Objective
Main goal of the project will be a preparation, evaluation and mutual agreement of a "Unified procedure for Lifetime Assessment of Components and Piping in VVER Type Nuclear Power Plants". This procedure should be based on former Soviet rules and codes, as VVER components were designed and manufactured in accordance with requirements of these codes and from prescribed materials. Then, critical analysis of possible application of some approaches used in PWR type components will be performed and such approaches will be incorporated into the prepared procedure as much as possible with the aim of a harmonisation of VVER and PWR Codes and procedures. Preparation of a Unified Procedure for VVERs operating in Finland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Hungary will increase the level of lifetime/integrity evaluation.
Elaboration of a "Unified Procedure for Lifetime Assessment of Components and Piping in VVER NPPs" to be usable in nuclear power plants in Finland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Hungary for Periodic Safety Reports and Components/Plant Life Management. Application of this Procedure will unify assessment methods in individual nuclear power plants and will harmonise approaches between VVER and PWR lifetime/evaluation assessments.
The Concerted Action will be based on the partner's meetings that are the main method of sharing the status of procedures for lifetime evaluation in individual countries and the partner's views of a procedure unification.
The practical project will be divided into three principal parts - Work Packages:
- analysis of approaches, methods and material properties applied in WER Codes and standards and PWR Codes with the aim of harmonisation of WER approaches with PWR ones as much as possible, preparation of a common status report of procedures used in individual countries
- elaboration of a proposal of a "Unified Procedure for Lifetime Assessment of Components and Piping in VVER NPPs" based on VVER Codes and standards using agreed approaches from PWR Codes this proposal will be discussed in meetings of Task groups organised in accordance with specialities of individual chapters in Procedures
- finalisation of the Procedure after mutual agreement of applied approaches and methods to be usable in all four VVER operating countries.
Participation in the Project will be held by experts from nuclear power plants technical support organisations and national regulatory bodies to prepare a Procedure that will be applicable for Periodic Safety Reports and Plant Life Management of individual nuclear power plants.
Lifetime assessment of individual components and piping in nuclear power plants (NPP) is a mandatory part of every Periodic Safety Report as well as it is necessary for component/ plant life management and potential plant life extension.
Today, no legal procedures or standard guidelines exist for lifetime/integrity assessment of components and piping in operating NPPs of VVER type. Former Soviet rules and standards were prepared and approved only for design and manufacturing stage of NPPs. These rules/standards mostly are not applicable for operating plants or they need some modifications and extensions to be usable also for operating components. Approaches used in VVER Codes and standards are in some parts different than they are applied in PWR ones, thus a comparison of lifetime assessment using these two types of codes could be different and comparable.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
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CON - Coordination of research actionsCoordinator
250 68 Rez - Praha
Czechia
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Participants (11)
373 05 Terrelin
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675 50 Dukovany
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00048 Espoo
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611 39 Brno
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1574 Sofia
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1121 Budapest
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91864 Trnava
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316 06 Plzen
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82736 Bratislava
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110 00 Praha 1
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918 64 Trnava
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