Probabilistic Damage Mechanics Assessment of CANDU Pressure Tube using Genetic Algorithm

유전자 알고리즘을 이용한 CANDU 압력관의 확률론적 손상역학 평가

As the lifetime of nuclear power plants (NPPs) reaches design life, the probability for fatal accidents increases. Most of accidents are known to be caused by degradation of mechanical components. Pressure tubes are the most important components in CANDU reactor. They are subjected to various aging mechanisms such as delayed hydride cracking (DHC), irradiation and corrosion, etc. Therefore, the integrity of pressure tube is key concern in CANDU reactor. Up to recently, conventional deterministic approaches have been utilized to evaluate the integrity of components. However, there are many uncertainties to prevent a rational evaluation. The objective of this paper is to assess the failure probability of pressure tube in CANDU. To do this, probability fracture mechanics (PFM) analysis based on the Genetic Algorithm (GA) is performed. For the verification of the analysis, a comparison of the PFM analysis using a commercial code and mathematical method is carried out.