Corrosion testing continued plant tests

This type of work is not an exact science. Consequently, other inspection and measurement methods are employed as an aid in identifying corrosion, deposition buildup, structural integrity flaws, and other types of problems. Methods employed generally are various types of NDT, and the protocols are widely used in preventive or predictive PV maintenance programs, especially for boiler plants used in continuous process applications, where a shutdown may be several years hence. Nevertheless, there is a drawback to the use of some types of NDT programs in that lengthy downtimes may be necessary to complete the testing work. Clearly, these can be cost-prohibitive. 

The close examination of experience presented to the Technical Committee led to the conclusion that plant safety is not conqrromised for design basis accidents. Continued efforts to validate the predictive methods against experimental data are worthwhile. Protective coatings for fuel and graphite components which provide high corrosion resistance should continue to be developed and tested as these potentially could provide assurance of safety even for very extreme and hypothetical water or air ingress accident conditions. 

The process was tested on a pilot plant scale in Canada. Severe mechanical and corrosion problems were encountered in the operation of the pilot plant and hindered the continuing development of the process to such extent that it was never commercialized. 

Objectives. The objectives of the Homogeneous Reactor Test (HRE-2) are (1) to demonstrate that a homogeneous reactor of moderate size can be operated with the continuity required of a power plant, (2) to establLsh the reliability of engineering materials and components of a size which call be adapted to full-scale power plants, (3) to evaluate equipment modifications which will lead to simplifications and economy, (4) to test simplified maintenance procedures and in particular underwater maintenance, and (5) to develop and test methods for the continuous removal of fission and corrosion contaminants. 

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