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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.
J. A. Shields, Jr., K. J. Longua
Nuclear Technology | Volume 28 | Number 3 | March 1976 | Pages 471-481
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT76-A31527
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A 5-ft segment of 2¼ Cr—1 Mo ferritic steel pipe has been removed from the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) steam system for metallurgical evaluation after ∼90 000 h of service in the temperature range of 580 to 820°F (304 to 438°C). Optical metallography, instrumented impact testing, tensile testing, Auger electron spectroscopy, and scanning electron fractography have been performed to assess the capability of the material to perform its function in the future. Service in the EBR-II steam system has resulted in additional precipitation of fine uniformly dispersed carbides throughout the micro-structure. As a result of these changes, room temperature yield and tensile strengths are reduced 23.3 and 4.5%, respectively. Excellent toughness is observed on the upper shelf of the Charpy V-notch impact energy curve. No evidence of embrittlement phenomena was observed. The results indicate that the 2¼ Cr—1 Mo steel employed in the EBR-II system has not suffered significant degradation in metallurgical properties and should perform well in the future.