Nuclear radiation shielding effectiveness and corrosion behavior of some steel alloys for nuclear reactor systems

Different types of nuclear parameters and corrosion behavior were deduced for carbon steel (AISI 1018), austenitic (304 SS), and duplex (2507 SS) stainless steel alloys. Three types of neutron energies as well as nine gamma ray energy lines (121.78–1407.92 keV) were used to evaluate the macroscopic neutron cross-sections (Σ, cm−1) and mass attenuation coefficients (σ, cm2·g−1) of gamma ray respectively. The corrosion behavior was investigated using different electrochemical techniques. The results showed that the stainless-steel alloys had a good attitude than that of carbon steel alloy for neutron and gamma ray parameters, especially the duplex stainless steel. The calculated values of mass attenuation coefficient using WinXcom computer program (Version 3.1), exhibited a very good agreement with the experimental values of that parameters. Moreover, the results indicated that duplex stainless-steel exhibited corrosion resistance higher than 304 SS and AISI 1018 steel alloys. •Duplex 2507 SS has better HVL than that of 304 SS and AISI 1018 for neutron and γ-ray energies.•The best values of mass attenuation coefficient of gamma ray energies are in duplex 2507 SS.•Duplex 2507 SS has more pitting resistance compared with other alloys.