Corrosion of Stainless Steel in Simulated Nuclear Reactor Primary Coolant-Experiments and Modeling

In the present paper, the effect of the evolution of primary water chemistry during power operation on the corrosion rate and conduction mechanism of oxide films on stainless steel is studied by in situ impedance spectroscopy at 300 °C/9 MPa during 1-week exposure periods in an autoclave connected to a recirculation loop. At the end of the exposure period, the samples were anodically polarized in a wide range of potentials to evaluate the stability of the passive oxide. Separate samples of the same steel were simultaneously exposed to the coolant and subsequently analyzed by glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES) in order to estimate the thickness and the in-depth composition of the formed oxides. Impedance data were quantitatively interpreted using the mixed-conduction model for oxide films (MCM) to estimate the rates of metal oxidation at the alloy/oxide interface, oxide dissolution and restructuring at the film/coolant interface, and ion transport in the protective corrosion layer.