Corrosion Control and Materials Performance in Nuclear Power Systems

随着加拿大对气候变化的担忧与日俱增，核能提供了高效、无碳能源的好处。加拿大政府和核工业已经认识到这一点，并正在积极进行核电厂的整修和新建，例如小型模块化反应堆；后者作为北方社区的能源提供了额外的好处。为了实现这些举措，必须解决核电厂的环境、安全和经济问题；这些问题与材料性能和腐蚀控制有关，这影响了核电厂部件的寿命。尽管已经取得了很大进展，但管理核电厂材料降解的大部分潜在科学仍然不清楚。这个联合国核研究组织教席项目的目标是促进对核相关环境中金属腐蚀的理解。为确保加拿大一所大学的能力继承，建议在高级和大专一级设立两个相互关联的教席方案。重点将是应用创新的显微镜方法在纳米尺度上了解腐蚀。应力和腐蚀的联合作用(应力腐蚀破裂(SCC))将是重要的，并且将进行互补的电化学功。目标是确定腐蚀和应力腐蚀的“前兆”，这是在降解开始之前发生的化学或材料性质的纳米级变化。IRC的第二个重点将是更好地了解辐射对腐蚀的影响，这对核电厂来说是重要的，因为辐射剂量随着寿命的延长而增加。研究将大量利用皇后学院反应堆材料测试实验室(RMTL)和多伦多安大略省先进材料表征中心(OCCAM)提供的新型设施(即质子加速器)和显微镜。该计划将为总部提供一个包容的环境和许多与行业互动和发展多学科技能的机会。

With growing climate change concerns in Canada, nuclear energy provides the benefits of an efficient, carbon-free energy source. The Government of Canada and the nuclear industry have recognized this, and are actively pursuing refurbishment of nuclear power plants (NPP) and new builds, such as small modular reactors; the latter provide additional benefits as energy sources for northern communities. For these initiatives to be realized, environmental, safety, and economic concerns of NPPs must be addressed; these concerns are linked with materials performance and corrosion control, which impacts the lifetime of components in NPPs. Although strides have been made, much of the underlying science governing materials degradation in NPPs remains unclear.The objective of this UNENE Research Chair program is to advance the understanding of metallic corrosion in nuclear-relevant environments. Two linked Chair programs are proposed, at a Senior and Associate level, to ensure succession of capability at a Canadian university. A focus will be the application of innovative microscopy methods to understand corrosion at the nanoscale. The combined action of stress and corrosion (stress corrosion cracking (SCC)) will be important, and complementary electrochemical work will be performed. A goal is to identify corrosion and SCC "precursors", which are nanoscale changes in chemical or material properties that occur prior to the onset of degradation. A second focus of this IRC will be to better understand irradiation effects on corrosion, which is important long-term for NPPs as radiation dose increases with life extension. Research will draw heavily on the novel facilities (i.e. proton accelerator) and microscopes available at the Reactor Materials Testing Laboratory (RMTL) at Queen's, and the Ontario Centre for Characterization of Advanced Materials (OCCAM) at Toronto. The program will provide HQP with an inclusive environment and many opportunities to interact with industry and develop multi-disciplinary skills.