Welding stir-up

摘要

Extended operation of the existing fleet of light water reactors (LWRs) may require the repair or replacement of reactor pressure vessel components as in-service degradation occurs due to fatigue, irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking (SCC), or other mechanisms. However, the austenitic stainless steels, nickel-based alloys, and weld metals currently deployed in vessel internals and attachments become more difficult to weld over time due to transmutation reactions that occur in high-fluence regions of boiling water and pressurized water reactors (BWRs and PWRs, respectively).