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Effect of pH on Hydrogen Pick-Up and Corrosion in Zircaloy-4

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems – Water Reactors

Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

Abstract

Thermal desorption spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy have been used to investigate the effect of pH on corrosion and hydrogen pick-up behaviour in different samples of Zircaloy-4 . Samples were autoclave-oxidised in pure water and at an elevated pH (with 50% deuterated water) when compared to commercial reactors. A characteristic desorption peak for hydrogen has been found at ~650 °C, which occurs when the difference in free energy between hydrogen in the metal and in the gas phase becomes positive. Electron energy loss spectroscopy provided us with a method to detect and measure the thickness of the following layers (from oxide to metal): ZrO2, a previously reported ZrO suboxide, an oxygen saturated zirconium region and the Zr metal. Overall, samples exposed to a high pH show a longer time to transition and contain far less hydrogen than those oxidised in pure water. A mechanistic explanation will be provided.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, UK

    James Sayers, Kexue Li & Sergio Lozano-Perez

  2. National Nuclear Laboratory, Culham Science Centre, Building D5, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3DB, UK

    Susan Ortner

Authors
  1. James Sayers
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  2. Susan Ortner
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  3. Kexue Li
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  4. Sergio Lozano-Perez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sergio Lozano-Perez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, USA

    John H. Jackson

  2. Naval Nuclear Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Denise Paraventi

  3. Chalk River Laboratories, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Chalk River, ON, Canada

    Michael Wright

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© 2019 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

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Sayers, J., Ortner, S., Li, K., Lozano-Perez, S. (2019). Effect of pH on Hydrogen Pick-Up and Corrosion in Zircaloy-4. In: Jackson, J., Paraventi, D., Wright, M. (eds) Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems – Water Reactors. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04639-2_74

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