Nuclear technology, corrosion science and the lessons from history

From the very commencement of the nuclear power program the subject of corrosion has been of dominating importance. In many cases it was their relative corrosion resistance that governed the choice of materials and corrosion considerations which defined reactor operating temperatures. The nuclear technologist had also to deal with a relatively new and little understood process - radiolytic corrosion. This occurs when radiation of the gaseous or liquid medium creates active species which enhance chemical attack of the components