Nuclear technologies have important distinctions and potential advantages for large-scale generation of hydrogen for U.S. energy services. Nuclear hydrogen requires no imported fossil fuels, results in lower greenhouse-gas emissions and other pollutants, lends itself to large-scale production, and is sustainable. The technical uncertainties in nuclear hydrogen processes and the reactor technologies needed to enable these processes, as well waste, proliferation, and economic issues must be successfully addressed before nuclear energy can be a major contributor to the nation's energy future. In order to address technical issues in the time frame needed to provide optimized hydrogen production choices, the Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative (NHI) must examine a wide range of new technologies, make the best use of research funding, and make early decisions on which technology options to pursue. For these reasons, it is important that system integration studies be performed to help guide the decisions made in the NHI. In framing the scope of system integration analyses, there is a hierarchy of questions that should be addressed: What hydrogen markets will exist and what are their characteristics? Which markets are most consistent with nuclear hydrogen? What nuclear power and production process configurations are optimal? What requirements are placed on the nuclear …

The nuclear waste package design for Yucca Mountain (Nevada, USA), in its current configuration, consists of a double wall cylindrical container fabricated using a highly corrosion resistant Ni-based Alloy 22 for the outer barrier and type 316 stainless steel for the inner structural vessel. A mailbox-shaped drip shield fabricated primarily using Ti Grade 7 will cover the waste packages. The environmental degradation of the relevant materials have been extensively studied and modeled for over ten years. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art understanding of the degradation modes of Alloy 22 (N06022) due to its interaction with the predicted in-drift mountain conditions including temperature and types of electrolytes. Subjects discussed include thermal aging and phase stability, dry oxidation, general and localized corrosion, stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen induced cracking.

A corrosion engineering information system was created to manage, correlate and predict corrosion of alloys and also to use thermochemical calculations to predict the occurrence of dominant corrosion mechanisms in hot gases found in many different chemical processes and other related industrial processes.

Alloy 22 is a nickel base alloy highly resistant to all forms of corrosion. In conditions where tight crevices exist in hot chloride containing solutions and at anodic potentials, Alloy 22 may suffer crevice corrosion, a form of localized attack. The occurrence (or not) of crevice corrosion in a given environment (e.g. salt concentration and temperature), is governed by the values of the critical potential (E{sub crit}) for crevice corrosion and the corrosion potential (E{sub corr}) that the alloy may establish in the studied environment. If E{sub corr} is equal or higher than E{sub crit}, crevice corrosion may be expected. In addition, it is generally accepted that as Alloy 22 becomes passive in a certain environment, its E{sub corr} increases and its corrosion rate (CR) decreases. This paper discusses the evolution of E{sub corr} and corrosion rate (CR) of creviced Alloy 22 specimens in six different mixtures of sodium chloride (NaCl) and potassium nitrate (KNO{sub 3}) at 100 C. The effect of immersion time on the value of E{sub crit} was also determined. Two types of specimens were used, polished as-welded (ASW) and as-welded plus solution heat-treated (ASW+SHT). The latter contained the black annealing oxide film on the surface. Results …

This report deals with the impact of fabrication processes on the localized corrosion behavior of Alloy 22 (N06022). The four fabrication processes that were analyzed are: (1) Surface stress mitigation of final closure weld, (2) Manufacturing of the mockup container, (3) Black annealing of the container and (4) Use of different heats of Alloy 22 for container fabrication. Immersion and Electrochemical tests performed in the laboratory are generally aggressive and do not represent actual repository environments in Yucca Mountain. For example, to determine the intergranular attack in the heat affected zone of a weldment, tests are conducted in boiling acidic and oxidizing solutions according to ASTM standards. These solutions are used to compare the behavior of differently treated metallic coupons. Similarly for electrochemical tests many times pure sodium chloride or calcium chloride solutions are used. Pure chloride solutions are not representative of the repository environment. (1) Surface Stress Mitigation: When metallic plates are welded, for example using the Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) method, residual tensile stresses may develop in the vicinity of the weld seam. Processes such as Low Plasticity Burnishing (LPB) and Laser Shock Peening (LSP) could be applied locally to eliminate the residual stresses produced by welding. …