Development and testing of PWR safety-classified equipment

The development and testing of PWR safety-classified equipment requires the provision of a Harsh Environment (HE) test facility where the conditions in the reactor containment building during the rupture of the primary coolant, or main steam line break, can be simulated. The objective of submitting instruments to HE tests is to demonstrate whether or not they will perform their intended safety-related functions during extreme service conditions as well as normal environments. Two instruments of particular importance to PWR operation were selected for investigation and this paper describes the behaviour of a differential pressure transmitter and a resistance temperature detector (RTD) while being subjected to HE conditions