Inspection Results Obtained for the International NESC 1 Project
B. Eriksen, P. Lemaitre, R. Houghton, B. Murgatroyd, Commission of the European Communities, Joint Research Centre
ABSTRACT
The NESC network was launched in 1993 to address questions concerning reliability of the entire structural assessment procedure for steel components. The first project - NESC 1 - was set out to validate NDE and structural mechanics assessment procedures for PWR reactor pressure vessels under pressurised thermal shock (PTS) conditions by means of a large scale spinning cylinder simulation test. This paper describes the framework of the two NDT round robin trials in NESC 1 - one before and one after the PTS test - with participation of 11 teams from 7 different countries. The paper investigates the effectiveness of typical in-service inspection procedures by examining the different parameters for inspection performance, such as detection and false call performance, length and through wall extent sizing performance and the capability to profile larger cracks. Finally, conclusions and are drawn from the studies and suggestion for best-recommended practices are given.
Publication Source: 2nd International Conference on NDE in Relation to Structural Integrity for Nuclear and Pressurized Components, May 24-26, 2000, New Orleans, Louisiana USA. Publisher: EPRI - [Homepage]
