EUROPEAN RESEARCH NETWORK AIMING AT HARMONISED NUCLEAR PLANT LIFE PREDICTION PROCEDURES

Transcription

1 EUROPEAN RESEARCH NETWORK AIMING AT HARMONISED NUCLEAR PLANT LIFE PREDICTION PROCEDURES R. Rintamaa, I. Aho-Mantila, L. Heikinheimo VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo, Finland N. Taylor European Commission Joint Research Centre, Institute for Energy, Petten, The Netherlands

2 Research integration aiming at harmonised nuclear plant life management procedures Presentation concentrates on European and national (Finnish) research: NULIFE The European Network of Excellence NULIFE (Nuclear Plant Life Prediction) has been launched with a clear focus on integrating safety-oriented research on materials, structures and systems and exploiting the results of this integration through the production of harmonised lifetime assessment methods. SAFIR2010 In Finland nuclear plant life prediction research is carried out in national nuclear safety programmes, today in SAFIR2010, aiming at training of new scientists, linking and integrating international cooperation with the Finnish research. The SAFIR2010 programme is formed of eight areas where reactor circuit is one of the key topics consisting of research on: environmentally assisted cracking, structural integrity and monitoring of integrity. This work complements the research in European programmes. 2

3 NULIFE Network of Excellence for Nuclear plant life prediction Harmonisation of plant life prediction methodology for safe and economic operation of nuclear power plants is needed. NULIFE vision is to create a single organisational structure capable of working at European level to provide harmonised R&D in the area of lifetime evaluation methods for structural components to serve the nuclear power industry and the safety authorities. Time schedule: Total budget: European Commission funding: , 5 years 8.4 million euros 5 million euros 3

4 Towards Beyond 5 years NULIFE Institute with customer-driven programme Major milestones 24 months 12 months 36 months 60 months 48 months Preparation of business plan Integration plan Transition plan for permanent entity Creation of Virtual Institute Consolidation of integration plan Structure with permanent entity features Joint use of facilities Investment policy Launching of new RTD projects Development and application of procedures and best practices Business plan, Updated structure Links with national programmes Approaches to training, knowledge and comm. Viable expert groups Coherent structure Communication methods Permanent management structure Long term business plan Acknowledged solution provider Past Networking activities Key integration indicators 4

5 EU/EC Contract Key organisations in NULIFE Consortium Agreement VTT, Coordinator Finland SCK CEN Belgium NRI Czech Republic CEA France Electricité de France France AREVA NP GmbH Germany JRC The Netherlands British Energy Generations Ltd United Kingdom Serco Ltd United Kingdom Forsmark Kraftgrupp AB Sweden Collaboration Agreement Collaborators (5) Associate Agreement Associate Contributors (27) 5

6 NULIFE Associate Contributors Institute of Metal Science - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences AREVA NP SAS Institut de Radioprotection et de Sureté Nucléaire Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials Forschungszentrum Dresden Rossendorf e.v Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit mbh Universität Stuttgart Bay Zoltán Foundation for Applied Research AEKI Atomic Energy Research Institute Lithuanian Energy Institute Nuclear Research & Consultancy Group Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas Institute For Nuclear Research Pitesti Center of Technology and Engineering for Nuclear Projects Vattenfall Research and Development AB Tecnatom, S.A. Paul Scherrer Institut Rolls-Royce Power Engineering PLC The University of Manchester Josef Stefan Institute E.ON Kernkraft GmbH ENEL Produzione S.p.A Oskarshamm KG AB Studsvik Nuclear AB Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB Siempelkamp Pruef- und Gutachter-GmbH Ringhals AB 6 Bulgaria France France Germany Germany Germany Germany Hungary Hungary Lithuania The Netherlands Spain Romania Romania Sweden Spain Switzerland UK UK Slovenia Germany Italy Sweden Sweden Sweden Germany Sweden

7 Decision making bodies of NULIFE NULIFE Governing Board Chair J-P. Hutin EdF Management Executive Group Chair R. Rintamaa VTT Contractors, Associate Contributors, Collaborators Regulators National and international networks/projects/ organisations Expert Groups 1) Materials and materials ageing 2) Integrity assessment 3) Lifetime evaluation 4) Safety, risk information and reliability Infra Group R&D infra End User Group R&D strategy R&D projects 7

