60th Anniversary of electricity production from light water reactors: Historical review of the contribution of materials science to the safety of the pressure vessel

Duysen, J.C. Van; Bellefon, G. Meric de

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.11.013

Cited by 22 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 126 publications

(152 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the crystal materials lattice defects reflect an irregularity of the crystal lattice and also the crystal quality of the material. Light transmutation elements such as helium or hydrogen can easily diffuse to these crystal defects and they can influence the mechanical properties [2,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation Damage of Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels Studied by Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy—A Review

Slugeň

Sojak

Egger

et al. 2020

Metals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Safe and long term operation of nuclear reactors is one of the most discussed challenges in nuclear power engineering. The radiation degradation of nuclear design materials limits the operational lifetime of all nuclear installations or at least decreases its safety margin. This paper is a review of experimental PALS/PLEPS studies of different nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels investigated over last twenty years in our laboratories. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) via its characteristics (lifetimes of positrons and their intensities) provides useful information about type and density of radiation induced defects. The new results obtained on neutron-irradiated and hydrogen ions implanted German steels were compared to those from the previous studies with the aim to evaluate different processes (neutron flux/fluence, thermal treatment or content of selected alloying elements) to the microstructural changes of neutron irradiated RPV steel specimens. The possibility of substitution of neutron treatment (connected to new defects creation) via hydrogen ions implantation was analyzed as well. The same materials exposed to comparable displacement damage (dpa) introduced by neutrons and accelerated hydrogen ions shown that in the results interpretation the effect of hydrogen as a vacancy-stabilizing gas must be considered, too. This approach could contribute to future studies of nuclear fission/fusion design steels treated by high levels of neutron irradiation.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation Damage of Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels Studied by Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy—A Review

Slugeň

Sojak

Egger

et al. 2020

Metals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…He is free to luxuriate in elegant ideas, the practical shortcomings of which can be delegated to the category of 'mere technical details'. Rickover listed the main characteristics of the academic reactor to help distinguishing the one from the other; these almost always had the following promising features: (1) it is simple, (2) it is small, (3) it is cheap, (4) it is light, (5) it can be built very quickly, (6) it is very flexible in purpose, (7) very little development is required (it will use mostly 'off-the-self' components), (8) the reactor is in the study phase. Undoubtedly, as he stated, unfortunately for the interested public, it is much easier to get the academic side of an issue than the practical side; since the academic proposers are innocently unaware of the real hidden difficulties of their plans, they speak with great facility and confidence.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This same year he addressed to the US Congress the words above in the brief memo entitled 'Real Reactors, Paper Reactors' [1]; with the obvious intention to ease the development of the ensuing nuclear endeavors. Four years later, in 1957, the first two light water reactors (LWRs) producing electricity were put in operation: (a) Vallecitos, a 5 MW General Electric's BWR concept that remained in operation until 1963 and (b) Shippingport (Westingthouse's PWR), providing 60 MW of electrical power to the city of Pittsburgh, remaining in operation for 25 years [8]. The integrity of the pressure vessel of the LWRs, inside which the nuclear fission reactions take place, was to be guaranteed under all circumstances.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

An assessment of the available alternatives for fusion relevant neutron sources

Knaster¹

2018

Nucl. Fusion

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The discovery of void swelling in neutron-irradiated stainless steels by Cawthorne and Fulton in 1966 showed that radiation effects would seriously affect the lifetime of fission reactors. A few years later, in the early 1970s, serious damage levels were observed in core components of the first commercial fission reactors that had been in operation for one decade. Driven by the harder neutron spectrum, the fusion community was impelled to explore the technical possibilities to make available a fusion relevant neutron source to anticipate the difficulties faced by the fission reactors community and ensure the long-term operation of a fusion reactor. In 1976, the conclusions of the first review published announced the assets and drawbacks of the different possibilities, which today despite the four decades passed and the sound technological advancements, continue being basically the same. A suitable neutron spectrum can be theoretically obtained both from plasma-based or accelerators based facilities with either gas, liquid or solids targets. Needed facilities performances, available irradiation volumes that the concept allow and cost are at stake. In the past, the cost of the most promising facility based on stripping the neutron from a deuteron on a lithium target was misleadingly peered with that of a fusion reactor. A tokamak with sufficient volume to irradiate equipment under fusion relevant conditions will be likely available in the future once commercial fusion reactors have become a reality; unfortunately, this concept does not match the needs timely, and is unrealistic w.r.t. its costs nowadays with worldwide efforts prioritizing ITER. In this article, we will focus on the technical aspects and assess the present maturity of different existing possibilities based on nowadays technologies to count with neutrons at a suitable flux and spectrum to characterize and qualify fusion materials to be timely ready with our world fusion roadmaps.

