NUCLEAR APPLICATIONS OF ELECTRON BEAM WELDING

Electron beam has been applied to the fabrication of fuel elements for pressurised water reactors and the distinct advantages are:

Vacuum environment prevents contamination of the weld joint and ensures that the weld metal possesses good corrosion resistance & mechanical properties. High concentration of weld heat, the concentration of thermal energy is an important advantage of EBW of plate t ype fuel element s. High concentration of heat reduces shrinkage and thermal distortion for example, in fuel elements welding, total transverse shrinkage weld seam is only 0:02 mm to 0:04 mm for electron beam welds. Complex welded structures of molybdenum are being EB welded.