Evolution of Structural Materials in Nuclear Reactors

摘要

Structural materials used in conventional industry, their adoption and successive evolutions in the nuclear industry, from one generation of nuclear reactor to another, is presented. Specific examples for several steels are given, covering fabrication procedures, qualification methods, property databases and design allowable stresses, to show how the ever-increasing demands for better performance and reliability, in particular under neutron irradiation, have been met.rnParticular attention is paid to the austenitic stainless steels types 304L, 316L, 316L(N), 316L(N)-IG, titanium stabilised grade 321, precipitation strengthened Alloy 800, conventional and low activation ferritic/martensitic steels and their ODS derivatives. For each material, evolution of the associated filler metal and welding techniques is also presented.