Repairing, replacing or refurbishing of components

Periodic evaluations of data should be conducted, and in some cases, a decision should be made to take an action to stop the deterioration process or replace a component. A summary report should be prepared of all the available data concerning the specific problem. This should include summaries of historical records (see Section 4.4), evaluation and assessment reports (see Section 4.5), and material regarding continued operation programme 

Besides technical aspects, as described above, some other important factors should be taken into account [10]  

All these factors should be considered in a systematic way, in order to reach a conclusion whether to rq)air, refurbish or replace the system. If the situation is not too safety significant, a decision may be taken to continue monitoring the ageing effects for a while and defer the intervention. 

If a decision is made to correct the situation, a proposal has to be prepared and submitted to the proper authorities for approval. In many cases, this action will not be a simple one and may be a major maintenance task or modification. Guidance on modifications of research reactors is given in the IAEA Safety Series No. 35-G2, Safety in the Utilization and Modification of Research Reactors [5]. 

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