Dr. Lefu Zhang: Why I Chose the Corrosion Industry

My name is Lefu ZHANG, a professor of the School of Nuclear Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). I study engineering materials for nuclear power reactors, specifically light water cooled reactors (LWR), such as pressurized water reactors and super-critical water reactors. Most of my research work is related to the corrosion of LWR reactor materials, especially materials for the primary pressure boundary components, reactor internals, and fuel cladding.

I was first inspired by a seminar on the importance of corrosion and water chemistry research in the development of Chinese nuclear industry, and I realized the extremely weak capability of China in this field. I started SJTU’s lab from humble beginnings, with only a microscope and polishing machine, and it is now established as the leading Chinese lab for corrosion research of reactor materials, which is one of my proudest professional accomplishments. I am pushing for the laboratory to be open to researchers all over the world, and hope the younger generation will use it to produce good data, both for scientific research interest and for nuclear engineering application, to assist the promotion of nuclear safety.

CORROSION journal helped our research greatly due to the high-quality papers written by scientists, such as Peter Ford, Roger W. Staehle, Peter L. Andresen, Koji Arioka, Gary Was, Steve Brummer, and so many other great scientists in this world. Some of these scientists, especially Roger Staehle and Peter Andresen, offered their advice to help my research and my lab, encouraging me to continue doing good work and further developing SJTU’s lab.

As CORROSION journal celebrates its 75th anniversary, we bless a bright future for AMPP.