A regulatory view of the inspection and monitoring of PCPVs and safety related civil structures at nuclear power plant

In the UK nuclear industry considerable experience has been gained from the in-service surveillance activities on Prestressed Concrete Pressure Vessels (PCPVs) over the last two decades. This work has been assessed and reported to provide a demonstration of the continued fitness for purpose of PCPVs. During this period inspection and monitoring activities have been adjusted to more accurately measure the parameters which could affect the structural performance of the PCPVs. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has been involved with the regulation of this work. Our experiences of this work and the surveillance of safety related civil structures at nuclear plants is discussed in this paper. In addition the development and relevance of the HSE Safety Assessment Principles for Nuclear Plants to this work is also presented. (author)