Abstract
This paper presents main results of a comprehensive study performed by the European Clearinghouse on Operating Experience Feedback of NPP with the support of IRSN (Institut de S?reté Nucléaire et de Radioprotection) and GRS (Gesellschaft für Anlagen und Reaktorsi-cherheit mbH). Physical ageing mechanisms of structure, systems and components that eventually lead to ageing related systems and components failures at nuclear power plants were the main focus of this study. The analysis of ageing related events involved operating experience reported by NPP operators in France, Germany, USA and to the IAEA/NEA International Reporting system, on operating experience for the past 20 years (i.e. 1990-2009). A list of ageing related events was populated. Each ageing related event contained in the list was analyzed and results of analysis were summarized for each commodity group for which the ageing degradation appeared to be a dominant contributor or direct cause. The most common degradation mechanisms/ageing effects for each specific component/commodity group, their risk significance and consequences to the plant performance are described. This paper provides insights into ageing related operating experience as well as recommendations to deal with the physical ageing of nuclear power plant SSC important to safety.
Highlights
Ageing management at nuclear power plants should be proactive so that to timely detect the ageing degradations, and propose corrective actions to prevent structures, systems and components important to safety from ageing related faults
This paper presents the results of a comprehensive study [3] performed by the European Clearinghouse on Operating Experience Feedback of NPP with the support of IRSN (Institut de Sûreté Nucléaire et de Radioprotection) and GRS (Gesellschaft für Anlagen und Reaktorsicherheit mbH)
As operating experience has shown, the ageing related events have potential to develop in common cause failures (CCF)
Summary
Ageing management at nuclear power plants should be proactive so that to timely detect the ageing degradations, and propose corrective actions to prevent structures, systems and components important to safety from ageing related faults. Passive components are subject to ageing management review in order to identify ageing related degradations for given material, environment, stressors and operating loads. Active components which perform their intended functions with moving parts or with a change in configuration are subject to preventive maintenance and replacement based on qualified life or specified time period; the ageing management review is typically not performed. The plant maintenance and ageing management programmes aim at early detection of component ageing degradations; in an ideal case, there should not be many ageing related event reports. Obsolescence, it is important issue too, has currently not been included in this paper
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