Corrosion behavior of stainless steels in nitric acid in the context of nuclear fuel reprocessing plants

This chapter deals with the corrosion of materials in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. In such plants, the main corrosive agent is hot and concentrated nitric acid. We first present a review of the international experience with the materials used to resist to this extreme environment. Because in most cases, stainless steel (SS) is chosen for this application, the current chapter then focuses on the state-of-the-art of the French R&D on their corrosion mechanisms. Both the anodic (oxidation of the material and formation of a protective oxide film) and cathodic sides (reduction in the medium influenced by environmental factors) are successively investigated, the final objective being to establish an integrated model allowing the prediction of the corrosion behavior of SS in nitric acid media.