Entry Date:
July 25, 2012

Environmental Degradation of Materials in Light Water Reactor (LWR) Environments


The goals of this research program are: (1) to understand the fundamental mechanisms of embrittlement of iron and nickel-base alloys in high temperature aqueous systems, including supercritical conditions, and (2) to develop materials that are resistant to embrittlement. The detailed electrochemical and mechanical behavior of nickel-base and stainless steel alloys are being studied. Environmental effects being studied include stress corrosion cracking, hydrogen embrittlement and corrosion fatigue.