[en] Prior investigations have shown that catastrophic cracking occurs during the repair welding of irradiated material. This cracking has been linked to minute amounts of helium in the material which are produced during irradiation. Experiments have shown that type 316 stainless steel, containing helium levels greater than 2.5 atomic parts per million (appm), is susceptible to cracking upon cooling when welded using the gas tungsten arc (GTA) process under lateral constraint. The cracking has been hypothesized to be caused by stress-assisted helium bubble growth and repture at grain boundaries. In this study, the effects of stress state on the helium bubble growth process were investigated. Autogenous bead-on-plate welds were produced in type 316 stainless steels, containing 256 appm helium. Welds were produced using normal lateral constraint and compressive lateral constraint. The application of a small compressive constraint suppressed previously observed catastrophic cracking. Detailed examinations conducted after welding showed a dramatic change in helium bubble morphology. Grain boundary bubble growth along directions parallel to the weld was suppressed. The results suggest that stress state modification may be used to suppress or eliminate helium-induced cracking encountered during the joining of irradiated materials