Nuclear containment steel liner corrosion workshop : final summary and recommendation report.

Abstract

This report documents the proceedings of an expert panel workshop conducted to evaluate the mechanisms of corrosion for the steel liner in nuclear containment buildings. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sponsored this work which was conducted by Sandia National Laboratories. A workshop was conducted at the NRC Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland on September 2 and 3, 2010. Due to the safety function performed by the liner, the expert panel was assembled in order to address the full range of issues that may contribute to liner corrosion. This report is focused on corrosion that initiates from the outer surface of the liner, the surface that is in contact with the concrete containment building wall. Liner corrosion initiating on the outer diameter (OD) surface has been identified at several nuclear power plants, always associated with foreign material left embedded in the concrete. The potential contributing factors to liner corrosion were broken into five areas for discussion during the workshop. Those include nuclear power plant design and operation, corrosion of steel in contact with concrete, concrete aging and degradation, concrete/steel non-destructive examination (NDE), and concrete repair and corrosion mitigation. This report also includes the expert panel member's recommendations for future research.