Technical Letter Report Assessment of Ultrasonic Phased Array Testing for Cast Austenitic Stainless Steel Pressurizer Surge Line Piping Welds and Thick Section Primary System Cast Piping Welds JCN N6398, Task 2A

Research is being conducted for the NRC at PNNL to assess the effectiveness and reliability of advanced NDE methods for the inspection of LWR components. The scope of this research encompasses primary system pressure boundary materials including cast austenitic stainless steels (CASS), dissimilar metal welds (DMWs), piping with corrosion-resistant cladding, weld overlays, and far-side examinations of austenitic piping welds. A primary objective of this work is to evaluate various NDE methods to assess their ability to detect, localize, and size cracks in coarse-grained steel components. This interim technical letter report (TLR) provides a synopsis of recent investigations at PNNL aimed at evaluating the capabilities of phased-array (PA) ultrasonic testing (UT) methods as applied to the inspection of CASS welds in nuclear reactor piping. A description of progress, recent developments and interim results are provided