Research progress on environmental compatibility of stainless steels used in lead-cooled fast reactor

Abstract: The environmental compatibility issue of structural materials in liquid lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) is a bottleneck problem restricting the development and construction of lead-cold fast reactors. 9-12Cr ferritic/martensitic and austenitic stainless steels are the preferred structural materials for key equipments. However, they face severe liquid metal corrosion (oxidation and dissolution) problems in high-temperature liquid LBE environments. Usually, an appropriate amount of Si or Al is added to the alloy to enhance its resistance to liquid metal corrosion. This paper reviews the research progress on oxidation, dissolution, slow strain rate tensile, creep, fatigue and crack propagation behavior of 9-12Cr ferritic/martensitic steels, austenitic stainless steels, Si-enhanced ferritic/martensitic steels and austenitic stainless steels, and Al forming austenitic stainless steels in the liquid LBE environment. The liquid metal embrittlement sensitivity and damage mechanism of ferritic/martensitic steels (body-centered cubic) and austenitic stainless steels (face-centered cubic) in liquid LBE environment are discussed. The existing problems in the current research are pointed out, and the future research directions are prospected.