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Steam Generator Tube Integrity Program Semiannual Report: October 1999 – March 2000 (NUREG/CR-6511, Volume 9)

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: October 2001
Date Published: June 2002

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

Subcontractors:
*ARES Corporation
851 University Blvd. S.E.
Albuquerque, NM 87106

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

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Abstract

This report summarizes work performed by Argonne National Laboratory on the Steam Generator Tube Integrity Program for the period October 1999 through March 2000. The program is divided into five tasks: (1) Assessment of Inspection Reliability, (2) Research on ISI Technology, (3) Research on Degradation Modes and Integrity, (4) Development of Methodology and Technical Requirements for Current and Emerging Regulatory Issues, and (5) Program Management. Under Task 1, progress is reported on the round-robin analysis of the steam generator tube mockup, in which a total of seven teams have participated to date. The format for the tables necessary to carry out the statistical analysis of the round-robin data has also been established. Activities under Task 2 were concerned primarily with multiparameter analysis of eddy current NDE results. Calculations were performed on the applicability of pseudoinverse filters for improving the spatial resolution of rotating probes, analytical procedures for the elimination of unwanted signals were explored, the conversion of data analysis results into calibrated profiles for more direct deduction of estimated flaw size and extent was examined, and inspection data obtained from laboratory-degraded tubes were analyzed. Under Task 3, the production and characterization of laboratory-degraded tubes continued. Further testing of tubes with electro-discharge machined and laser-cut notches, as well as laboratory-degraded tubes, was carried out in the High-Pressure Test Facility, and an exploratory test was conducted to evaluate the potential for erosion resulting from a jet of water from a leaking tube impinging on an adjacent tube, Finally, a model was developed to calculate crack-opening area as a function of time for axial cracks under severe-accident conditions, and the ligament-rupture behavior observed in laboratory tests on tubes with EDM and laser-cut notches was modeled.

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