Microstructure response and sodium corrosion behavior of ferritic-martensitic steel after proton irradiation

In nuclear reactors, cladding materials are irradiated by neutrons as well as various types of ion beams that can induce radiation damage. Proton irradiation has been used for the past few decades to simulate neutron damage because protons have a higher scattering cross-section than fast neutrons and can effectively form displacements. This study is aimed at investigating the irradiation effects on the corrosion behavior of FMS. Non-irradiated and irradiated FMS materials were used for corrosion and dissolution experiments in a liquid sodium environment. It was observed that the irradiated materials exhibited worse corrosion and dissolution than the non-irradiated materials.