Corrosion studies in liquid Pb–Bi alloy at JAERI: R & D program and first experimental results

The program of corrosion study in liquid Pb–Bi at Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) is described. It was planned to clarify effects of parameters such as temperature, temperature difference between high-temperature and low-temperature parts, oxygen concentration in liquid Pb–Bi, flow rate, irradiation, stress and chemical composition of materials. The program contains the basic corrosion study in static Pb–Bi for elucidation of corrosion mechanism and effects of oxygen concentration in liquid Pb–Bi and ion irradiation on corrosion behavior. It also contains the corrosion study in flowing Pb–Bi using a corrosion testing loop. From the initial result of the static corrosion tests in oxygen saturated Pb–Bi at 550 °C for 500 h, it was shown that the thickness of the corrosion film decreases with increasing Cr content in steels.