Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering

ICONE18
May 17-21, 2010, Xi'an, China

ICONE18-

VERLIFE - UNIFIED PROCEDURE FOR LIFETIME ASSESSMENT OF COMPONENTS

AND PIPING IN WWER NPPs DURING OPERATION –
UPDATING AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

Milan Brumovsky
Nuclear Research Institute Rez plc
250 68 Rez, Czech Republic
[email protected]

ABSTRACT
The paper will describe these main principles and also future
VERLIFE – „Unified Procedure for Lifetime Assessment of plans.
Components and Piping in WWER NPPs during Operation“ was
developed within the 5th Framework Program of the European 1. INTRODUCTION
Union in 2003 and later upgraded within the 6th Framework Lifetime assessment of individual components and piping in
Program „COVERS – Safety of WWER NPPs“ of the European nuclear power plants (NPP) is a mandatory part of every
Union in 2008. Periodic Safety Report as well as it is necessary for component/
This Procedure had to fill the gap in original Soviet/Russian plant life management and potential plant life extension. In the
Codes and Rules for WWER type NPPs, as these codes were same time, such assessment is also necessary for safe operation
developed only for design and manufacturing and were not of components in NPPs. Till the VERLIFE preparation, no legal
changed since their second edition in 1989. procedures or standard guidelines existed for lifetime/integrity
VERLIFE Procedure is based on these Russian codes but assessment of components and piping in operating NPPs of
incorporates also new developments in research, mainly in WWER type. Former Soviet rules and standards had been
fracture mechanics, and also some principal approaches used in prepared and approved only for design and manufacturing stage
PWR codes. of NPPs. These rules/standards mostly are not applicable for
To assure that VERLIFE Procedure will remain a living operating plants or they need some modifications and extensions
document, new 3-years IAEA project (in close co-operation with to be usable also for operating components. Approaches used in
the another project 6th Framework Program of the European WWER Codes and standards are in some parts different than
Union “NULIFE – Plant Life Management of NPPs”) has they are applied in PWR ones, thus a comparison of lifetime
started in 2009. assessment using these two types of codes could be different and
Within this project, upgrading/updating of the VERLIFE non-comparable.
procedure is prepared together with the extension by (at least)
following procedures: Additional goal of this Concerted Action has been in creating a
- Leak-before-break concept for WWER NPPs network of the safety managers and experts of the plants
- Reduction of Probability of Break procedure for together with experts from Technical Support Organizations and
evaluation of integrity of high-energy piping in also from national regulatory bodies that are foreseen to operate
NPPs of WWER-440 and WWER-1000 types WWER type reactors within the European Union during the first
- Lifetime of reactor pressure vessel internals decades of this century.
- Risk informed In-service inspection implementation
process and organization 2. WORK PROGRAM
- Methodology for Qualification of In-Service Inspection th
Systems for WWER Nuclear Power Plants The Concerted Action within the 5 European Union
th
- Component and piping supports Framework Program (EU 5 FP) was based on the partners´
- Monitoring and evaluation of erosion-corrosion damage in meetings that were the main method of sharing the status of
piping materials procedures for lifetime assessment of individual components
and piping in WWER NPPs in members´ countries.
Final document, after its approval by expert groups of the IAEA The whole project was co-ordinated by the Nuclear Research
and NULIFE, will be issued as “IAEA/NULIFE Guidelines for Institute Rez (NRI) Rez, Czech Republic.
Integrity and Lifetime Assessment of Components and Piping in
WWER NPPs”.

