Light elements microanalysis of steel/B4C melts for nuclear power plants accident studies

Steam oxidation of boron carbide–stainless steel liquid mixtures

“…The calibration of the microprobe is performed with standards: Fe 2 B (homemade standard prepared with the same method used to prepare the samples) to quantify B and Fe, SiO 2 (CAMECA standard) to quantify Si and pure element standards (from CAMECA) to quantify the other elements. More details about the electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) method can be found in [14].…”

Degradation in steam of 60cm-long B4C control rods

“…Extensive post-test examinations were carried out with a LECA DMR microscope and a CAMECA SX-100 electron microprobe equipped with five WDS (Wavelength Dispersive Spectrometer), in order to identify the various chemical elements present at different elevations of the degraded rod. The standards used for quantitative chemical measurements were: Fe 2 B (homemade standard also used in [13,21]) to quantify B and Fe, SiO 2 (CAMECA standard) to quantify Si and pure element standards (from CAMECA) to quantify the other elements. Chemical quantitative analysis (15 kV, 50-100 nA) of analysed zones (300 μm x 300 μm) were performed by moving the sample by steps of 50 microns and sweeping at each step a 50 µm x 50 µm area by beam scanning (the analysed area was totally covered).…”