TY - GEN
T1 - Thermal annealing of reactor pressure vessels
AU - Sokolov, Mikhail A.
AU - Server, William L.
AU - Nanstad, Randy K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright 2015 by ASME.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Some of the current fleet of nuclear power plants is poised to reach their end of life and will require an operating life time extension. Therefore, the main structural components, including the reactor pressure vessel (RPV), will be subject to higher neutron exposures than originally planned. These longer operating times raise serious concerns regarding our ability to manage the reliability of RPV steels at such high doses. Thermal annealing is the only option that can, to some degree, recover irradiated beltline region transition temperature shift and recover upper shelf energy properties lost during radiation exposure and extend RPV service life. This paper reviews the experience accumulated internationally with development and implementation of thermal annealing to RPV and potential perspectives for carrying out thermal annealing on US nuclear power plant RPVs.
AB - Some of the current fleet of nuclear power plants is poised to reach their end of life and will require an operating life time extension. Therefore, the main structural components, including the reactor pressure vessel (RPV), will be subject to higher neutron exposures than originally planned. These longer operating times raise serious concerns regarding our ability to manage the reliability of RPV steels at such high doses. Thermal annealing is the only option that can, to some degree, recover irradiated beltline region transition temperature shift and recover upper shelf energy properties lost during radiation exposure and extend RPV service life. This paper reviews the experience accumulated internationally with development and implementation of thermal annealing to RPV and potential perspectives for carrying out thermal annealing on US nuclear power plant RPVs.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84961321305&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1115/PVP2015-45783
DO - 10.1115/PVP2015-45783
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84961321305
T3 - American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Pressure Vessels and Piping Division (Publication) PVP
BT - Operations, Applications and Components
PB - American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
T2 - ASME 2015 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, PVP 2015
Y2 - 19 July 2015 through 23 July 2015
ER -