ML19319B314
| ML19319B314 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 11/13/2019 |
| From: | NRC/OCIO |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19319B303 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA, NRC-2018-000831 | |
| Download: ML19319B314 (11) | |
Text
Harvesting of Aged Materials from Operating and Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants M. Hisera, P. Purtschera, P. Ramuhallib, A. B. Hulla, R. Tregoninga aU.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Washington, D.C., USA bPacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA, USA This presentation was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the U.S. Government. Neither the U.S. Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for any third partys use, or the results of such use, of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this presentation [report], or represents that its use by such third party would not infringe privately owned rights. The views expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Outline
- Background and Motivation
- NRC Harvesting Experience
- Recent NRC Activities
- Criteria for Prioritizing Data Needs
- Database for Sources of Materials
- Path Forward 2
Background and Motivation
- Recent trends in global nuclear industry:
- Interest in extending nuclear power plant (NPP) lifespans
- Numerous NPPs, both in U.S. and internationally, have announced plans to or already have shut down
- Limited budgets have restricted the resources available to support new research, including harvesting programs
- Aligning interests and leveraging with other organizations is important to maximize value 3
NRC Harvesting Experience
- NRC has participated in numerous harvesting programs over the years:
- RPV, CRDM penetrations, RCS piping, RPV internals, neutron absorbers, and cables
- From unfinished, operating,and decommissioning plants in U.S. and internationally
- Significant value in using harvested components to confirm data from other research programs 4
Technical Lessons Learned
- Harvesting can provide highly representative aged materials for research
- May be only practical source of representative aged materials
- May be able to use limited harvested materials to validate larger accelerated aging data set
- Important to gain as much information as possible in advance before committing to specific harvesting project 5
Logistical Lessons Learned
- Harvesting is an expensive, time-consuming effort
- Leveraging resources with other research organizations helps mitigate cost challenges
- Transporting irradiated materials, particularly internationally, is cumbersome and time-consuming Lifting operation for irradiated materials transport cask 6
Recent NRC Activities
- Strategic approach to materials harvesting
- Due to limited opportunities, past harvesting efforts have generally been reactive to individual plants shutting down
- Prioritize the data needs best addressed by harvesting
- Workshop held in March 2017 at NRC HQ to discuss all aspects of harvesting with other interested stakeholders 7
Potential Criteria for Harvesting Prioritization
- Applicability of harvested material for addressing critical gaps
- Ease of laboratory replication of the degradation scenario
- Unique field aspects of degradation
- Fleet-wide vs. plant-specific applicability of data 8
Potential Criteria for Harvesting Prioritization
- Harvesting cost and complexity
- Availability of reliable in-service inspection (ISI) techniques for the material / component
- Availability of materials for harvesting
- Timeliness of the expected research results relative to the objective 9
Database for Sources of Materials
- NRC is pursuing the development of a database for sources of materials for harvesting
- Allow for aligning of high-priority data needs to the available sources of materials
- NRC is interested in engaging with other organizations in developing the database Example of reactor internals harvesting plan 10
Conclusion and Path Forward
- Harvesting can yield highly representative and valuable data on materials aging
- Data Needs Prioritization and Sources of Materials Database
- As specific harvesting opportunities are identified, NRC welcomes opportunities for cooperation and leveraging with other interested research organizations 11