In Service Inspection and Repair of Sodium cooled ASTRID Prototype

F. Baqué (1) , F. Jadot (1) , R. Marlier (2) , J.-F. Saillant (3) , V. Delalande (4)

1 CEA-DES (ex-DEN) - CEA-Direction des Energies (ex-Direction de l'Energie Nucléaire)
2 AREVA
3 SOLUTIONS - Sols, usages des terres, dégradation, réhabilitation
4 EDF - EDF

In the frame of the large R&D work which is performed for the future ASTRID sodium cooled prototype, In Service Inspection and Repair (ISI&R) has been identified as a major issue to be taken into account in order to enlarge the plant safety, to consolidate its availability and to protect the associated investment. After the first part of pre-conceptual design phase (2008-2012), the running second part of pre-conceptual phase (2013-2015) allows to increase the ISI&R tool ability for immersed sodium structures of ASTRID, at about 200°C, on the basis of consolidated specifications and thanks to their qualification through more and more realistic tests and simulation with CIVA code. ISI&R items are being developed and qualified during a pluriannual program which mainly deals with the reactor block structures, the primary components and circuit, the Power Conversion System. It ensures a strong connection between the reactor designers and inspection specialists, as the optimization of inspectability and repairability is looked at: this already induced specific rules for design, in order to shorten and easier the ISI&R operations, which have been merged into RCC-MRx rules. Present R&D deals with the following ISI&R items: • Under sodium NDE of welding joints within the ASTRID supporting core structure (so called platelage): sodium testing and simulation are being performed. • NDE of welding joints within the ASTRID supporting core structure, from outside primary sodium (through primary vessel wall): water testing and simulation are being performed. • Under sodium NDE of welding joints within the ASTRID Above Core Structure: water testing and simulation are being performed. • Under sodium NDE of the external skirt of ASTRID Above Core Structure, • Under sodium telemetry and vision of immersed structures and components within the ASTRID primary vessel: improved techniques of scanning are studied. • Under argon coverture gas telemetry of structures and components within the ASTRID primary vessel, • NDE of the tubes of ASTRID Steam Generator Units,

Keywords: In Service Inspection and Repair (ISIandR); ASTRID; SFR; sodium

Domains: Nuclear Experiment [nucl-ex]; Nuclear Theory [nucl-th]

F. Baqué, F. Jadot, R. Marlier, J.-F. Saillant, V. Delalande. In Service Inspection and Repair of Sodium cooled ASTRID Prototype. ANIMMA 2015 - 4th International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation Measurement Methods and their Applications, Apr 2015, Lisbon, Portugal. ⟨cea-02509257⟩