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 The Consortium was co-ordinated in such a way to: fracture toughness, crack growth rate, corrosion resistance,
• group experts from technical support organizations that are radiation damage as they were not included in any Soviet Code.
incorporated in WWER component lifetime assessment in On the bases of these databases, necessary design curves for
Finland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Hungary – individual material properties have been proposed and put into
FORTUM Nuclear Services Ltd. in Finland, Nuclear the “Unified Procedure”.
Research Institute Řež plc and Institute of Applied
Mechanics in Czech Republic, VÚJE Trnava a.s. in Slovak 4. STRUCTURE OF THE DOCUMENT VERLIFE
Republic and AEKI Atomic Energy Research Center in
Hungary, and Institute of Metal Science in Bulgaria, The structure of the “Unified Procedure” covers all
• include experts from nuclear regulatory bodies that are important parts of lifetime and integrity assessment as they are
connected with evaluation of such assessments and/or their required for Periodic Safety Reviews and plant life management
acceptance - State Office of Nuclear Safety of Czech programs:
Republic, Nuclear Regulatory Office of Slovak Republic,
• include specialists from nuclear power plants that are 1. Scope of the procedure
responsible for component lifetime assessment and/or plant This “Procedure” can be used for evaluation of residual lifetime
life management – FORTUM Nuclear Services Ltd. for of components and piping of NPPs with WWER type reactors
Loviisa NPP in Finland, ČEZ a.s. for NPP Dukovany and for designed, manufactured, inspected and put into operation in
Temelín NPP in Czech Republic, Slovenske elektrárne a.s. accordance with former Soviet Rules and Codes.
for NPP Jaslovské Bohunice and Mochovce in Slovak This “Procedure” can be used for evaluation of residual lifetime
Republic, and NPP Paks through AEKI, of components and piping of NPPs with WWER type reactors
• use experience from components design, stress analysis, manufactured for their replacement in accordance with original
lifetime evaluation and manufacturing experience – SKODA design
JS a.s. in Czech Republic (main manufacturer for WWER This “Procedure” can be used for evaluation of residual lifetime
components for Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and of components and piping of NPPs with WWER type reactors
Hungary, resp. also former Germany Democratic Republic, during their operation
Poland and Bulgaria). This “Procedure” can be used for an elaboration of Periodic
Safety Reports (or similar type of documentation) to
The practical work was carried out, in principal, in meetings of demonstrate operational safety and reliability of components and
Task groups. A common kick-off meeting of all partners started piping during reactor operation
the work and the review the current status. In the kick-off This “Procedure” can be used for a definition of conditions for
meeting the structure of the “Unified Procedure” and expected further reactor operation within or beyond the component or
results were proposed, discussed and agreed. For evaluation of piping design lifetime/licence validity
the “Unified Procedure”, Task Groups of experts were organized This “Procedure” is based on similar philosophy of operation
in the following main directions that cover all main scientific lifetime and integrity evaluation as worldwide used standards
fields of the “Procedure…”: and codes for PWR type reactors but it does not exclude further
• Fracture – application of fracture mechanics to integrity use of results of current research and developments. Thus, this
and lifetime, defects allowance, “Procedure” is harmonized with PWR Codes and rules as much
• Corrosion-mechanical damage – corrosion problems in as possible taking into account original Soviet rules for design,
integrity and lifetime assessment, manufacturing and inspection. This „Procedure” can be applied
• Fatigue – mechanical and thermal fatigue evaluation based to technological parts of NPPs with WWER type of reactors:
on design and real operating regimes, (1) metallic parts of pressure boundary components of safety
• Material ageing - definition, material testing and damage related systems
evaluation, (2) metallic parts of containments
• Reactor dosimetry – determination of neutron fluences by
calculations and measurements. 2. General requirements, definitions and abbreviations

Thus, organization of the work in preparation of this document 3. General requirements to lifetime assessment
is different if comparing with ASME Code structure. This was Components and systems in nuclear power plants of the WWER
caused by the fact that in WWER operating countries no type are allowed to operate in service conditions given in the
international organization like ASME exists and thus alternate Design specifications only when the used criteria for the system
solution was necessary to find and set. safety were checked and verified.
Significance of the operation conditions can be different for
3. MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS different components and their parts. Temperatures, stresses, and
mechanical loads can be treated as computational, operation and
In preparation of the “Unified Procedure” the following test loads.
principles and inputs were agreed:
• WWER components were designed and manufactured in 4. Procedure for assessment of residual lifetime of the
accordance with former Soviet rules and standards [1], component
• IAEA activities in the field of WWER components
integrity assessment [2], The general assessment of component lifetime consists from the
• Approaches applied in PWR components integrity and following parts:
lifetime evaluation, - Assessment of residual lifetime of the component from the
• Last developments in fracture mechanics and their point of view of the resistance against fast fracture (“with
application to component integrity. the postulated defect”)
- Assessment of “fatigue lifetime” of the component
Large effort was concentrated on creation and critical analysis
of material databases of main WWER component materials –

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 - Assessment of residual lifetime of the component from the flaws are smaller than the flaws displayed in the Tables of
point of view of resistance against corrosion-mechanical allowable sizes of the flaws, or if all detected flaws are
damage allowable for all nodes of the component and during the whole
- Assessment of residual lifetime of the component with flaws design lifetime of the component, taking into account also the
detected during in-service inspection possible growth of the flaws.

