2015 Frank Newman Speller Award: Stress Corrosion Cracking and Nuclear Power

In order to provide background for a review of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in nuclear power plants, a review is first presented of the history of occurrence of SCC in fossil fired power plants and a few related applications. The historical development of SCC in nuclear power plants is then described. The many materials and components that have been affected by SCC over the years are identified, as are the material, stress, and environmental factors involved. A particular focus of this monograph is the question of how it happened that materials with significant susceptibility to SCC were used for so many important structural applications in nuclear power plants. To address this question, the historical development of both pressurized water reactor designs and boiling water reactor designs is reviewed. The review covers factors such as the material types selected for test and use, the operating temperatures used as the designs evolved, and the qualification tests and prior operating experience that were relied upon for selection of materials. Some conclusions as to the factors involved in the choice of materials that turned out to be susceptible to SCC are presented, together with some suggestions for how to minimize such problems in the future.