Heavy-section steel technology program: Semiannual progress report, October 1993--March 1994. Volume 11, No. 1

The Heavy-Section Steel Technology (HSST) Program is conducted for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The Program focus is on the development and validation of technology for the assessment Of fracture-prevention margins in commercial nuclear reactor pressure vessels. The HSST Program is organized in seven tasks: (1) program management (2) constraint effects analytical development and validation, (3) evaluation of cladding effects, (4) ductile to cleavage fracture mode conversion, (5) fracture analysis methods development and applications, (6) material Property data and test methods, and (7) integration of results into a state-of-the-art methodology. The program tasks have been structured to place emphasis on the resolution fracture issues with near-term licensing significance. Resources to execute the research tasks are drawn from ORNL with subcontract support from universities and other research laboratories. Close contact is maintained with the sister Heavy-Section Steel Irradiation Program at ORNL and with related research programs both in the United States and abroad. This report provides an overview of principal developments in each of the seven program tasks from October 1993--March 1994