Project relevance
The nuclear energy has a relevant position in the context of satisfying
of actual request and irrespective of social perception or politic decisions
from some countries, it is stipulated an increasing of energy consumptions from
this source. This consequence justifies the nuclear industry efforts to
maintain a safe and efficient operation of existing stations and more nuclear
companies continue to invest some important money in the owner units namely of
production, processing and support-industry (fuel, equipments) in the
perspective of satisfaction the energetic necessary of a modern economy and of
a civilized life standard, in the safety and quality conditions, respecting the
lasting development principle, this principle being one of main objective of
National Strategy of Research and Development for the period 2007-2013.
Among these structural components are the fuel channel, Steam Generator
(SG) and feeders that are submitted to degradation by several corrosion forms
which depend from the specific operation conditions, as well as the
construction modality and assemblage modality of several constructive
components. In this frame, an important role coming back to surfaces processes
to those mechanisms specifically to local scale and micro dimensional scale
that manifest oneself during normal operation in the transitory regime and at
starting and shutdown of nuclear installations. For this reason, a special
importance present: the corrosion evaluation, the reasons that conducted at
several types of corrosive degradations and the establishment of predictive and
preventive maintenance that limit the period size of major repairs and
implicitly extent of the equipments lives and materials endurance.
The present project is subscribed to Program 2, ”Capacities” from the
topic “Nuclear Technology”, contributing to the assurance of operation in
safety conditions and of integrity of nuclear installations, that signifies
that project is well integrated in national politics directions in research field
concerning the development of the methods specifically to electric energy
production using nuclear processes, in the maxim security conditions and
avoiding any risks.
The modalities to use
the project results
Knowing the basis activity of the “Analysis and Diagnosis Laboratory of
the Corroded Metallic Components from Nuclear Installations”, the main
beneficiary of this project will be the Cernavoda NPP, which, on the basis of
the investigations achieved on corroded components, will establish some measures
to warn the corrosion degradation of some structural components, so could
assure the safe operation of NPP. On the other hand, knowing that the corrosive
processes affect not only the nuclear installations and any other industrial
installation, other type of potential users are the companies interested in the
expertise of the corrosion processes of their installations. In this type are
comprised the users of installations of classical energy, chemical industry,
petrochemical and metallurgical industry, etc.
Other users of the experimental results can be also the research and
designing institutes in their activity of assimilation of new performing
materials and technologies in several fields.
Modality of
implementation of investment in European project
Because many European countries use the electricity provided by NPPs,
the research activity devoted to the maintaining of structural integrity of
nuclear equipment components as well as to the identification of methods of
extension of their safe operation period, presents a great interest field for
the European Community. An example in this direction is NULIFE (Nuclear Plant
Life Prediction) research program at what the SCN Piteşti participates.
Technologic and scientific
impact
The knowledge of corrosion mechanisms that can affect several components
of NPP allows the elaboration of some estimation and preventing methods of the
corrosion effects, in this way avoiding the major economic losses due to an
unprogrammed stopping of a NPP and / replacing some important components. Thus,
the production costs of the nuclear energy are maintained at reasonable levels
with good implications both in economic and social plan.
The modernization of the research-development infrastructure of the
“Analysis and Diagnosis Laboratory for Corroded Metallic Components from the
Nuclear Installation” conducts at the increasing of the competitively degree of
the personnel implied in monitoring activity of corrosion effects, the studies
results being transferred and at classical energetic system installations of
regional interest.
Impact on the
environment quality and the conservation of natural resources
This project is destined to develop the analysis and warning methodology
of the negative effects due to corrosion of the structural materials used at
the construction of several components from both transport and thermal transfer
circuit of a NPP. In this way NPP safe operation is assured, that determines a
direct protection of medium with an implicit impact on the health population
state. In addition, the utilization on a large scale of the nuclear-electrical
energy allows the conservation of the natural energy resources.
