Corrosion of structural and poison material in spent fuel storage pools

Conference · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:5235724

Czajkowski, C; Weeks, J R; Protter, S R

The purposes of this paper are three-fold: (1) to review the corrosion experience in general of the structural and nuclear poison materials in spent fuel storage pools around the country; (2) to describe our in-house experience at the spent fuel storage facilities at Brookhaven on the behavior of the nuclear poison boral and aluminum and stainless steel structures; and (3) to present the results obtained at Brookhaven on evaluating the causes of the stress corrosion cracking that occurred in the Three Mile Island, Unit 1 spent fuel storage pool heat exchangers. Conclusions are: (1) The performance of structural and poison material in spent fuel storage pools to date has been excellent. (2) Intergranular stress corrosion of sensitized stainless steel can occur in these environments if the material is heavily sensitized and heavily stressed, as might occur in areas with extensive weld repairs. (3) Accidental contamination of the pool with materials such as chloride or reduced forms of sulfur could lead to initiation of stress corrosion cracking of such materials. (4) Boral can be exposed to nuclear coolant without detectable loss of the boron carbide from the matrix. (5) Pitting corrosion of the aluminum cladding on the boral, however, is possible where the cladding is in contact with stainless steel, especially at those points of contact where access to oxygen is highest, and in pools containing boric acid. (6) Pitting of aluminum racks, where they are in contact with stainless steel can occur. (7) Type 17-4 PH stainless steel should be used in the H-1025-1100 condition and the heat treatment scale removed by either chemical or mechanical means to avoid possible stress corrosion cracking, pitting, and sludge formation in the pool. 8 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 5235724
• Report Number(s): BNL-NUREG-28937; CONF-810402-16; ON: TI86000109
• Resource Relation: Conference: Corrosion/81 annual meeting, Toronto, Canada, 6 Apr 1981
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM
PITTING CORROSION
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
STAINLESS STEELS
STRESS CORROSION
BORIC ACID
FUEL CANS
FUEL POOLS
HEAT EXCHANGERS
THREE MILE ISLAND-1 REACTOR
ALLOYS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CORROSION
CORROSION RESISTANT ALLOYS
ELEMENTS
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
METALS
POWER REACTORS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTORS
STEELS
STORAGE
THERMAL REACTORS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
050900* - Nuclear Fuels- Transport
Handling
& Storage
360105 - Metals & Alloys- Corrosion & Erosion