Materials and Chemistry for a Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor - Progress and Challenges

Abstract

The identification of suitable materials, and an appropriate water chemistry regime to minimize their degradation, are key challenges in the development of a Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor.  In recent years, a significant body of research has been carried out to characterize the behavior of materials under conditions expected in an SCWR.  With the increased amount of data available, it is now possible to evaluate the experimental uncertainties and to assess the role of key variables.  It is also becoming possible to more accurately identify the mechanisms through which the SCWR environment (e.g., water chemistry) will interact with materials leading to degradation.  In this paper, the interface between materials and chemistry is examined in the context of the role of dissolved oxygen in the corrosion of candidate alloys.  Some suggestions for future work are given.