Overview of the Boiling Water Reactor Owners Group Research and Development Program

In response to the increased number of incidents of intergranular stress corrosion cracking of austenitic stainless steel piping and the appearance of cracking in large diameter (24 inch) 304 stainless steel pipe, a group of Boiling Water Reactor Utilities organized in October 1979 to provide the resources necessary to solve the problem. The Electric Power Research Institute accepted the responsibility to integrate these resources into an ongoing research and development effort for the purposes of establishing a single unified program to meet the utility needs. This program is identified as the Boiling Water Reactor Owners Group (BWROG) Intergranular Stress Corrosion Cracking (IGSCC) Research Program. The program was organized into three major tasks: 1) plant problem resolution, 2) remedy development, and 3) remedy application. Each major task is discussed, and goals associated with each task are identified