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Erosion and Corrosion Assessment of Type 304L Stainless Steel Jumper Removed from Nuclear Waste Transfer Service

A pipe connection assembly (jumper), fabricated from Type 304L stainless steel, was used to transfer nuclear waste from one tank to other tanks on the Hanford Site. After serving as the routing connection for approximately 11 million liters of tank waste over approximately 11 months, the jumper was removed from service and examined to determine any erosion, pitting, cracking, or other forms of degradation to the jumper. Ultrasonic transducer measurements for wall thickness before and after service at the same selected locations show that there was no measurable wall loss, and no erosion patterns were observed. After the ultrasonic transducer measurement, the jumper section was cut open to expose the inner surface for detailed examination by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The straight pipe sections at both upstream and downstream locations looked pristine, while discoloring was observed at the two welds, in the heat-affected zone, and in nearby regions joining the elbow and straight pipes. There was no erosion, pitting corrosion, or flow-induced corrosion, nor were there other corrosion mechanisms in evidence except for a crack-like feature observed at the boundary of the base metal and weld. Material etching didn't show alignment of the crack with grain boundaries. Degree of sensitization measurement shows that the weld and heat-affected zone, including the neighboring base, was only slightly sensitized during the manufacturing process. The results suggest that there is very low likelihood that the crack-like feature observed from the weld cross section was the result of stress corrosion cracking. Overall, the jumper performed well during the waste transfer process.
Product Number: 51324-20634-SG
Author: Sheewa X. Feng; Jason S. Page
Publication Date: 2024
$40.00
$40.00
$40.00