Materials challenges for the Supercritical Water-Cooled Reactor (SCWR)

This paper discusses the materials requirements of the Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR) which arise from its severe expected operating conditions: (i) Outlet Temperature (to 650 C); (ii) Pressure of 25 MPa for the coolant containment, (iii) Thermochemical stress in the presence of supercritical water, and (iv) Radiative damage (up to 150 dpa for the fast spectrum variant). These operating conditions are reviewed; the phenomenology of materials in the supercritical water environment that create the materials challenges is discussed; knowledge gaps are identified, and efforts to understand material behaviour under the operating conditions expected in the SCWR are described. (author)