Atmospheric Chamber Testing to Evalute Chloride Induced Stress Corrosion Cracking of Type 304, 304L, and 316L Stainless Steel

Many nuclear power plant facilities are located in coastal environments, which may contain various levels of salt in the atmosphere.  As spent fuel continues to accumulate, more and more nuclear facilities have begun to store spent nuclear fuel onsite at outdoor independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSI).  Some of the designs for these ISFSI have included the use of stainless steel.  Because of the high temperatures of the fuel and the local salt environment, there has been interest to determine the susceptibility of the stainless steel materials used in costal ISFSI to stress corrosion crack.  The experimental testing discussed in the paper examines this area by conducting U-bend tests of 304, 304L, and 316L.  Samples were prepared and held at near room temperature, 200 °F, and 350 °F, while running a salt spray test, which used simulated sea salt.  The samples were held for at least 1-month and then removed and examined.  Initial test results showed that cracking occurred on some of the elevated temperature samples.