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Corrosion and slow-strain-rate testing of Type 304L stainless steel in tuff groundwater environments

Conference ·
OSTI ID:59996

Type 304L stainless steel (SS) is the nuclear waste package reference material by the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations (NNWSI) Project. The stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance of this material to elevated-temperature tuff groundwater environments was determined under irradiated and unirradiated conditions. The material was found to be susceptible to SCC (in both the solution-annealed and solution-annealed-and-sensitized conditions) when exposed to an irradiated (3 x 10{sup 5} rad/h) air/water vapor/crushed tuff rock environment at 90{sup 0}C. A similar exposure at 50{sup 0}C did not result in failure after a 25-month test duration. Specimens of sensitized Type 304 SS failed in both the 90{sup 0}C and 50{sup 0}C environments. U-bend specimens of Type 304L SS conditioned with a variety of sensitization heat treatments resisted failure during a test of 1-year duration in which an environment of tuff rock and groundwater held at 200{sup 0}C was allowed to boil to dryness on a cyclical (weekly) basis. All specimens of sensitized Type 304 SS exposed to this environment failed. Slow-strain-rate studies were performed on 304L, 304, and 316L SS specimens. The Type 304L steel was tested in J-13 well water at 150{sup 0}C; the Type 316L steel at 95{sup 0}C. Neither material showed evidence of SCC in these tests. Sensitized Type 304 SS, on the other hand, did exhibit SCC in J-13 well water in tests conducted at 150{sup 0}C.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
59996
Report Number(s):
PNL-SA--14396; CONF-870314--8; ON: DE87006404
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English