Plant Materials
DOE-HDBK-1017/2-93
REACTOR USE OF ALUMINUM
REACTOR USE OF ALUMINUM
Aluminum is a favorite material for applications in tritium production and reactor
plants. This chapter discusses the applications of aluminum in a reactor plant.
EO 1.27
STATE the applications and the property that makes aluminum
ideally suited for use in reactors operating at:
a.
Low kilowatt power
b.
Low temperature ranges.
c.
Moderate temperature range
EO 1.28
STATE why aluminum is undesirable in high temperature power
reactors.
Applications
Aluminum, with its low cost, low thermal neutron absorption, and freedom from corrosion at low
temperature, is ideally suited for use in research or training reactors in the low kilowatt power
and low temperature operating ranges.
Aluminum, usually in the relatively pure (greater than 99.0%) 2S (or 1100) form, has been
extensively used as a reactor structural material and for fuel cladding and other purposes not
involving exposure to very high temperatures.
Aluminum with its low neutron capture cross section (0.24 barns) is the preferred cladding
material for pressurized and boiling water reactors operating in the moderate temperature range.
Aluminum, in the form of an APM alloy, is generally used as a fuel-element cladding in organic-
moderated reactors. Aluminum has also been employed in gas-cooled reactors operating at low
or moderately high temperatures. Generally, at high temperatures, the relative low strength and
poor corrosion properties of aluminum make it unsuitable as a structural material in power
reactors due to hydrogen generation. The high temperature strength and corrosion properties of
aluminum can be increased by alloying, but only at the expense of a higher neutron capture cross
section.
In water, corrosion limits the use of aluminum to temperatures near 100C, unless special
precautions are taken. In air, corrosion limits its use to temperatures slightly over 300C.
Failure is caused by pitting of the otherwise protective Al(OH)3 film. The presence of chloride
salts and of some other metals that form strong galvanic couples (for example, copper) can
promote pitting.
Rev. 0
Page 49
MS-05
