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The oxidation of molybdenum by oxygen plasma was studied. The oxygen plasma was discharged by helicon wave at the frequency of 18.1 MHz and at the power of 200W. The weight change of molybdenum in oxygen plasma was measured at 400˚C and at oxygen pressure of 5 Pa. The specimen was found to be oxidized and to lose it's weight drastically with the oxygen plasma, while the weight change of the specimen in the oxidation without plasma was not observed under the same conditions. The energetic species of oxygen atoms generated by rf plasma is regarded to accelerate the oxidation of molybdenum and the oxidation leads to the formation of volatile molybdenum trioxide at the surface.

Recent progress in the refining technology has enabled the production of highly pure commercial stainless steels. The hot cracking behaviour of these stainless steels was investigated with respect to type 310 stainless steel. For comparison, four types of 310 stainless steels with various amounts of minor and impurity elements such as C, P and S were used. The purity of type 310 stainless steels used was enhanced in the order of type 310,type 310S,type 310ULC,type 310EHP steels. The hot cracking susceptibility was evaluated by the transverse Varestraint test. Two types of hot cracks occurred in these steels by Varestraint test; solidification and ductility-dip cracks. The solidification cracking susceptibility was significantly reduced as the amount of C, P and S decreased, and that in type 310EHP steel reached a level so low that solidification cracking did not occur in practical welding. On the other hand, the ductility-dip cracking susceptibility adversely increased as the purity of the steels was enhanced. However, the ductility-dip cracking susceptibility of type 310EHP steel was sufficiently low as not to yield ductility-dip cracking in practical multipass welding. The experimental and numerical analyses on the solidification brittle temperature range have revealed that the reduced solidification cracking susceptibility upon decreasing the amount of C, P and S in stainless steel can be attributed to the reduced BTR due to the suppression of minor and impurity elements, such as C, P and S, in the finally solidified liquid film between the dendrite.

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An intergranular corrosion is a main degradation mechanism of austenitic stainless steels for use in a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. The intergranular corrosion is caused by the segregation of impurities to grain boundaries and the resultant formation of active sites. Extra High Purity (EHP) austenitic stainless steel was developed with conducting the new multiple refined melting in order to suppress the total harmful impurities less than 100ppm. The intergranular corrosion behavior of EHP austenitic stainless steels added various impurities was examined in boiling HNO 3 solution with highly oxidizing ions to find a correlation between the intergranular corrosion and the impurities of EHP-SSs. The corrosion rate of EHP austenitic stainless steels supported with the degree of intergranular corrosion relatively well. The relationships between the corrosion rate and the impurities content for EHP-SSs was determined using a multiple regression analysis. The influence on corrosion rate became small in order of B, P, Si, C, S and Mn. There is little effect of Mn on corrosion rate of EHP-SSs in case of 10000appm or less. It was important to control B and P in intergranular corrosion behavior of EHP-SSs