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Swiss nuclear power and the case for long-term operation
Designed for 40 years but built to last far longer, Switzerland’s nuclear power plants have all entered long-term operation. Yet age alone says little about safety or performance. Through continuous upgrades, strict regulatory oversight, and extensive aging management, the country’s reactors are being prepared for decades of continued operation, in line with international practice.
F. W. Wiffen, E. E. Bloom
Nuclear Technology | Volume 25 | Number 1 | January 1975 | Pages 113-123
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT75-A24354
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Type 316 stainless-steel specimens have been irradiated in the High Flux Isotope Reactor at temperatures between 380 and 680°C to displacement damage levels up to 120 displacements per atom and transmutation produced helium contents up to 6090 ppm. Swelling in solution annealed samples was found to be smaller than predicted by the helium swelling models but larger than predicted by fast reactor irradiation results, and the temperature dependence of swelling was also not in agreement with either prediction. Cold work reduced swelling for irradiation temperature up to 600°C but was ineffective at 680°C. For both annealed and cold-worked materials, the swelling was nearly temperature independent between 380 and 600°C but increased markedly at 680°C. Present models are inadequate to explain the swelling results in the presence of these high helium concentrations.