Corrosion of vessel steel during its interaction with molten corium: Part 1: Experimental

This paper is concerned with corrosion of a cooled vessel steel structure interacting with molten corium in air and neutral (nitrogen) atmospheres during an in-vessel retention scenario. The data on corrosion kinetics at different temperatures on the heated steel surface, heat flux densities and oxygen potential in the system are presented. The post-test physico-chemical and metallographic analyses of melt samples and the corium–specimen ingot have clarified certain mechanisms of steel corrosion taking place during the in-vessel melt interaction.