Evaluation of chemical surface treatment methods for mitigation of PWSCC

As part of its mission to propose innovative and safe technologies to mitigate Primary Water Stress Corrosion Cracking (PWSCC) in Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR), EPRI recently initiated a program to evaluate potential new chemical surface treatments that might delay the occurrence of PWSCC such that no failure of components would be observed during their lifetime. Among the initial screening of more than thirty technologies, seven were selected for a more detailed review. The selected technologies were: nickel and nickel alloy plating, organic inhibitors, chromium-based inhibitors, silicon carbide, titanium-based inhibitors, rare earth metal (REM)-based inhibitors and encapsulation. The conclusions of the review of these technologies were that two of them were worth pursuing, titanium-based and REM-based inhibitors, and that evaluating the radiological consequences of injecting these products in the primary system, as well as assessing their efficacy to mitigate PWSCC, should be prioritized as the next required steps in qualification for implementation. (authors)