A summary and assessment of oxidation driven volatility experiments at the INEL and their application to fusion reactor safety assessments

Abstract

This report contains a summary and assessment of oxidation-driven volatility tests through March 1994 at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Materials tested include a Cu alloy in air and steam, PCA stainless steel (similar to 316SS) in air and steam, AMCR-033 steel in air, HT-9 steel in air and steam, a Nb alloy in air and steam, a W alloy in air and steam, and two V alloys in air with a limited number of tests in steam. We give a brief description of the tests, including alloy compositions and test temperatures. For many materials, our results indicate that both volatility and oxide spalling are responsible for mobilizing mass, thus we refer to our measurements as mass flux or mobility flux. We plot mobility data for each element and present curve fits to the data. We include a section on how the mobility information is used in safety assessments. We calculate the early dose inventory of a first wall made of each material tested (the early dose to the maximum exposed individual that would result if all the material were mobilized and transported to the site boundary), and the early dose that would result when mobility fractions are considered inmore » the calculation. We use this information to assess the data by determining which elements are the most important and concentrating on providing the mobility data for those elements. We discuss where more data are needed, and our plans for obtaining that data. Additionally, we discuss what must be done to produce a database that will withstand regulatory scrutiny.« less