Structural alloys for power plants : operational challenges and high-temperature materials

431 Pages·2014·13.97 MB·English

by  A Shirzadi

Irradiation Embrittlement of Reactor Pressure
Vessels (RPVs) in Nuclear Power Plants
Related titles:
Structural alloys for power plants
(ISBN 978-0-85709-238-0)
Handbook of small modular nuclear reactors
(ISBN 978-0-85709-851-1)
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(ISBN 978-0-85709-239-7)
Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy: Number 26
Irradiation

Embrittlement of
Reactor Pressure
Vessels (RPVs) in
Nuclear Power
Plants
Edited by
Naoki Soneda
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Contents
Contributor contact details xi
Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy xv
Preface xxi
Part I Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) design and fabrication 1
1 Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) design and fabrication:
the case of the USA 3
W. L. Server, ATI Consulting, USA and R. K. Nanstad,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code
design practices 5
1.3 The design process 7
1.4 Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) materials selection 11
1.5 Toughness requirements 14
1.6 RPV fabrication processes 17
1.7 Welding practices 23
1.8 References 24
2 Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) components:
processing and properties 26
Y. Tanaka, The Japan Steel Works, Ltd, Japan
2.1 Introduction 26
2.2 Advances in nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV)
components 27
2.3 Materials for nuclear RPVs 30
2.4 Manufacturing technologies 33
2.5 Metallurgical and mechanical properties of components 40
2.6 Conclusions 42
2.7 References 43
v
vi Contents
3 WWER-type reactor pressure vessel (RPV) materials
and fabrication 44
M. Brumovsky, Nuclear Research Institute Rez plc,
Czech Republic
3.1 Introduction 44
3.2 WWER reactor pressure vessel (RPV) materials 47
3.3 Production of materials for components and welding
techniques 51
3.4 Future trends 53
3.5 Sources of further information and advice 54
Part II Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) embrittlement in
operational nuclear power plants 55
4 Embrittlement of reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) in
pressurized water reactors (PWRs) 57
M. Tomimatsu and T. Hirota, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,
Ltd, Japan, T. Hardin, EPRI, USA and P. Todeschini,
EDF, France
4.1 Introduction 57
4.2 Characteristics of pressurized water reactor (PWR) reactor
pressure vessel (RPV) embrittlement 57
4.3 US surveillance database 62
4.4 French surveillance database 75
4.5 Japanese surveillance database 86
4.6 Surveillance databases from other countries 99
4.7 Future trends 101
4.8 References 103
5 Embrittlement of reactor pressure vessels (RPVs)
in WWER-type reactors 107
M. Brumovsky, Nuclear Research Institute Rez plc,
Czech Republic
5.1 Introduction 107
5.2 Characteristics of embrittlement of WWER reactor
pressure vessel (RPV) materials 108
5.3 Trend curves 109
5.4 WWER surveillance programmes 114
Contents vii
5.5 RPV annealing in WWER reactors 123
5.6 RPV annealing technology 128
5.7 Sources of further information and advice 130
5.8 References 130
6 Integrity and embrittlement management
of reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) in
light-water reactors 132
W. L. Server, ATI Consulting, USA and R. K. Nanstad,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA
6.1 Introduction 132
6.2 Parameters governing reactor pressure vessel
(RPV) integrity 135
6.3 Pressure–temperature operating limits 145
6.4 Pressurized thermal shock (PTS) 149
6.5 Mitigation methods 151
6.6 Licensing considerations 152
6.7 References 153
7 Surveillance of reactor pressure vessel (RPV)
embrittlement in Magnox reactors 156
R. B. Jones, Baznutec Ltd, UK and M. R. Wootton,
Magnox Ltd, UK
7.1 Introduction 156
7.2 History of Magnox reactors 156
7.3 Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) materials
and construction 157
7.4 Reactor operating rules 159
7.5 Design of the surveillance schemes 161
7.6 Early surveillance results 162
7.7 Dose–damage relationships and intergranular fracture in
irradiated submerged-arc welds (SAWs) 169
7.8 Infl uence of thermal neutrons 170
7.9 Validation of toughness assessment methodology by RPV
SAW sampling 171
7.10 Final remarks 174
7.11 Acknowledgements 175
7.12 References 175
viii Contents
Part III Techniques for the evaluation of reactor pressure vessel
(RPV) embrittlement 179
8 Irradiation simulation techniques for the
study of reactor pressure vessel (RPV)
embrittlement 181
K. Fukuya, Institute of Nuclear Safety System,
Inc., Japan
8.1 Introduction 181
8.2 Test reactor irradiation 182
8.3 Ion irradiation 189
8.4 Electron irradiation 197
8.5 Advantages and limitations 199
8.6 Future trends 205
8.7 Sources of further information and advice 206
8.8 References 207
9 Microstructural characterisation techniques
for the study of reactor pressure vessel (RPV)
embrittlement 211
J. M. Hyde and C. A. English, National Nuclear Laboratory,
UK and University of Oxford, UK
9.1 Introduction 211
9.2 Microstructural development and characterisation
techniques 212
9.3 Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) 214
9.4 Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) 223
9.5 Atom probe tomography (APT) 233
9.6 Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) 243
9.7 Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) 247
9.8 Other techniques 252
9.9 Using microstructural analysis to understand
the mechanisms of reactor pressure vessel
(RPV) embrittlement 254
9.10 Grain boundary segregation 255
9.11 Matrix damage 263
9.12 Solute clusters 270
9.13 Mechanistic framework to develop dose–damage
relationships (DDRs) 279
9.14 Recent developments and overall summary 282
9.15 References 284
Contents ix
10 Evaluating the fracture toughness of reactor pressure
vessel (RPV) materials subject to embrittlement 295
R. K. Nanstad, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA,
W. L. Server, ATI Consulting, USA, M. A. Sokolov,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA and M. Brumovský,
Nuclear Research Institute Rez plc, Czech Republic
10.1 Introduction 295
10.2 The development of fracture mechanics 298
10.3 Plane-strain fracture toughness and crack-arrest
toughness 301
10.4 Current standard of fracture toughness curve 309
10.5 Effects of irradiation on fracture toughness 315
10.6 Fracture toughness versus Charpy impact energy 321
10.7 Heavy Section Steel Technology Program and other
international reactor pressure vessel (RPV) research
programs 323
10.8 Advantages and limitations of fracture toughness testing 325
10.9 Future trends 326
10.10 References 327
11 Embrittlement correlation methods to identify
trends in embrittlement in reactor pressure vessels
(RPVs) 333
N. Soneda, Central Research Institute of the Electric
Power Industry (CRIEPI), Japan
11.1 Introduction 333
11.2 Development of the embrittlement correlation method 334
11.3 Embrittlement correlation methods: USA 336
11.4 Embrittlement correlation methods: Europe 349
11.5 Embrittlement correlation methods: Japan 365
11.6 Conclusions 372
11.7 References 372
12 Probabilistic fracture mechanics risk analysis of
reactor pressure vessel (RPV) integrity 378
R. M. Gamble, Sartrex Corporation, USA
12.1 Introduction 378
12.2 Risk evaluation procedures for assessing reactor pressure
vessel (RPV) integrity 379
12.3 Probabilistic fracture mechanics analysis software 381
12.4 Conditional probability computational procedure 383
x Contents
12.5 Example calculations and applications 387
12.6 Future trends 395
12.7 References 396
Index 397