Design of steel energy absorbing restrainers and their incorporation into nuclear power plants for enhanced safety. Volume 1, summary report

The long-range objectives are to significantly enhance safety and reduce operational costs for nuclear power plants. This would be done through utilizing, in piping system restrainer devices, the very large energy-absorbing capabilities of certain steels undergoing plastic deformation. Specifically, the objectives are: (1) to develop an analytic program confirming the viability of elastic-inelastic deformation of restrainer devices as a means of controlling piping responses during seismic events and during extreme loadings caused by operational events such as water hammer, pipe whip, etc.; (2) to develop solid-state, energy-absorbing restrainers capable of meeting the criteria of the analytic program, and to confirm their behavior through experimental testing programs including shaking-table tests; and (3) to convert (1) and (2) into a code position acceptable to the appropriate ASME committees and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission