ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
60 Years of U: Perspectives on resources, demand, and the evolving role of nuclear energy
Recent years have seen growing global interest in nuclear energy and rising confidence in the sector. For the first time since the early 2000s, there is renewed optimism about the industry’s future. This change is driven by several major factors: geopolitical developments that highlight the need for secure energy supplies, a stronger focus on resilient energy systems, national commitments to decarbonization, and rising demand for clean and reliable electricity.
W. D. Fletcher, D. D. Malinowski
Nuclear Technology | Volume 28 | Number 3 | March 1976 | Pages 356-373
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT76-A31518
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Service exposure has been accrued in 66 steam generators tubed with Inconel-600. Localized corrosion coincident with sludge deposition in low flow-velocity zones has been observed. Inter granular cracking has been attributed to stress-assisted caustic corrosion resulting from hydrolysis of condenser inleakage contaminants or sodium phosphate reactions with feedwater corrosion products. Wall thinning or wastage is attributed to the formation of high-concentration sodium phosphate solutions under the sludge blanket. The resistance of Inconel-600 to these corrosion mechanisms is comparable or superior to that of other candidate tube materials. The experience gathered points strongly to environmental and thermal/hydraulic factors rather than materials considerations as the predominant influence on the occurrence of localized corrosion. Mechanical modifications designed to reduce the number of tubes in zones of low flow-velocity are being installed into operating units; current production units have incorporated design features including a flow distribution baffle to improve the thermal/ hydraulic conditions over prior models. Rigorous control of feedwater impurities is being applied to reduce the probability of creating a corrosive environment in the steam generators.