Design and evaluation of materials for space reactors

The French programme envisages a 20 kWe reactor, project ERATO, with three technological options. The first option is a sodium cooled reactor, derived from the fast breeder reactor technology, (upper core outlet temperature of 7000C). The second option is based on the High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor technology (outlet temperature range 7000C-9000C). The third option is the reference solution, lithium cooled and UN fuelled fast spectrum reactor, (outlet temperature as high as 12000C). The choice is essentially dominated by material considerations, and more specifically by the problems related to the compatibility with the cooling medium and to the high temperature creep resistance. For the first system limited work will be needed as the technology used is well experimented and there is a wealth of information on the austenitic stainless steel Type 316L-SPH. For the second system, most of the work has been concentrated on characterization of existing commercial alloys. This has included the preselection and the testing of a number of superalloys irradiated or not. The results obtained from high temperature tensile and creep tests have allowed selection of Haynes 230 as the primary candidate material and have also permitted calculation of allowable design stresses for this alloy. For the very high temperature system the French R and D programme has focused on Mo-Re alloys. The results obtained to this date from microstructural examinations and mechanical tests performed on different alloy compositions have allowed selection of Mo-25%Re for future optimization work. They have also shown the need for evaluation of creep properties at low stresses where microstructural instabilities are likely to occur as a result of long exposure to high temperature