A TRAC model of the Los Alamos National Laboratory DELTA loop facility

Lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) is being used as one of the prospective coolants in advanced reactors and accelerator-driven systems because of its attractive nuclear, thermal, physical, and chemical properties. However, LBE is very corrosive to many structure materials if they are exposed to LBE directly. Thus, one of the critical obstacles to the wide use of LBE as a nuclear coolant is corrosion. A materials test loop facility, the DELTA Loop, has been set up at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to study the long-term corrosion of various materials in flowing LBE and to study the thermal hydraulics of such systems.