5. Assessment of resistance against non-ductile failure for 9. Final lifetime assessment

normal, upset, emergency operating conditions and for Assumed technical lifetime of the component, given for example
pressure tests by its design, is ensured if approved, for example, by assessment
Assessment of component resistance against fast fracture is carried out in accordance with Chapters 5 – 8. Residual lifetime
performed for all regimes of normal operating conditions, of the component is to be represented by the shortest residual
hydrotest, as well as emergency conditions. The following lifetime determined by assessment executed in accordance with
transition temperatures may be used for characterization of Chapters 5 - 8. If the period is shorter than the period given, for
material state: reference temperature, T0, determined from static example, by design, then it is necessary to take the appropriate
fracture toughness tests using “Master curve“ approach, as well measures for operation management and maintenance, in
as critical temperature of brittleness, Tk, determined from accordance with the “Program for control of lifetime of the
Charpy impact tests in accordance with Russian approach [1] as component of the production unit of nuclear power plant”.
this approach was applied in the whole Qualification program of
all materials as well as in all material Acceptance tests. Detailed procedures or requirements are summarized in 16
mandatory appendices.
6. Assessment of fatigue damage
The residual lifetime assessment of the component from the In the “Unified Procedure…”, the following principal changes in
point of view of fatigue damage shall be carried out according to comparison with original rules [1] have been implemented:
standards accepted by national Regulatory Bodies. • size of the postulated defect for fast fracture evaluation as
The residual lifetime assessment of the component from the well as for fatigue and corrosion-mechanical damage is
point of view of fatigue damage shall be carried out in two steps: defined in correlation with in-service inspection methods
- Until initiation of the macro-defect (“hypothetical crack”) and qualification,
of size 1.0 mm that is postulated for cases when fatigue • method for evaluation of allowance of defects found
damage criterion reaches value D≥ 1. during in-service inspections is given,
- For the phase of potential growth of this “hypothetical • allowable sizes of defects found during in-service
crack” which could be omitted if non-destructive inspection inspections are calculated on the bases of fracture mechanics
show no defect in the assessed area. The procedure and material properties,
described in Chapter 8 shall be used for this step. • method for transformation of indications found during in-
service inspections into calculated defects is described,
7. Assessment of corrosion-mechanical damage • procedure for evaluation of surveillance specimens test
Assessment of residual lifetime from the point of view of data for their use in integrity assessment is given,
resistance against corrosion-mechanical-damage is to be carried • method for evaluation of corrosion-mechanical damage in
out in two steps, in accordance with the procedures in Appendix some specific components is described,
IX. • material properties (crack growth rates) in primary water
1) Assessment of resistance against initiation of the defects of environment are summarized,
the type “pit” (pitting corrosion) or fatigue cracks of the size • unified material properties for temperature and stress fields
corresponding to the conditions of stress corrosion. of reactor pressure vessels are summarized.
2) Assessment of allowance of growth of the flaws in the
conditions of stress corrosion. Growth of the flaws can This “Unified Procedure”-VERLIFE 2003 was prepared for
appear under the constant load (corrosion cracking), under pressurized components of primary circuit of WWER-440 and
the variable loading (corrosion fatigue) and/or under the WWER-1000 units, even though it shall be also used for safety
time dependent combination of both of them. related components of other circuits, too.

8. Evaluation of allowance of defects found during in- 5. VERLIFE CONTINUATION

th
service inspection In 2005 a new project within the EU 6 FP was opened –
The flaws determined during in-service inspections are to be “COVERS –WWER Safety Research” that was also co-
schematized in accordance with the procedure shown in ordinated by the NRI. In this project, one work package dealt
Appendix X. with the upgrading and updating of the VERLIFE procedure to
The flaws in components from ferritic materials schematized in assure that the experience obtained and also new developments
this way are to be compared with the Tables of allowable sizes would be appropriately included into the new version. Experts
of flaws, which are given in Appendix XI. from 9 countries were taking part in this project, i.e. not only
The flaws that fulfill the schematized sizes requirements from WWER operating countries – Czech Republic, Slovak
prescribed in the Tables are allowable and it is not necessary to Republic, Hungary, Finland, but also from Spain, Netherland,
continue with their assessment. Germany, as well as from EU-JRC IE and ISTC (France).
The flaws that do not fulfill some of the requirements prescribed Experts from Russian Federation and Ukraine were also
in the Tables have to be subjected to assessment in accordance included.
with the appropriate Appendix as follows: Within this project, some improvements and upgrading/updating
- flaws in components - Appendix XII were prepared and discussed in regular technical meetings twice
- flaws in austenitic piping – Appendix XIII, a year. The main changes of the VERLIFE procedure can be
- flaws in carbon steel piping – Appendix XIV. described as:
The residual lifetime of the component with the flaws detected
during in-service inspections is ensured either if the determined

