Novel Concepts for Damage-Resistant Alloys in Next Generation Nuclear Power Systems

The discovery of a damage-resistant alloy based on Hf solute additions to a low-carbon 316SS is the highlight of the Phase II research. This damage resistance is supported by characterization of radiation-induced microstructures and microchemistries along with measurements of environmental cracking. The addition of Hf to a low-carbon 316SS reduced the detrimental impact of radiation by changing the distribution of Hf. Pt additions reduced the impact of radiation on grain boundary segregation but did not alter its effect on microstructural damage development or cracking. Because cracking susceptibility is associated with several material characteristics, separate effect experiments exploring strength effects using non-irradiated stainless steels were conducted. These crack growth tests suggest that irradiation strength by itself can promote environmental cracking. The second concept for developing damage resistant alloys is the use of metastable precipitates to stabilize the microstructure during irradiation. Three alloys have been tailored for evaluation of precipitate stability influences on damage evolution. The first alloy is a Ni-base alloy (alloy 718) that has been characterized at low neutron irradiation doses but has not been characterized at high irradiation doses. The other two alloys are Fe-base alloys (PH 17-7 and PH 17-4) that have similar precipitate structures as alloy 718 but is more practical in nuclear structures because of the lower Ni content and hence lesser transmutation to He