Corrosion Behavior of Candidate Alloys for Supercritical Water Reactors

The corrosion and stress corrosion cracking behavior of metallic cladding and other core internal structures is critical to the success of the Generation IV Supercritical Water-cooled Reactors (SCWR). The eventual materials selected will be chosen based on the combined corrosion, stress-corrosion, mechanical performance, and radiation stability properties. Among the materials being considered are austenitic stainless steels, ferritic/martensitic steels, and nickel-base alloys. This paper reports initial studies on the corrosion performance of the candidate alloys 316 austenitic stainless steel, Inconel 718, and Zircaloy-2, all exposed to supercritical water at 300-500 deg. C in a corrosion loop at the University of Wisconsin. Long-term corrosion performance of AISI 347, also a candidate austenitic steel, has also been examined by sectioning samples from a component that was exposed for a period of about 30 years in supercritical water at the Genoa 3 Supercritical Water fossil power plant located in Genoa, Wisconsin. (authors)