Design, development, production, validation and performance of organic components to ensure safety of nuclear applications: a finite element analysis perspective

Issues like energy security and climatic changes because of GHG emissions have brought nuclear power in the forefront of world energy scenario as a long-term option. Translating this option into reality involve parallel efforts of life extension and building new power plants, especially the fast reactors. Realisation of this objective requires maximizing the role of FEA in more complex areas such as the organic components of NPPs, which find extensive and critical use in the form of seals, gaskets, cables, insulation, hose, lubricants, adhesives and coatings. Three case studies on Fluorocarbon inflatable and backup seals of PFBR RP vis-B-vis past international developments show that there could be 3-4 fold gain in time and higher gains in cost for design, development and validation of new components considering the safety and reliability aspects. Ageing simulation of organic components by FEA opens up a new field with higher potential benefits. It is possible to realize the benefits with a systematic approach considering the available experimental results and the present maturity of FEA technique. (author)