Development, Implementation and Testing of the Application for Measuring and Controlling the Concentration of Oxygen in Molten Lead

Nuclear research, worldwide, is oriented towards the realization of a new generation of nuclear systems with improved performance. The technological challenges for Generation IV systems led to the definition of a framework plan composed of four directions: durability, economy, safety and reliability, and resistance against proliferation and physical protection. Generation IV systems come with a precise and practical response to the demand for clean and safe nuclear energy in modern society, fully satisfying the requirements of sustainable development. Regarding generation IV reactors, the European Union’s option is to develop liquid metal (sodium or lead) or gas-cooled systems. The choice of lead as a coolant adds to operational safety given the high boiling point of lead ($1745^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$). However, under certain high-temperature conditions, lead has a corrosive effect on structural materials. That is why the choice of structural materials for the manufacture of reactor components is very important, and it is also very important to control the purity of lead by monitoring the concentration of dissolved oxygen. Therefore, the development of oxygen control methods and techniques is one of the critical issues for nuclear systems using liquid heavy metals as a coolant. The development and implementation of software for the acquisition of the parameters of interest for the mechanical test tests in the liquid lead environment requires a period in which the developer evaluates the necessary equipment that must be used and analyzes the way of integrating them into the installation so that everything function correctly when the software is finished, and the user can work as simply as possible with the graphic interface provided by the programmer. This paper presents the development of an application for measuring and controlling the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the liquid lead environment and also the way to implement this application in the command and data acquisition software of the mechanical testing machine in the liquid lead environment. After the implementation of the application, some preliminary tests were carried out, the results of which are presented in this paper.