Evaluation of structural integrity of crossover leg piping system with dynamic whip restraints

Interference between the crossover leg of the Reactor Coolant System(RCS) and the Pipe Whip Restraints(PWR) has brought a degradation issue of the integrity of the Reactor Coolant System in Westinghouse type Nuclear Power Plants(NPPs) of Korea. According to the gap inspection carried out during planned overhaul (year 2000), interference between the crossover leg and the PWR was found in each RCS loop. This plant has had the high vibration problem on the RC pump 'B'. The reason for the high vibration in the RC pump 'B' had been massively surveyed and it was found that the crossover leg of RCS contacted with the PWR in hot condition. Since the contact between the crossover leg and the PWR changes the dynamic characteristics of the piping system for the RCS, this is considered as one reason for the high vibration. And a possibility of overstress on the crossover leg due to the contact with the PWR should be evaluated. Through performing RCS integrity analyses, subsequent actions were initiated to increase the gap between those parts. As the results of the appropriate separation between two parts, it was reported that there was no unusual noise or vibration during plant heat-up. In this paper, the evaluations for the gap between the crossover leg and the PWR and the structural integrity due to loop binding is described