Influence of the Tritium in Type 316L Stainless Steel on Corrosion

It is shown that the tritium in stainless steel induces stress corrosion by the effects of embrittlement due to both the tritium itself and the helium formed by its decay. These also cause local breakdown of the oxide layer, though this breakdown is also brought about by the β⁻ ray energy, which can be estimated to be between 4 × 10³ and 10⁵ MeV/cm² of the steel surface per second.