[en] Type 316 LN stainless steel is the major structural material used in the construction of fast breeder reactors. Activated Tungsten Inert Gas (A-TIG) welding , a variant of the TIG welding process has been found to enhance the depth of penetration significantly during autogenous welding and also found to enhance the creep rupture life in stainless steels. The present study aims at comparing the effect of TIG and A-TIG welding processes on the impression creep resistance of type 316 LN stainless steel base metal, fusion zone and heat affected zone (HAZ) of weld joints. Optical and TEM have been used to correlate the microstructures with the observed creep rates of various zones of the weld joints. Finer microstructure and higher ferrite content was observed in the TIG weld joint fusion zone. Coarser grain structure was observed in the HAZ of the weld joints. Impression creep rate of A-TIG weld joint fusion zone was almost equal to that of the base metal and lower than that of the TIG weld joint fusion zone. A-TIG weld joint HAZ was found to have lower creep rate compared to that of conventional TIG weld joint HAZ due to higher grain size. HAZ of the both the weld joints exhibited lower creep rate than the base metal. (author)