Continuous Monitoring of Pure Fe Corrosion in Lead-Bismuth Eutectic Under Irradiation with Proton-Induced X-ray Emission Spectroscopy

Few simultaneous irradiation-corrosion experiments provide continuous information about the progression of corrosion during the experiment. In situ information could accelerate studies of materials performance in irradiation-corrosion environments by giving insight into corrosion kinetics in a single experiment. In this paper, continuous in situ monitoring results from two runs of the irradiation-corrosion experiment (ICE) III with pure Fe corroded by lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) and simultaneously irradiated by 4-MeV protons are presented. Proton-induced x-ray emissions (PIXE) were used to estimate the thickness of the Fe foil during the experiments by comparing it with a standard. PIXE is shown to be sensitive enough to detect slight changes in foil thickness during ICE and to be capable of monitoring corrosion progression continuously.