Experience in management of equipment service life in Russian nuclear power plants

The activities implemented on management of I and C life cycle at the Russian nuclear power plants enable today a smooth way of taking the license for an extended maintenance term of power units, the design cycle life of which have expired. The activities are regulated by both rules and norms prepared by a supervising body, and guidance documents developed by the major firm 'Kontsern Rosenergoatom'. Alongside with the complete modernization of I and C systems, which requires significant financial expenses, the following tasks are performed at the power units: diagnostics of conditions and life cycle prediction of separate types of I and C components; development and introduction of new operative methods for control of safety-related systems; creation of original sensors, the verification and calibration of which are carried out directly during operation. This approach allows to support a required level of I and C safety and to plan terms of their replacement. Examples of the performance of tasks on maintaining I and C operational stability at nuclear power plants are presented in this report. (author)