Fabrication Flaw Density and Distribution in Repairs to Reactor Pressure Vessel and Piping Welds

摘要

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is developing a generalized fabrication flaw distribution for the population of nuclear reactor pressure vessels and for piping welds in U.S. operating reactors. The purpose of the generalized flaw distribution is to predict component-specific flaw densities. The estimates of fabrication flaws are intended for use in fracture mechanics structural integrity assessments. Structural integrity assessments, such as estimating the frequency of loss-of-coolant accidents, are performed by computer codes that require, as input, accurate estimates of flaw densities. Welds from four different reactor pressure vessels and a collection of archived pipes have been studied to develop empirical estimates of fabrication flaw densities.