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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. F. Remark, A. B. Johnson, Jr., Harry Farrar, IV, D. G. Atteridge
Nuclear Technology | Volume 29 | Number 3 | June 1976 | Pages 369-377
Technical Paper | Fusion Reactor Material / Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT76-A31601
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The results of a study on the use of the decay of tritium to helium as a method of charging metals with helium were presented. Tritium was dissolved into vanadium and niobium specimens at elevated temperatures, allowed to decay to helium at room temperature, and then removed from the given specimen by hot vacuum extraction. Post-high-temperature test 3He concentrations up to 500 appm were achieved and were found to agree within ±7% with tritium decay concentration calculations. Substantial ductility decreases were found in niobium specimens tested at 1020°C and containing >130 appm helium. The ductility losses appeared to correlate with the appearance of helium on the grain boundaries. A niobium specimen containing 170 appm helium and subjected to an 1800°C anneal exhibited a substantial loss of load-carrying grain-boundary area due to grain-boundary helium bubble formation.