The French nuclear power plant reactor building containment contributions of prestressing and concrete performances in reliability improvements and cost savings

Conference · Thu Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1998

OSTI ID:318984

Rouelle, P; Roy, F ^[1]

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1. Electricite de France, Paris (France). Engineering and Construction Div.

The Electricite de France`s N4 CHOOZ B nuclear power plant, two units of the world`s largest PWR model (1450 Mwe each), has earned the Electric Power International`s 1997 Powerplant Award. This lead NPP for EDF`s N4 series has been improved notably in terms of civil works. The presentation will focus on the Reactor Building`s inner containment wall which is one of the main civil structures on a technical and safety point of view. In order to take into account the necessary evolution of the concrete technical specification such as compressive strength low creep and shrinkage, the HSC/HPC has been used on the last N4 Civaux 2 NPP. As a result of the use of this type of professional concrete, the containment withstands an higher internal pressure related to severe accident and ensures higher level of leak-tightness, thus improving the overall safety of the NPP. On that occasion, a new type of prestressing has been tested locally through 55 C 15 S tendons using a new C 1500 FE Jack. These updated civil works techniques shall allow EDF to ensure a Reactor Containment lifespan for more than 50 years. The gains in terms of reliability and cost saving of these improved techniques will be developed hereafter.

• OSTI ID: 318984
• Report Number(s): CONF-980426--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ARDENNES REACTOR
CAPITALIZED COST
CONTAINMENT BUILDINGS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
RELIABILITY