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Metallurgical improvements for enhanced stress corrosion performance of light water reactor structural materials

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Journal of Materials for Energy Systems

Abstract

Incidences of stress corrosion cracking of a wide variety of structural materials used in light water reactors have caused significant forced outages, with associated high costs to utilities and ratepayers for replacement power. This paper focuses on stress corrosion cracking problems in fuel rods and other small core components, piping, steam generator tubes, and turbine discs. These problems have motivated intense research efforts to seek solutions and the resulting material remedies, involving either or both microstructure and alloy chemistry modification, are described.

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Roberts, J.T.A. Metallurgical improvements for enhanced stress corrosion performance of light water reactor structural materials. JMES 4, 142–153 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02833406

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