Through-life Engineering for Nuclear Plant

Nuclear power stations are very capital intensive and need high load factors for economic operation. They and plants used for waste management and fuel cycle operations present unique challenges for operation, maintenance and repair constrained by hostile environments, shielding and radioactive contamination. It is therefore not surprising that this area was chosen for one of the first feasibility studies commissioned by the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacture in Through-life Engineering Services. This paper summarises the outcome of that feasibility study. The main issues on materials and component degradation are described for current and future nuclear systems. The focus was on UK nuclear plant, in order to maximise industrial involvement and access to operational data, but the study is equally applicable to all nuclear plant around the world and there is scope for international collaboration. Recommendations are made on how degradation can be monitored and the specific challenges of the nuclear environment. Data management and processing are both key to implementation of optimised operation and maintenance and the decisions on repair and replacement of components. This information is also critical in establishing operational safety cases and applications for life extension and ultimately it also has to be used in new designs so that the economics of the plant can be optimised on the basis of through-life costs. Recommendations are made for future research programmes.