In-pile SCC initiation and growth testing at JMTR

Tsukada, Takashi ; Kaji, Yoshiyuki  ; Ugachi, Hirokazu ; Nagata, Nobuaki*; Dozaki, Koji*; Takiguchi, Hideki*

Irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) is one of the significant concerns for the in-vessel stainless steel components of the aged light water reactors (LWRs). In general, IASCC can be reproduced on the materials irradiated over a certain threshold fluence level of fast neutron by the post-irradiation examinations (PIEs). It is, however, considered that the reproduced IASCC by PIEs must be carefully compared with the actual IASCC in nuclear power plants, because the actual IASCC occurs in the core under simultaneous effects of radiation, stress and high temperature water environment. Therefore, to confirm the effect of synergy, we have started to develop the test technique to carry out the in-pile IASCC tests at JMTR, Japan Materials Testing Reactor. In this paper, we describe the developed several techniques, especially control of loading on specimens, monitoring technique of crack initiation/growth and a result of mock-up in-pile SCC tests using thermally sensitized specimens.