COMSY software assists lifetime management activities

The COMSY program has been developed to provide an effective software tool for the plant life management of systems and mechanical components. The program utilizes more than 25 years of experience resulting from research activities and operational experiences. It is designed to support a plant-wide strategy providing lifetime predictions for mechanical elements, which are validated by a small number of examinations at priority locations. The objective is to establish economically optimized inspection and maintenance programs, while maintaining high levels of plant safety and availability. This is accomplished by focusing inspection activities on the actually degradation relevant locations based on reliable service life predictions. This capability is particularly useful for the service life extension of systems and components. Within the last years the program has been successfully applied to various nuclear power plants and the benefit of this software-based strategy could be confirmed by field experience. (author)