Characterization of the Resistance of Alloy 22 to Stress Corrosion Cracking

In its current design, the high-level nuclear waste container includes an external layer of Alloy 22 (Ni-22Cr-13Mo-3W-3Fe). Since the containers may be exposed to multi-ionic aqueous environments over their lifetime, a potential degradation mode of the outer layer could be environmentally assisted cracking (EAC). The objective of the current research is to characterize the effect of applied potential and temperature on the susceptibility of Alloy 22 to EAC in simulated concentrated water (SCW) using the slow strain rate test (SSRT). Results show that Alloy 22 may suffer EAC at applied potentials approximately 400 mV more anodic than the corrosion potential (E_corr).