Materials Development and Corrosion Issues in the Back End of Fuel Cycle

The issues of materials development and corrosion performance of various components, coating technology and corrosion monitoring for nuclear fuel reprocessing plants is presented. Development of special stainless steels, Ti and zircaloy based alloys, double oxide coating for electrolytic dissolver, dissimilar joints, noble metal coating, thermal barrier coatings, nanostructured Ti, TiO2 and nitride coatings, amorphous metallic glass coatings, etc. for highly corrosive nitric acid environments are discussed. The results of dynamic nitric acid loop of type 304L SS and zircaloy-4 used for long term corrosion assessment of materials employed in reprocessing plants are also addressed.