Corrosion-erosion of SS316 under flowing Pb-Bi

Kikuchi, Kenji; Kurata, Yuji; Saito, Shigeru   ; Futakawa, Masatoshi  ; Sasa, Toshinobu   ; Oigawa, Hiroyuki ; Miura, Kuniaki*

Corrosion-erosion properties of type 316 austenitic stainless steel were investigated at 450oC. The study aims at developing ADS, accelerator driven system, for nuclear transmutation of long lived activated nuclei to shorter ones. After 3000 hrs flow of eutectic 45Pb-55Bi loop tubes were cut and analyzed by optical microscope, SEM, EDX, WDX and TEM. It is concluded that corrosion-erosion depth is maximally 0.1mm per 3000 hrs and Cr-Fe crystals were precipitated in the lower temperature of flowing channel. Further more inspection results of Electro Magnetic Pump, Electro Magnetic Flow meter and controlling valve were also reported. Output signal from EMF was stable after certain time duration. In this experiment oxygen content in Pb-Bi was not actively controlled but Pb-Bi was covered by 4N Argon gas.