A Review of Alloy 600 Cracking in Operating Nuclear Plants Including Alloy 82 and 182 Weld Behavior

Service induced cracking in Alloy 600 has been known for a long time, having been first observed in the 1980’s in steam generator tubing and small bore piping, and later, in 1991, in reactor vessel control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) head penetrations. Other than steam generator tubing, which cracked within a few years of operation, the first Alloy 600 cracking was in base metal of Combustion Engineering small bore piping, followed closely by CE pressurizer heater sleeves. The first reactor vessel CRDM penetrations (base metal) to crack were in France, US plants found CRDM cracking several years later. Three plants have discovered weld metal cracking at the outlet nozzle to pipe weld region. This was the first known weld metal cracking. This paper will chronicle the development of service-induced cracking in these components, and compare the behavior of welds as opposed to base metal, from the standpoint of time to crack initiation, growth rate of cracks, and their impact on structural integrity. In addition, a discussion of potential future trends will be provided.