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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.
Stanley J. Green, J. Peter N. Paine
Nuclear Technology | Volume 55 | Number 1 | October 1981 | Pages 10-29
Technical Paper | Materials Performance in Nuclear Steam Generator / Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32828
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The nuclear industry has had a variety of reliability problems with pressurized water reactor steam generators. Most of these problems have been associated with corrosion and mechanically induced damage, including secondary water intergranular corrosion and stress corrosion cracking (SCC), primary water SCC, wastage, high cycle fatigue, and fretting and wear of the Inconel 600 or Incoloy 800 tubes, plus accelerated corrosion of carbon steel tube support structures in crevice regions. Corrosion and mechanically induced damage are caused by complex interactions of water chemistry, thermal-hydraulic design, materials design choices, fabrication methods, and secondary plant materials, design, and operations. Corrosion has affected almost 90% of steam generators operational prior to 1977, resulting in forced and scheduled outages to plug or sleeve tubes and repair or replace generators. Utility operators have begun to respond vigorously with improved operating and maintenance procedures that reduce air and cooling water inleakage; with installation of full-flow condensate polishers, titanium or stainless steel condensers, retubed feedwater heaters, and moisture separater reheaters; and with modifications to makeup water and blowdown systems. The Steam Generator Owners’ Group continues to provide a focus for development work to understand damage mechanisms, provide remedial actions, and effect transfer of technology to the utility operators