Effects of aging in containment spray injection system of PWR reactor containment

This paper presents a contribution to the study of the components aging process in commercial plants of Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR). The analysis is done by applying the method of Fault trees, Monte Carlo Method and Fussell-Vesely Importance Measurement. The study on the aging of nuclear plants, is related to economic factors involved directly with the extent of their operational life, and also provides important data on issues of safety. The most recent case involving the process of extending the life of a PWR plant can be seen in Angra 1 Nuclear Power Plant by investing $ 27 million in the installation of a new reactor cover. The corrective action generated an extension of the useful life of Angra 1 estimated in twenty years, and a great savings compared to the cost of building a new plant and the decommissioning of the first, if it had reached the operation time out 40 years. The extension of the lifetime of a nuclear power plant must be accompanied by special attention from the most sensitive components of the systems to the aging process. After the application of the methodology (aging analysis of Containment Spray Injection System (CSIS)) proposed in this paper, it can be seen that increasing the probability of failure of each component, due to the aging process, generate an increased general unavailability of the system that contains these basic components. The final results obtained were as expected and can contribute to the maintenance policy, preventing premature aging in nuclear power systems