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The influence of hydrogen and temperature (up to 650°C) on an austenitic stainless steel is studied by means of two main techniques: the disk pressure embrittlement and the special biaxial tensile tests. The embrittlement index of the steel is determined as the ratio of rupture pressures of the disks tested similarly under helium and hydrogen. Furthermore, we studied the effect of loading speed and temperature on rupture pressures. We show that the mechanical behavior of the steel is strongly influenced by the apparition of a second phase: the deformation induced martensite, α’. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]