Steam Generator Tube Integrity Program - Annual Report October 1997 – September 1998 (NUREG/CR-6511, Volume 6)

On this page:

• Publication Information
• Abstract

Download complete document

• NUREG/CR-6511, Volume 6 (PDF - 9.80 MB)

Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: August 1999
Date Published: October 1999

Prepared by:
D. R. Diercks, S. Bakhtiari, K. E. Kasza, D. S. Kupperman,
S. Majumdar, J. Y. Park, W. J. Shack

Argonne National Laboratory
9700 South Cass Avenue
Argonne, IL 60439

J. Muscara, NRC Project Manager

Prepared for:
Division of Engineering Technology
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

NRC Job Code W6487

Availability Notice

Abstract

This report summarizes work performed by Argonne National Laboratory on the Steam Generator Tube Integrity Program during the period October 1997 through September 1998. The program is divided into five tasks: (1) Assessment of Inspection Reliability; (2) Research on In-Service-Inspection (ISI) Technology; (3) Research on Degradation Modes and Integrity; (4) Integration of Results, Methodology, and Technical Assessments for Current and Emerging Regulatory Issues; and (5) Program Management. Under Task 1, progress is reported on the assembly of a steam generator tube mock-up for round-robin studies on currently practiced nondestructive evaluation (NDE) procedures. Progress is also reported on the evaluation of NDE techniques for characterizing the tubes going into the mock-up and on the development of protocols and procedures for the round-robin. In addition, results are reported on the EC inspection of deplugged tubes obtained from the Duke Power Company's McGuire Nuclear Station. Under Task 2, results are reported on numerical and experimental results on the response of a bobbin coil probe to axial notches in calibration-standard tubes. Progress is also reported on the evaluation of multivariate linear and nonlinear models for the correlation of eddy current data with tube structural integrity. In Task 3, progress is reported on the production of cracked tubes for the steam generator tube mock-up. The facility checkout, shakedown, and performance qualification of the Pressure and Leak-Rate Test Facility are described, and the results of initial pressure and leak-rate tests on notched tubes, circularhole tubes, and tubes containing laboratory-produced stress corrosion cracks are reported. In addition, a series of finite-element analyses was conducted for multiple colinear cracks with various ligament widths, a test matrix was developed for the pressure and leak-rate testing of tubes with axial machined notches, a literature survey is being completed on the current understanding of the mechanisms of the initiation, growth, arrest, and reinitiation of stress corrosion cracks, and the tubes removed from the McGuire steam generators are being decontaminated. Under Task 4, the results of eddy current and ultrasonic examinations of electrosleeved tubes are reported, and residual stresses in these tubes have been measured by neutron diffraction techniques. The results of a critical review of the corrosion and cracking behaviors of electrosleeved tubes are also summarized.