Prediction of Irradiation Embrittlement for Chinese Domestic A508-3 Steel

Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) is one of the most important components in nuclear power plant (NPP). The aging mechanism of primary concern for RPV is irradiation embrittlement, which can result in a decrease of fracture toughness of RPV steel. Prediction of irradiation embrittlement for a certain Chinese domestic manufactured A508-3 steel is performed. The calculation results given by the US safety standards, the French RCC-M standards and other international safety standards are compared with each other and compared to the data from commercial operation NPP surveillance program. The effect of neutron fluence is also investigated. Furthermore, the property of the steel against irradiation embrittlement is evaluated with the regulatory requirements in the relevant standards. It can be predicted that the Chinese domestic steel satisfies the requirements in these standards.