Effect of Tritium on Corrosion Behavior of Chromium in 0.01 N Sulfuric Acid Solution

The effects of tritium on the corrosion behavior of chromium were investigated in the present study, since it was suggested in the previous studies that the elution of chromium, which is one of the main constituent elements of passive layer of SUS 304 stainless steel, during passivation through further oxidation induced by oxidative radiolysis products would be the key reaction for the enhancement of the corrosion of SUS304 stainless steel induced by tritium. As the experimental results of the dependence of both dissolved oxygen and tritium concentration on the anodic behavior of chromium, it was found that the self-passivation of chromium induced by dissolved oxygen was inhibited in the tritiated solution, as found in the previous studies for SUS304 stainless steel. Therefore, it was considered that the elution of chromium by highly oxidative radiolysis products would induce a passivation inhibitory effect onto SUS304 stainless steel in a tritiated solution, resulting in an enhancement of the corrosion.