Pressurized thermal shock analysis in German nuclear power plants

For more than 30 years TUeV NORD is a competent consultant in nuclear safety is-sues giving expert third party opinion to our clients. According to the German regulations the safety against brittle fracture has to be proved for the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and with a new level of knowledge the proof has to be continuously updated with the development in international codes and standards like ASME, BS and RCC-M. The load of the RPV is a very complex transient pressure and temperature situation. Today these loading conditions can be modeled by thermal hydraulic calculations and new experimental results much more detailed than in the construction phase of German Nuclear Power Plants in the 1980s. Therefore, the proof against brittle fracture from the construction phase had to be updated for all German Nuclear Power Plants with the new findings of the loading conditions especially for a postulated small leakage in the main coolant line. The RPV consists of ferritic base material (about 250 mm) and austenitic cladding (about 6 mm) at the inner side. The base material and the cladding have different physical properties which have to be considered temperature dependently in the cal-culations. Radiation-embrittlement effects on the material are to be respected in the fracture mechanics assessment. The regions of the RPV of special interest are the core weld, the inlet and outlet nozzle region and the flange connecting weld zone. The fracture mechanics assessment is performed for normal and abnormal operating conditions and for accidents like LOCA (Loss of Coolant Accident). In this paper the German approach to fracture mechanics assessment to brittle fracture will be discussed from the point of view of a third party organization.