Prevention of stress corrosion cracking in nuclear waste storage tanks
At the Savannah River Plant, stress corrosion of carbon steel storage tanks containing alkaline nitrate radioactive waste is prevented by stress relief and specification of limits on waste composition and temperature. Actual cases of cracking have occurred in the primary steel shell of tanks designed and built before 1960 and were attributed to a combination of high residual stresses from fabrication welding and aggressiveness of fresh wastes from the reactor fuel reprocessing plants. The fresh wastes have the highest concentration of nitrate, which has been shown to be the cracking agent. Also, as the waste solutions age and are reduced in volume by evaporation of water, nitrite and hydroxide ions become more concentrated and inhibit stress corrosion. Thus, by providing a heel of aged evaporated waste in tanks that receive fresh wastes, concentrations of the inhibitor ions are maintained within specific ranges to protect against nitrate cracking. The concentration and temperature range limits to prevent cracking were determined by a series of statistically designed experiments.
- Research Organization:
- Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, SC (USA). Savannah River Lab.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-76SR00001
- OSTI ID:
- 6171758
- Report Number(s):
- DP-MS-83-18; CONF-830467-1; ON: DE83012006
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Multivariable regression symposium, Nashville, TN, USA, 27 Apr 1983; Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Prevention of stress-corrosion cracking in nuclear waste storage tanks
POTENTIAL FOR STRESS CORROSION CRACKING OF A537 CARBON STEEL NUCLEAR WASTE TANKS CONTAINING HIGHLY CAUSTIC SOLUTIONS
Related Subjects
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CARBON STEELS
CORROSION PROTECTION
STRESS CORROSION
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
CORROSIVE EFFECTS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
TANKS
NITRATES
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
UNDERGROUND STORAGE
ALLOYS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CONTAINERS
CORROSION
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
STEELS
STORAGE
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
WASTES
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
360105 - Metals & Alloys- Corrosion & Erosion