Advanced Materials Research Vol. 794

Abstract: Fuel cycle cost of sodium cooled fast reactors (SFRs) is strongly dependent on the in-reactor performance of core structural materials, i.e., cladding and wrapper tube materials of the fuel subassembly, which are subjected to intense neutron irradiation during service, leading to unique materials problems like void swelling, irradiation creep and helium embrittlement. In order to increase the burnup of the fuel and thereby reduce the fuel cycle cost, it is necessary to employ materials which have high resistance to void swelling as well as better high temperature mechanical properties. The Indian fast reactor program began with the commissioning of the 40 MW_t Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR). The core structural material of FBTR is 20% cold worked 316 austenitic stainless steel (SS). For the 5000 Me_t Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) which is in an advanced stage of construction at Kalpakkam, 20% cold-worked alloy D9 (14Cr-15Ni-Ti SS) has been selected as the cladding and wrapper tube material for the initial core. The target burnup of the fuel is 100 GWd/t. Advanced austenitic stainless steel and oxide dispersion strengthened steels are being developed for achieving fuel burnup higher than 100 GWd/t. An advanced alloy D9 containing controlled amounts of titanium, silicon and phosphorous has been developed. This alloy named as IFAC-1 (Indian Fast Reactor advanced Clad-1) SS is aimed at thermal creep properties comparable to that of alloy D9, and superior void swelling resistance upto a target burn-up of about 150 GWd/t. The nominal chemical composition of IFAC-1 SS is 14Cr-15Ni-.25Ti-.75Si-.04P. The chemical composition has been optimized after extensive evaluation of the tensile, creep and microstructural stability of fifteen laboratory heats with different amounts of titanium, silicon and phosphorous. Void swelling behavior was studied using ion irradiation. IFAC-1 SS contains higher levels of low melting eutectic phase forming elements such as phosphorous, and so is susceptible to solidification cracking. Extensive pulsed TIG welding trials have been carried out on IFAC-1 SS/316LN SS weld joints with varied weld parameters to find out the feasibility of obtaining solidification crack-free welds and the optimum welding parameters have been established. This paper gives an overview of the development of this advanced core structural material for SFRs.

Abstract: Tempering of alloy steels in the temperature range of 400-600 °C causes temper embrittlement i.e. decrease in notch toughness of the material and the nil ductility temperature is raised to room temperature and above. The fracture in temper-embrittled steel is intergranular and propagates along prior austenitic grain boundaries. The embrittlement occurs only in the presence of specific impurities, e.g. P, Sn, Sb and As. These elements have been shown to segregate along prior austenite grain boundaries during tempering. Similar type of temper embrittlement can occur in martensitic stainless steel (SS) if tempered in the temperature range of 450-600 °C. This paper reports a case of failure of components made from martensitic SS 420 due to temper embrittlement. These components were subjected to a temperature of 120 °C in the initial stages of service and had shown brittle fractures. Scanning electron microscopic examination of the fracture surface of both the components showed intergranular fracture. The microstructures of the failed components confirmed that the materials were in hardened and tempered condition. In addition, the microstructure revealed both intergranular corrosion (IGC) and intergranular cracking. The electron backscatter diffraction study also showed retained austenite in the first components material. The material undergoing IGC might be related to a wrong heat-treatment during fabrication and subsequent pickling procedures. To confirm this, a sample each from both the components was exposed to 5% nitric acid solution at 25 °C. The results showed very high corrosion rate and the attack was intergranular in nature. The failure of both the components was concluded to be due to wrong tempering treatment in the temperature range of 450-600 °C that cause grain boundaries to become susceptible to embrittlement and corrosion.

Abstract: The quantitative assay of radionuclides present in steel samples is required for the environmental safety as well as in the process control and quality control of the finished products. The standard sources should also be prepared in the required size and shape as that of the sample, for the efficiency calibration of the HPGe detector system. A method was developed and tested to use ¹⁵²Eu point source for the determination of efficiency of an extended steel disk source using HPGe detector system. Standard point sources of ¹⁵²Eu were prepared by transferring known amount of ¹⁵²Eu activity by weight. Standard steel disk sources of required dimensions were also prepared by distributing uniformly the standard activity of ¹⁵²Eu on both sides of the inactive steel disk. The extrapolated efficiency of the steel disk sample was determined using the efficiency of the ¹⁵²Eu point source and it was compared with the efficiency determined using the standard sources of ¹⁵²Eu prepared on the steel disks. The two efficiency calibration curves matched very well within the experimental limits. Using this efficiency calibration, a few steel samples were analyzed for the radionuclides present in them. The detections limits for most of the nuclides were much less than the specified limits. The method can further be extended for other types of geometries with suitable modifications for the changes in thickness and attenuation corrections.