Intergranular stress corrosion cracking of austenitic stainless steels:Is it still an issue?

Environmentally assisted intergranular cracking (EAC) in austenitic stainless steel piping in nuclear power plants started with extensive cracking in boiling water reactors in the 80 s. These events initiated extensive research programs, which led to numerous mitigation steps and lessons learned. The research, development and mitigation actions dealt with new material(s), new welding techniques and new water chemistry strategies as well as on achieving a mechanistic understanding. The actions have been mainly, but not totally, successful, and research is still ongoing and needed. This paper gives a review on EAC in stainless steels in LWR s and is a personal opinion of where research and measures are especially needed