(Structural mechanics in reactor technology and concrete aging)

Abstract

The travelers met with staff members of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (Risley), the UK Central Electricity Generating Board (Leatherhead), the Staatliche Materialprufungsanstalt (Universitaet Stuttgart), the Swiss Federal Institute for Reactor Research (Wuerenlingen), and the Joint Research Center of Commission of European Communities (Ispra) to obtain first-hand information about ongoing R D programs in support of light-water reactor pressure vessel integrity. Meetings pertaining to aging of concrete components were also held with members of the staffs at Taywood Engineering (London) and Central Electricity Generating Board (Leatherhead). The travelers also participated in the 9th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (SMiRT), and the post-SMiRT seminar on containment of nuclear reactors was attended. Contacts with the research laboratories will provide an improved basis for future exchange of information, and some steps were taken to explore potential cooperative research programs. It should be noted that each laboratory visited volunteered interest in the development of cooperative programs. Information obtained during this trip will benefit the ongoing NRC research programs by updating ORNL on the status of research programs in Europe, and also by strengthening acquaintances with counter-parts in other countries, thus enhancing the basis for possible international cooperation.