Hydrazine and Hydrogen Co-injection to Mitigate Stress Corrosion Cracking of Structural Materials in Boiling Water Reactors (IV)

Abstract

A calculation model has been developed in order to evaluate effectiveness of hydrazine and hydrogen co-injection (HHC) into reactor water for mitigation of intergranular stress corrosion cracking of structural materials used in boiling water reactors (BWRs). The HHC uses the strong reducing power of hydrazine radical, which is produced in the downcomer region under irradiation by -rays and neutrons. Some reactions and their reaction rate constants were determined based on experiments which were carried out in aerated water, hydrogenated water, and deaerated water. The calculated results were in good agreement with experimental data by a factor of two. The model was applied to a BWR and it was found that the HHC cut oxygen and hydrogen peroxide amounts dissolved in reactor water more effectively than hydrogen water chemistry alone. Thus, the required amount of hydrogen for hydrazine injection was much lower than that for hydrogen water chemistry. Consequently, electrochemical corrosion potential of structural materials could be lowered below À0:1 V vs. SHE without any increase of MS line dose rate, which has been a limitation of the conventional hydrogen water chemistry. The HHC was predicted to decrease crack growth rate of structural materials by a factor of 10.

Effects of local radiolysis and geometric parameters on intergranular attack caused by crevice corrosion

“…z OH and z H 2 O 2 are the charge numbers with the cathodic reaction (for ·OH it is 1 and for H 2 O 2 it is 2) [7]. g(·OH) = 4.86 and g(H 2 O 2 ) = 0.31 are g-values of ·OH and H 2 O 2 for γ -rays [12]. Q is the dose rate at the occluded volume in the crevice.…”

Effects of seawater components on radiolysis of water at elevated temperature and subsequent integrity of fuel materials

“…Details of the radiolysis model were described in previous publications [12,13]. In this code, the concentration of a chemical species, i (= O 2 , H 2 , H 2 O 2 , etc.…”

“…G-values and the set of chemical reactions were determined based on the reported values [4,8,13,14]. However, those G-values for chlorides were all obtained at room temperature.…”