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Title: Development and application of an LWR reactor pressure vessel-specific flaw distribution

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6912765
 [1]; ;  [2]
  1. Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  2. Failure Analysis Associates, Inc., Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Previous efforts by the US Department of Energy have shown that the PWR reactor vessel integrity predictions performed through probabilistic fracture mechanics analysis for a pressurized thermal shock event are significantly sensitive to the overall flaw distribution input. It has also been shown that modern vessel in-service inspection (ISI) results can be used for development of vessel flaw distribution(s) that are more representative of US vessels. This paper describes the development and application of a methodology to analyze ISI data for the purpose of flaw distribution determination. The resultant methodology considers detection reliability, flaw sizing accuracy, and flaw detection threshold in its application. Application of the methodology was then demonstrated using four recently acquired US PWR vessel inspection data sets. The methodology helped provide original insight into several key inspection performance and vessel integrity prediction practice issues that will impact future vessel integrity evaluation. This paper briefly discusses the development and application of the methodology and the impact to future vessel integrity analyses.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-76DP00789
OSTI ID:
6912765
Report Number(s):
SAND-91-1914C; CONF-920673-11; ON: DE93002296
Resource Relation:
Conference: 16. annual symposium of American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) on effects of radiation on materials, Denver, CO (United States), 21-25 Jun 1992
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English