Ageing Management in Nuclear Power Plants
Control of Ageing Phenomena
of Safety Relevant Systems, Structures and Components
The quality status of safety relevant systems, strucures and components of a nuclear power plant (mechanical systems and components; electrical and control components, devices and systems; structural engineering systems and buildings) has to meet the requirements over their entire service life. This means, they must have the ability to meet their purpose (e.g. integrity, function) with a required safety factor.
This quality, that meets the requirements, has to be generated and documented during design and manufacture, in a first and essential step.
The quality status achieved after manufacture can be reduced by aging over the course of the service life.
The main task of aging management is to control aging phenomena, that can effect the safety of a nuclear power plant, negatively.
The effects of possible conceptual enhancements are usually evaluated as part of periodic safety reviews.
Technological enhancements / developments are included in the framework of aging management, mainly on the basis of the exchange of experience and the tracking of the state of the art in science and technology.
To control physical, chemical and biological damage mechanisms in safety-related equipment, there is a bundle of measures (monitoring, periodic testing, etc.) implemented in every power plant. This bundle of measures in turn depends on the quality requirements.
The measures to control the aging phenomena as a whole must be regularly questioned and checked for completeness and effectiveness, based on the current state of knowledge. This is done in a process, usually:
The Ageing Management Process (PDCA cycle)
Ageing mangement should be carried out on the basis of a structured knowledge base, so that "knowledge-based" preventive (proactive) action can be taken. This means, that data and documentation available in the power plant must be processed and compressed in order to make evaluation and assessment more simple and comprehensible. To facilitate this, AMTEC has built an
It contains all functionalities that have to be run through according to the process-oriented implementation of aging management.
Our Services:
AMTEC provides an entire range of services regarding installation and maintenance of an effective ageing management
- identification of the scope of systems, structures and components
- identification of relevant damage mechanisms / ageing effects
- detailled specification of the measures to control relevant damage mechanisms
- regular evaluation and assessment of all data
- assessment of the effectivity of the measures
- regular assessment of the system/component health status
- status reports
