Leak rate and burst test data for McGuire Unit 1 steam generator tubes
- B&W Nuclear Service Co., Lynchburg, VA (United States)
- Babcock & Wilcox Co., Lynchburg, VA (United States)
- Duke Power Co., Charlotte, NC (United States)
To support the development of tube plugging criteria that would allow tubes with through-wall cracks to remain in service, sections of 12 tubes were removed from the McGuire Unit-1 steam generators. These tubes were sent to B&W Nuclear Service Company for metallographic examination and for determination of burst pressure and leak rate at both operating and faulted conditions. Primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) had degraded these tubes in the tube-to-tubesheet roll transitions. To measure primary-to-secondary leakage at pressures and temperatures equivalent to those in the McGuire Unit-1 steam generators, an autoclave-based test loop was designed and installed at the Babcock & Wilcox Lynchburg Research Center. Sections of the tube containing the roll transitions were then installed in the autoclave and actual primary- to-secondary leakage was measured at 288{degrees}C (550{degrees}F) and at 9 and 18.3 MPa (1300 and 2650 psi) pressure differentials. Following the leak test, the tubes were pressurized internally until the tube wall ruptured. Leak rate, burst pressure, and eddy-current information were then correlated with the through-wall crack lengths as determined by metallographic examination. Results confirm the ability to measure the crack length with eddy-current techniques. Results also support analytical and empirical models developed by the nuclear industry in calculating critical crack lengths in roll transitions.
- OSTI ID:
- 48101
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-910808-; TRN: 95:011532
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 5. international symposium on environmental degradation of materials in nuclear power systems - water reactors, Monterey, CA (United States), 25-29 Aug 1991; Other Information: PBD: 1992; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the fifth international symposium on environmental degradation of materials in nuclear power systems - water reactors; PB: 995 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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