Roles of Heat and Radiation in the Degradation of Polymers in Nuclear Power Plant Environments I. Cross-linked Polyethylene

摘要

Crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) is widely adopted as insulation materials in cables for use in many industrial facilities including nuclear power plants (NPPS). It is well known that polymers become degraded when exposed to heat and radiation. In order to conduct the condition monitoring properly, possible changes in electrical and mechanical properties must be thoroughly confirmed under many aging conditions in advance. In the present paper, we try to analyze the roles of heat and radiation in the degradation processes of XLPE.