A Corrosion Test Station for Improved Characterization and Examination Capabilities of Advanced Nuclear Reactor Fuels and Materials

Liquid-metal coolants are one of the most promising solutions for the challenges of advanced high temperature nuclear reactor systems.They optimize heat transfer, neutronics, safety, and compactness of the reactor systems.Molten lead and lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) are the primary coolant candidates due to their unique thermo-mechanical and neutronics properties.However, they are highly corrosive for the materials used in reactor components.The structural components of advanced reactors must be resistant to corrosion from the liquid metal coolant and compatible with other reactor component materials.There is a need in the community for a facility in which advanced materials can be tested in fast reactor environments of both normal and off-normal conditions to increase safety and operating efficiency of GEN-IV reactor designs.To address this need, Niowave proposes to develop a Corrosion Test Station (CTS) using LBE for improved characterization and examination of advanced nuclear reactor fuels and materials.In this proposed system, various reactor materials will be exposed to high-temperature, high-flow rate LBE environment.In Phase I, Niowave designed, constructed and operated a prototype flowing LBE corrosion test station.Several commissioning and benchmarking experiments made it possible to characterize LBE flow, evaluate pressure drop calculations, and gain operational experience in a flowing LBE experiment.Finally, a corrosion test demonstrated the capabilities of the system to operate steadily over an extended period and provided initial results showing the corrosion/erosion effects of high velocity LBE.In Phase II Niowave, in continuous collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory, proposes to design, construct, and operate a corrosion test station which can expose advanced alloys to LBE at temperatures up to 700 °C and an average velocity exceeding 5 m/s for extended periods.This system will provide a testbed for the fast reactor community to characterize and examine advanced alloys in extreme environments.In Phase III, the CTS facility will have the capacity to test numerous samples in parallel to qualify advanced reactors materials.Private industry, academic institutions, and the public sector are actively involved in thermal-hydraulics, instrumentation and control, and chemical testing of novel materials with LBE and would utilize the facility in a variety of research endeavors.