NPP containment wall mock-up for long -term NDE and monitoring

Abstract

Non-destructive examination (NDE) plays an important role in the support of ageing management programs, where the renewal of an operating licence requires that nuclear power plant (NPP) demonstrate that their facilities are ageing under controlled conditions. The inspection of NPPs concrete structures present challenges different from those of conventional civil engineering structures. The project WANDA – “Non-Destructive Examination of Nuclear Power Plant Primary Circuit Components and Concrete Infrastructure” focuses on the development and understanding of NDE methods in two important NPP environments: primary circuit component materials and concrete infrastructure. This paper addresses the latter. The NDE research on NPP concrete infrastructure focuses on the evaluation and calibration of the available NDE methods and monitoring systems for concrete structures. This is achieved through the design and construction of a real-scale reinforced concrete containment wall mock-up for NDE testing method development and education purposes.