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Client
Sellafield Ltd
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Business need
Assess the integrity of high temperature reactor vessels
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Why Frazer-Nash?
Our expertise in the nuclear sector has grown for many years allowing us to become one the most renowned consultancies in the nuclear sector.
The challenge
The reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel involves a number of high-temperature processes which can damage the reactor pressure vessels as a result of creep rupture. Our client’s rigorous inspection review highlighted possible defects in the vessel welds (generated either from manufacture or operational mechanisms), and they asked Frazer-Nash to analyse the vessels to ensure they could be used safety, up to and beyond their design life.
Our solution
After comprehensively reviewing the operational history of the vessels to identify regions most at risk, we were able to get a clearer understanding of the operational loadings which are placed upon the vessels. We then used heat-transfer and finite element (FE) analysis to determine the operational stress states which are likely to cause creep.
