Application of leak-before-break approach to PWR piping designed by Babcock and Wilcox: Final report

Technical Report · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:7144260

Maxham, W D; Yoon, K K

Recently, the leak-before-break (LBB) concept has been used successfully to eliminate some pipe whip restraints, snubbers and jet impingement shields from the primary reactor cooling system piping of pressurized water reactors. This has resulted in substantial savings in maintenance costs, reductions in radiation exposure of plant service personnel, and has enhanced the overall safety of nuclear power plants. This study provides guidelines to utilities in expanding the application of the LBB concept to additional pipe systems and it couples the concept with hardware optimization. Seven high energy piping systems were investigated for technical feasibility in using the LBB concept. The results indicate that some of these seven lines are good candidates for the leak-before-break application.

• Research Organization: Babcock and Wilcox Co., Lynchburg, VA (USA); Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7144260
• Report Number(s): EPRI-NP-4972; ON: TI87920245
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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