Environmentally-Assisted Degradation of Structural Materials in Water Cooled Nuclear Reactors An Introduction
(SMDR)
This Report is an updated and expanded version of the 2006 ANT International Report entitled: “Environmentally-assisted degradation of structural materials in water cooled nuclear reactors” authored by Dr. Peter Ford.
The objective of this Report are twofold: first, to provide an updated edition of the 2006 Report cited above and, second, to provide a text-book that complement the 4-day webinar on environmentally-assisted degradation of structural materials.
The Report is intended for people new to the subject, or who need a “refresher” on the essential factors behind component failures and the subsequent mitigation actions. Such a focus is critical at this time, given the ongoing retirement of experienced personnel and the loss of “corporate memory” relating to the management of materials degradation. This loss is being felt in areas of reactor license renewal, power uprates, load following, and the certification and construction of advanced designs of both BWRs and PWRs.
In the same series as this updated and expanded Report, there are four other detailed Reports that analyse the behaviour of structural material degradation of various alloys commonly used in Pressurised Water Reactors (PWR/VVER) and Boiling Water Reactors (BWR).
