptual Models of ADS and MYRRHA Ferritic–Martensitic Steels Surface Treatment to F/M and Austenitic Steels Oxide Dispersion-Strengthened Steel Austenitic Stainless Steels Precipitation Formation Outlook 209 209 210 213 214 215 216 217 218 Abbreviations ADS AFM BEM DBTT EB EDX F/M steel GESA GIF ICP LA LBE LFR LINAC MA MEGAPIE MFM MYRRHA ODS OECD/NEA SEM WDX Accelerator-driven nuclear transmutation system Atomic force microscopy Backscattered electron microscope Ductile-to-brittle transition temperature Electron beam Energy-dispersed X-ray analyzer Ferritic–martensitic steel Gepulste Elektronenstrahlanlage Generation IV International Forum Inductive-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer Lead alloy Lead–bismuth eutectics Liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor Linear accelerator Minor actinides MEGA-watt Pilot Experiment Magnetic force microscopy Multipurpose hybrid research reactor for high-tech applications Oxide dispersion-strengthened steel The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/ The Nuclear Energy Agency Scanning electron microscopy Wave-dispersed X-ray analyzer 5.09.1 Recent Lead-Alloy Activity A brief justification for the utilization of lead or lead bismuth for use as a coolant in nuclear energy systems was given in 2001 by Sekimoto.1 When the possibility of the utilization of nuclear energy was discovered, it was expected to be a primary energy source in the future Fast reactors can utilize the entire energy content of natural uranium The selection of a coolant was an important item for designing fast reactors The neutron slowing-down caused by the coolant should be minimized This is first made possible by decreasing the average atomic density of the coolant in the reactor core, and second by employing a nuclide with a large mass number as the coolant, whose neutron moderating power is low A liquid metal is considered the best coolant for using the second method Initially, liquid mercury was employed but it was not successful in either the United States or Russia Since then, several liquid metals were considered, including lead alloys (LA), and finally, sodium was selected However, public concern about the safety of sodium has increased following sodium leakage incidents, so the development and deployment of fast reactors on more than a prototype scale has not occurred In the last 10 years, the study of the utilization of LA including lead–bismuth eutectics (LBE) has been ongoing for application to nuclear waste transmutation systems and lead–bismuth cooled nuclear reactors 207 208 Material Performance in Lead and Lead-bismuth Alloy LBE is a candidate material for a spallation target and a reactor coolant In the accelerator-driven nuclear transmutation system (ADS), LBE is a candidate for both the subcritical-reactor coolant and the spallation neutron source target In addition, the lead or lead– bismuth-cooled fast reactor (LFR) is one of the four reactor types investigated in Generation IV systems proposed by the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) A LBE-cooled Long-Life Safety Simple Small Portable Proliferation-Resistant Reactor has also been proposed.2 As a result of the investigations on LA, comprehensive literature has been published The Working Group on LBE of the OECD/NEA Nuclear Science Committee3 published a handbook and review reports on LA technology The material properties of lead and lead–bismuth are discussed in detail in Chapter 2.14, Properties of Liquid Metal Coolants As part of the development of advanced nuclear systems, including ADS proposed for high-level radioactive waste transmutation and Generation IV reactors, heavy liquid metals such as lead or LBE were investigated as reactor core coolant and spallation targets Heavy liquid metals were also being envisaged as target materials for high-power neutron spallation sources The objective of the handbook is to collate and publish properties and experimental results on lead and LBE in a consistent format in order to provide designers with a single source of qualified properties and data and to guide subsequent development efforts The handbook covers liquid lead and LBE properties, material compatibility and testing issues, key aspects of the thermal-hydraulic and system technologies, existing test facilities, and open issues and perspectives Zhang and Li4 reviewed the studies on fundamental issues in LBE corrosion They included phase diagrams, thermodynamics, physical properties, corrosion mechanisms, oxygen control, experimental results, and corrosion results Some recommendations were proposed for future studies: precipitation and deposition of corrosion products; oxygen transport; oxide formation and kinetics in LA; coolant hydrodynamic effects; steel composition, microstructure, and surface effects; and corrosion models These are key areas for future research Fazio et al.5 characterized corrosion property for ferritic–martensitic (F/M) steels and austenitic steels in stagnant LA on the basis of the results of corrosion tests This report briefly summarized the current status on LA activities At a temperature below 450  C, adequate oxygen activities in the liquid metal steels form an oxide layer that behaves as a corrosion barrier In the temperature range above 500  C, corrosion protection because of the oxide scales seems to fail A mixed corrosion mechanism has been observed, where both oxide scale formation and dissolution of the steel elements occurred However, in this high-temperature range, it has been demonstrated that the corrosion resistance of structural materials can be enhanced by coating the steel with FeAl alloys Experiments performed in flowing LA (mostly LBE) confirm that the corrosion mechanism of the steels depends on the oxygen content in LA At relatively low oxygen concentration, the corrosion mechanism changes from oxidation to dissolution of the steel elements The experimental activity also extends up to temperatures of 750  C for oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) alloys and their welded variants in Pb The use of materials at higher temperatures will also require investigation of creep rupture MEGAPIE was the MEGA-watt Pilot Experiment done at Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) in 2006 for developing a LBE spallation target The MEGAPIE project was started as an essential step toward demonstrating the feasibility of coupling a high power accelerator, a spallation target, and a subcritical core assembly The project was expected to furnish important results regarding safe treatment of components that had come into contact with lead–bismuth.6 The design data was obtained and the operational mode was confirmed.7 Corrosion rates were estimated experimentally at 400  C for a LBE flow rate of m sÀ1 and 2.2 m sÀ1 where the oxygen content in the LBE was