Effect of seawater components on corrosion behavior of SUS316L in nitric acid solution containing metal ions

Ambai, Hiromu ; Nishizuka, Yusuke*; Sano, Yuichi   ; Uchida, Naoki; Iijima, Shizuka; Shiwaku, Hideaki   ; Yaita, Tsuyoshi

During the accident that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, a large volume of seawater was introduced as coolant into the storage pools for spent nuclear fuel. If this fuel is reprocessed, some components of seawater will be mixed with the nitric acid solution containing metal ions in the reprocessing process where stainless steels are used as structural material. In this study, we investigated the effect of seawater components in high active liquid waste (HAW) containing nitric acid and metal ions as fission products on the corrosion behavior of SUS316L stainless steel. Corrosion tests were conducted in surrogate HAW containing artificial seawater (ASW). Intergranular corrosion was observed in the HAW with ASW, where Ru increased the corrosion potential to the transpassive region. An increase in the amount of ASW led to a decrease in the corrosion rate and suppression of intergranular corrosion. Interactions between Ru ions and seawater components, such as chloride ions, were indicated by the results of extended Xray absorption fine structure spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry analyses of the solution containing ASW and HAW.