8 Integrating IA-3 (NRI) Knowledge management IA-5 (JRC) Harmonisation NULIFE Joint Programme of Activities and Work Packages IA-2 Expert Groups - Materials (SCK CEN) - Integrity (ANP-G) - Lifetime (SERCO) - Safety & risk (FKA) IA-1 (VTT) Mapping of partner RTD expertise IA-6 (VTT) Business plan IA-4 (CEA) Key facilities IA-7 (VTT) Integration planning RA-1 (BE) Road Mapping of RTD priorities RA-2 (EDF) End users priority for new projects Management Activities Coordinator VTT Joint R&D RA-3 (SCK CEN) Stress Corrosion Cracking RA-4 (EDF) Thermal Fatigue SA-1 (VTT) Website and communication platform SA-2 (JRC) Reporting and publications SA-3 (SCK CEN) Education, training and dissemination SA-4 (JRC) Partner projects and networks Spreading SA-5 (CEA) Links to regulators 8

9 Four NULIFE Expert Groups and R&D projects Partner 1 Partner 1 Partner 1 Partner 1 Partner n Organisations participate in NULIFE with a group of named researchers EG1 Materials EG2 Integrity EG3 Lifetime EG4 Safety R&D Project R&D Project R&D Project Researchers from the EGs contribute to specific R&D projects of fixed duration 9

10 Preliminary identification of research topics Reactor pressure vessel Reactor coolant system Steam generators Internals Connected lines Thermal fatigue (Pilot project) Stress corrosion cracking (Pilot project) Welds and repairs Clad properties and ageing Safety factors / uncertainties Stress classification The thermal fatigue study will exploit results from recent international and European projects. The stress corrosion cracking project: an integrated approach on environmental assisted cracking (EAC), together with best practice guidelines on EAC testing are targeted. 10

11 Impact of NULIFE By providing research excellence and fostering common approaches in plant lifetime prediction, NULIFE will contribute to the Electric Power Utilities decision making in terms of plant operation and investments. Safety Authorities will also benefit from the knowledge in their duties to grant plant licenses for the continued operation of plants. NULIFE will support the development of a European common safety justification framework. The ability of the network to deliver procedures and best practices documents on ageing issues will be an important measure of the network s impact. 11

12 SAFIR2010 Finnish national research programme on NPP safety 2010 The Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) launched a new national four-year research programme on nuclear power plant safety from to The research programme is strongly based on the chapter 7a, Ensuring expertise, of the Finnish Nuclear Energy Act. The programme is the newest link in chain of public research programmes on nuclear safety to maintain and develop know-how in Finland. In addition to the State Nuclear Waste Management Fund (VYR), also other key organisations operating in the area of nuclear safety are funding the programme. Foreign funding possible. Total SAFIR2010 volume 6,1 M / 44 man yrs. 12

13 SAFIR2010 Challenges SAFIR2010 Plant design, construction and change management taking science and technology development into account severe accidents Safety assessment Deterministic analysis and experiments (high fuel burn-up, models) Risk-informed safety management (living PSA applications, internal and external threats, automation and human factors) Plant life cycle and comprehensive safety assessment Plant life management Loviisa 1 and 2 plant units operation permit application, 50 years operation lifetime Olkiluoto 1 and 2 plant units operation permit ~ 40 years age 2018, periodic safety review 2008 Olkiluoto 3 design basis 60 years plant life Safety culture, organisation and human factors assessment method improvement safety management and change management networking operational environment generation change new technologies 13

14 SAFIR2010 research areas SAFIR2010 research programme is divided in eight research areas: 1. Organisation and human factors 2. Automation and control room 3. Fuel and reactor physics 4. Thermal hydraulics 5. Severe accidents 6. Structural safety of reactor circuit 7. Construction safety 8. Probabilistic safety analysis (PSA) These research areas include both research projects of the named topic and interdisciplinary co-operation projects. 14

15 SAFIR2010, Research programme on nuclear safety (-2010) Area of structural safety of reactor circuit Project (Contact) WATCHEM, Water chemistry and oxidation in the primary circuit ) DEF SPEED, Influence of material, environment and strain rate on environmentally assisted cracking of austenitic nuclear materials ) FATE, Fatigue endurance of critical equipment ) FRAS, Fracture assessment for reactor circuit RAKEMON, Monitoring of the structural integrity of reactor circuit ) PURISTA, Risk-informed inspections of piping ) K JC Q Yielding related constraint R&D department T Geometry related stress constraint Beyond basics T stress effect Temperature Q effect Baseline toughness

16 Conclusions NULIFE network of excellence is a new initiative for an integrated RTD platform, embracing all stakeholders at European level. NULIFE aims to improve the delivery to end-users of best-practice life assessment methods to support optimized ageing management programmes for existing nuclear power plants and also to new builds NULIFE intends to use of public and private RTD funding in an optimized way to launch new projects. National and European RTD programmes will benefit and contribute to research integration and harmonisation. SAFIR2010 programme is a Finnish tool to meet national challenges but benefiting and contributing to European activities. 16

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18 Thank you for your attention! 18