Estimation of corrosion amounts for carbon steel in -ray irradiated neutral water condition

Yamamoto, Masahiro ; Komatsu, Atsushi ; Sato, Tomonori  ; Nakano, Junichi; Ueno, Fumiyoshi  

In Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, decommissioning procedures are continuing more than 30 years until fuel debris removal. It is important to keep soundness of primary container vessel (PCV), made of carbon steel, during these procedures. Corrosion of carbon steel is well-known to be controlled by cathodic reaction, in usual, oxygen reduction reaction. Corrosion of carbon steel could be mitigated by nitrogen injection procedure. However, a lot of radioactive materials exist in cooling water, an effect of radiolysis product on corrosion is an important problem. Clarifying an irradiation effect for corrosion of carbon steel, corrosion test was conducted in Co -ray irradiated condition. Electrochemical measurements were conducted to determine cathodic current density of samples. Corrosion rates of carbon steel decrease with time in both -ray irradiated and non-irradiated conditions. Measured values of cathodic current density gradually decreased with time and then stayed at constant value.