The effects of zinc on cobalt deposition in PWRs: summary report

An experiment has been performed in a PWR loop of the Halden reactor to investigate the effects of the addition of 50 ppb zinc to the coolant on the incorporation of cobalt into the oxide films on primary circuit constructional materials. This report summarises the results from the three phases of the test. It was shown that zinc addition inhibits the corrosion of both new metal surfaces and surfaces with well-established oxides; this results in thinner oxide layers and reduced incorporation of cobalt into the oxide. Generally, there were no significant differences between the deposition of cobalt-60 onto pre-oxidised and new metal surfaces. In Phase 1 of the experiment, Co-60 deposition rates (normalised to the circulating Co-60 concentration) were lower than those measured in previous experiments in the loop by factors in the range from 5 to 10. In Phase 2, differences were observed in the behaviour of iron- and nickel-based alloys: larger decreases in the deposition rate compared with Phase 1 took place for stainless steel samples (i.e. factors > 20), whilst decreases on nickel-based coupons were generally less than a factor of 5. Co-60 deposition rates onto stainless steel coupons newly installed for Phase 3 of the experiment were greater by an order of magnitude than on coupons which had been exposed for all three phases; i.e. they were similar to those observed in Phase 1. The mechanisms by which zinc acts to inhibit corrosion and the incorporation of activity into oxide layers are not fully understood. More experimental data are required to resolve this issue, including information on the chemical form of the zinc within the oxide layer. (author)