Effect of chloride transients on the corrosion behavior of low-alloy steels in cladding flaws of reactor pressure vessels under oxygenated high-temperature water conditions

Strain-induced corrosion cracking in low alloy steels (LAS) has been extensively investigated during the last decades. One finding from recent investigations is the detrimental role of even small amounts of chlorides, which has been shown to increase the cracking susceptibility of LAS. In order to evaluate this finding a demanding research programme has been established. In light water reactor plants, the pressure vessel and in some cases also the piping is made of LAS, covered with welded stainless steel cladding for improved corrosion protection. In structural failure assessments of primary circuits, penetrating cladding flaws have to be assumed, which could locally expose the underlying LAS to the cooling water. Due to the narrow opening of such weld defects the aqueous solution in contact with the underlying LAS would have a different composition from that of the bulk cooling water. In this paper, first detailed calculations of the water chemistry prevailing in such conditions revealed that oxygen concentration decreases rapidly when going from the mouth of the cladding flaw towards the bottom, bringing the redox potential to values, much lower than those typical for oxygenated high temperature water (HTW). Also, chloride was found to enrich into the cladding flaw volume by a factor of x30. The material studied was 20MnMoNi55 used for the reactor coolant line of a German NPP. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that chloride transients up to 50 ppb in the bulk HTW, resulting in an enrichment of chloride in a penetrating cladding flaw up to 1,500 ppb, do not result in any serious consequences for the corrosion of LAS at the bottom of the cladding flaw. (orig.)