Workshop on environmental qualification of electric equipment
- comps.; Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)
Questions concerning the Environmental Qualification (EQ) of electrical equipment used in commercial nuclear power plants have recently become the subject of significant interest to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Initial questions centered on whether compliance with the EQ requirements for older plants were adequate to support plant operation beyond 40 years. After subsequent investigation, the NRC Staff concluded that questions related to the differences in EQ requirements between older and newer plants constitute a potential generic issue which should be evaluated for backfit, independent of license renewal activities. EQ testing of electric cables was performed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) under contract to the NRC in support of license renewal activities. Results showed that some of the environmentally qualified cables either failed or exhibited marginal insulation resistance after a simulated plant life of 20 years during accident simulation. This indicated that the EQ process for some electric cables may be non-conservative. These results raised questions regarding the EQ process including the bases for conclusions about the qualified life of components based upon artificial aging prior to testing.
- Research Organization:
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States). Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research; Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH00016
- OSTI ID:
- 10154909
- Report Number(s):
- NUREG/CP-0135; BNL-NUREG-52409; CONF-9311207-; ON: TI94012761; TRN: 94:012093
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Workshop on environmental qualification of electric equipment,Rockville, MD (United States),15-16 Nov 1993; Other Information: PBD: May 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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