Supercritical water can be use as a high pressure coolant in order to improve the thermodynamic efficiency of power plants. For nuclear concept, lifetime is an important safety parameter for materials. Thus materials selection criteria concern high temperature yield stress, creep resistance, resistance to irradiation embrittlement and also to both uniform corrosion and stress corrosion cracking.This study aims for supplying a new insight on uniform corrosion mechanism of Fe-Ni-Cr f.c.c. alloys in deaerated supercritical water at 600°C and 25MPa. Corrosion tests were performed on 316L and 690 alloys as sample autoclaves taking into account the effect of surface finishes. Morphologies, compositions and crystallographic structure of the oxides were determined using FEG scanning electron microscopy, glow discharge spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. If supercritical water is expected to have a gas-like behaviour in the test conditions, the results show a significant dissolution of the alloy species. Thus the corrosion in supercritical water can be considered similar to corrosion in under-critical water assuming the higher temperature and its effect on the solid state diffusion. For alloy 690, the protective oxide layer formed on polished surface consists of a chromia film topped with an iron and nickel mixed chromite or spinel. The double oxide layer formed on 316L steel seems less protective with an outer porous layer of magnetite and an inhomogeneous Cr-rich inner layer. For each alloy, the study of the inner protective scale growth mechanisms by marker or tracer experiments reveals that diffusion in the oxide scale is governed by an anionic process. However, surface finishes impact deeply the growth mechanisms. Comparisons between the results for the steel suggest that there is a competition between the oxidation of iron and chromium in supercritical water. Sufficient available chromium is required in order to form a thin oxide layer. Highly deformed or ultra fine microstructure surfaces lead to thin chromium rich oxide layers thanks to either diffusion short circuiting or increasing Cr oxide nucleation site. The nature of the surface is a determining factor in the steel instance. The same parameter breeds different effects for the Ni-based alloy. Machined surfaces lead to internal oxidation on alloy 690 even if a thin Cr and Mn rich oxide scale is formed. Competitive diffusion of oxygen and Cr species through the diffusion short circuit paths of the alloy is suggested. This work proposes oxide growth mechanisms for each case. Finally the conditions leading to the formation of chromium-rich protective oxide films in supercritical water are discussed.
