SURVEY OF NUCLEAR REACTOR SYSTEM PRIMARY CIRCUIT HEAT EXCHANGERS

摘要

Problems resulting from excessive tube vibration in certain primary-circuit heat exchangers in reactor systems for which the USAEC Division of Reactor Development and Technology is technically responsible are evaluated in this report. Of the 19 reactor systems surveyed, problems in primary exchangers resulting from tube vibration hydrodynamically induced by the shell-side fluid flow were experienced in 9 of the 17 plants that have been operated. The results of a detailed vibration analysis that was based on wellknown procedures and information available in the literature tend to support the general conclusion that if the designs for these exchangers had been critically examined for tube vibration prior to fabrication, the possibility of failure would have been judged too great to accept and the problems could have been averted by design modifications.