An examination of the CEGB's R6 procedure for the assessment of the integrity of structures containing defects

A procedure for assessing the significance of defects in terms of the integrity of structures, which has been developed within the CEGB, attempts to overcome the various difficulties by using a set of standardised procedures designed as a total package. This method, known as the R6 procedure, was introduced first in 1976 and provided a unified method of assessing the structural integrity of both brittle and ductile materials. This report by the Study Group describes the background to the emergence of the R6 methodology, and its development from its original form to the present version of R6 Rev 3. (author)