show abstract

“…In the US the Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) and the Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) 5 For safety, the pressure vessel is an important part of LWRs. 7,8 Radiation dominates the decay heat removal from a reactor vessel under accident scenarios where coolant is not available. Since heat loss by radiation is mainly proportional via the emissivity to the equivalent black-body radiation at the same temperature, which depends upon the fourth power of temperature, higher emissivity materials are the most desirable structural materials to use in the event of a reactor accident involving a loss of coolant (LOCA).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[47][48][49] For safety, an important part of LWRs is the pressure vessel. 7,8 Radiation dominates the decay heat removal from a reactor vessel under accident conditions where coolant is not available.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Total hemispherical emissivity of reactor pressure vessel candidate materials : SS 316 L, SA 508, and A 387 Grade 91

Al-Zubaidi¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Future nuclear Reactor Pressure Vessels (RPV) require high emissivity materials and alloy for efficient heat decay removal under normal and accidental events. Emissivity is the material property that determines the heat radiation rate from the material surface. The total hemispherical emissivity of candidate materials, 316L stainless steel, A508/A533B steel, and A387 Grade 91 steel were measured in the present work. Standard ASTM C835-06 was used to measure the total hemispherical emissivity of structural materials of RPV. The bell jar emissivity was measured using 304 stainless steel strips coated with black paint (Aremco HiE-Coat 840 M). Testing these strips verified that the internal bell jar emissivity is greater than 0.8 as required by the ASTM standard. Emissivity of 316L stainless steel was measured for the following conditions: (1) "as-received" from the supplier (un-oxidized) and; (2) oxidized in air at 573 K for up to 3000 h. The emissivity of as-received test strips varied from 0.24 at 434 K to 0.34 at 1026 K. The total hemispherical emissivity of 316 L stainless steel oxidized in air for 500 h or more ranged from 0.28 at 429 K to 0.38 at 1096 K. Increasing the sample oxidation time beyond 500 h at 573 K did not have any significant observable effect on the total hemispherical emissivities of any of the test strips studied. It is suspected that the emissivity ceased to increase during the additional oxidation time because of the protective chromium oxide layer formed on 316L stainless steel inhibiting further oxidation. The total hemispherical emissivity of A508/A533B steel was measured in the temperature range from 400 K to 900 K for the following surface conditions: (1) mirror polished finish; (2) mirror polished and oxidized in air at 573 K and 773 K for various durations; (3) after Electric Discharge Machining (EDM) cutting process; and (4) EDM and oxidized in air at 573 K and 773 K up to 1000 h. The emissivity of polished A508/A533B (un-oxidized) strips varied from 0.16 to 0.24 within the temperature range from 552 K to 1180 K. Emissivity values for polished samples oxidized in air for 10 h at 573 K were increased from 0.18 at 543 K to 0.28 at 815 K. While the emissivity of polished samples oxidized in air for 100 h at 573 K increased from 0.16 at 460 K to 0.33 at 815 K. The total hemispherical emissivity of EDM cut and oxidized in air at 573 K for 500 h has experienced an increase from 0.75 to 0.8 in the range of temperature from 418 K to 625 K. No further significant change in emissivity was observed following an increase in oxidation time from 500 h to 1000 h. Polished and oxidized strips at temperature 773 K for 10 h has increased from 0.74 at 464 K to 0.81 at 838 K. This strong effect of temperature has not been noticed for EDM-cut oxidized samples at 773 K for 500 h due to detach of the oxide layer from the A508/A533B substrate. The emissivity of A387 Grade 91 was measured for the following conditions: (1) EDM cut; (2) EDM cut and oxidized in air at 873 K and 1023 K for up to 5 h; (3) sandblasted with 320 grit size; and (4) sandblasted with 320 grit size and oxidized in air at 1023 K for 5 h. The emissivity of EDM cut A387 Grade 91 varied from 0.57 at 444 K to 0.62 at 1026 K, while the emissivity of A387 Grade 91 sandblasted with 320 grit increased from 0.49 at 464 K to 0.57 at 1048 K. The total hemispherical emissivity of A387 Grade 91 oxidized in air at 873K for 1 h has increased from 0.75 to 0.8 in the temperature range of 420 K to 831 K. The emissivity of A387 Grade 91 oxidized in air at 1023 K for 1h increased from 0.69 at 429 K to 0.8 at 889 K. Oxidation of A387 Grade 91 in air at 873 K and 1023 K did not result in significant difference in emissivity values among various test strips for oxidation durations of 1 h, 3 h, and 5 h. The emissivity of A387 Grade 91 sandblasted with 320 grit and oxidized at 1023 K for 5 h increased from 0.63 at 440 K to 0.74 at 944 K.

show abstract

60th Anniversary of electricity production from light water reactors: Historical review of the contribution of materials science to the safety of the pressure vessel

Cited by 22 publications

References 126 publications

Radiation Damage of Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels Studied by Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy—A Review

Radiation Damage of Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels Studied by Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy—A Review

An assessment of the available alternatives for fusion relevant neutron sources

Total hemispherical emissivity of reactor pressure vessel candidate materials : SS 316 L, SA 508, and A 387 Grade 91

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About