Facility for Testing MSR Materials at the NRC Kurchatov Institute

An experimental complex was created at the NRC Kurchatov Institute for testing of structural materials developed for MSR. The complex makes it possible to implant helium and (or) hydrogen into material specimens at the U-150 cyclotron, simulating the result of long-term neutron exposure, to perform mechanical tests and microstructural studies before and after simulation exposure, and to test the compatibility of structural materials before and after exposure with fuel salt in non-isothermal dynamic conditions at temperatures up to 750°C with control of the melt redox potential. Preliminary tests with samples of nickel-molybdenum alloy KhN80MT demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed experimental technique. The concentration of helium nuclei in the alloy samples reaches ~150 ppm for approximately 10 h of irradiation.