Some of the current fleet of nuclear power plants is poised to reach their end of life and will require an operating life time extension. Therefore, the main structural components, including the reactor pressure vessel (RPV), will be subject to higher neutron exposures than originally planned. These longer operating times raise serious concerns regarding our ability to manage the reliability of RPV steels at such high doses. Thermal annealing is the only option that can, to some degree, recover irradiated beltline region transition temperature shift and recover upper shelf energy properties lost during radiation exposure and extend RPV service life. This paper reviews the experience accumulated internationally with development and implementation of thermal annealing to RPV and potential perspectives for carrying out thermal annealing on US nuclear power plant RPVs.
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ASME 2015 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference
July 19–23, 2015
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Pressure Vessels and Piping Division
ISBN:
978-0-7918-5702-1
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Thermal Annealing of Reactor Pressure Vessels
Mikhail A. Sokolov,
Mikhail A. Sokolov
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
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William L. Server,
William L. Server
ATI Consulting, Black Mountain, NC
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Randy K. Nanstad
Randy K. Nanstad
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
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Mikhail A. Sokolov
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
William L. Server
ATI Consulting, Black Mountain, NC
Randy K. Nanstad
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
Paper No:
PVP2015-45783, V007T07A021; 6 pages
Published Online:
November 19, 2015
Citation
Sokolov, MA, Server, WL, & Nanstad, RK. "Thermal Annealing of Reactor Pressure Vessels." Proceedings of the ASME 2015 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference. Volume 7: Operations, Applications and Components. Boston, Massachusetts, USA. July 19–23, 2015. V007T07A021. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2015-45783
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