Theoretical study of sodium-water surface reaction mechanism

Computational study of the sodium-water reaction at the gas (water) - liquid (sodium) interface has been carried out using the ab initio (first-principle) method. A possible reaction channel has been identified for the stepwise OH bond dissociations of a single water molecule. The energetics including the binding energy of a water molecule on the sodium surface, the activation energies of the bond cleavages, and the reaction energies, have been evaluated, and the rate constants of the first and second OH bond-breakings have been compared. It was found that the estimated rate constant of the former was much larger than the latter. The results are the basis for constructing the chemical reaction model used in a multi-dimensional sodium-water reaction code, SERAPHIM, being developed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) toward the safety assessment of the steam generator (SG) in a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). (author)