Development of CANDU Reactor Aging Monitor

CANDU형 원전 경년열화 감시시스템(Aging Monitor) 개발

  • Published : 2009.12.01

Abstract

As the operating time in nuclear power plants (NPPs) increases, the integrity of nuclear components may be continually degraded due to aging effects of systems, structures and components. Recently, a number of NPPs are being operated beyond their design life to produce more electricity without shutting down. The critical issue in extending a lifetime is to maintain the level of safety during the extended operation period while satisfying the international regulatory standards. Therefore, it is beneficial to build a monitoring system to measure an aging status. In this paper, the Aging Monitor (AM) based on lots of aging database obtained from the operating plants and research results on the aging effects was developed to monitor, manage and evaluate the aging phenomena systematically and effectively in NPPs. The AM for the CANDU is divided into 6 modules: (1) Aging Alarm/Coloring Monitor, (2) Aging Database, (3) Aging Document, (4) Real-time Integrity Monitor, (5) Surveillance and Inspection Management System, and (6) Continued Operation and Periodic Safety Review (PSR) Safety Evaluation. The proposed system is expected to provide the integrity assessment for the major mechanical components of an NPP under concurrent working environments.

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