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 - PTS evaluation: effect of shallow crack, biaxial loading, - Reduction of Probability of Break procedure for
warm pre-stressing evaluation of integrity of high-energy piping in
- Improved procedure for evaluation of underclad type NPPs of WWER-440 and WWER-1000 types
postulated defects in PTS calculations (based on results The goal of the Reduction of Probability of Break
from PHARE (European project for support of new procedure proposed for evaluation of integrity of high-
members) project - „WWER Cladded Reactor Pressure energy piping in NPPs of WWER-440 and WWER-1000
Vessel Integrity Evaluation with Respect to Pressurized types is as follows: To establish the conditions and
Thermal Shock Events“) requirements for high energy piping in NPPs of
- Integral approach in PTS calculations using „Master WWER-440 and WWER-1000 types, under which it may be
Curve“ approach ensured, by performing additional analyses, provisions and
- Improved procedure for evaluation of defect allowance in procedures, that the probability of fluid system piping
other components than RPV break and/or leakage crack occurrence due to unknown
- Evaluation of p-T curves and unpredictable reasons is lowered to an acceptable
- New procedure for probabilistic assessment of integrity of level.
WWER RPVs – Appendix XVI
- Fatigue damage calculation for components and piping - Lifetime of reactor pressure vessel internals
during operation Reactor pressure vessel internals are damaged by very high
- Corrosion-mechanical damage of components neutron fluence at increased temperatures when swelling
- Crack growth rate in water environment and radiation creep can take place. Even though they are
- Improved formulae for radiation embrittlement of WWER- not pressure retaining boundary, their integrity is required
440 materials (based on IAEA Co-ordinated Research to assure safe reactor shut down.
Project 7 results) and of WWER-1000 materials (based on Integrity criterion is defined by the critical condition when
TACIS project results) the calculated (postulated) flaw reaches critical size that is
- Evaluation of Tk and T0 from surveillance specimen sets determined by condition of
- Evaluation of trend curves for radiation damage • unstable growth of the flaw or
- Neutron dosimetry – neutron fluence determination by • the loss of stress-carrying capacity for a cracked
calculation and measurements component.
- Correction of unified data of material properties for PTS Serviceability criterion is defined by the critical conditions
calculations (based on results from PHARE project - when it is predicted
„WWER Cladded Reactor Pressure Vessel Integrity • non-allowable change in geometrical sizes or in shape
Evaluation with Respect to Pressurized Thermal Shock of internal component or
Events“) • critical wear of internal component
Lifetime is defined as operation time when the above
New version of the VERLIFE 2008 procedure was finalized conditions are fulfilled
and accepted by the participants in March 2008, after that
standard procedure for acceptance of the code as Czech Code - Risk informed In-service (RI-ISI) inspection
NTD ASI as well as in other countries was initiated. implementation process and organization
Thus, this upgraded/updated “Procedure” is now in a good Implementation of a successful RI-ISI program requires the
agreement with the state-of-the-art of the knowledge in the field. use and integration of inputs and analyses from multiple
disciplines within the plant organization. This section
discusses the various required inputs and provides
6. IAEA GUIDELINES suggestion for documenting these inputs for use in
developing the RI-ISI program as well a supporting future
To assure that VERLIFE Procedure will remain a living updates and improvements.
document and that it will get more advanced level and more
disseminated application, a new 3-years IAEA project started in - Methodology for Qualification of In-Service Inspection
2009 and first kick-off meeting was organized on March 11-13, Systems for WWER Nuclear Power Plants
2009. Such project can incorporate experts not only from This Appendix provides a methodology for qualification of ISI
European Union countries but also from other IAEA member systems which might be used by WWER operating countries as
states. Moreover, this international project will be performed in a commonly accepted basis for further development of the
a close co-operation with the “pilot project”´- VERLIFE necessary qualification related infrastructures.
extension - approved within the 6th Framework Program project This Appendix also provides several qualification principles
of the European Union “NULIFE – Plant Life Management of defining the administrative framework needed for the
NPPs”. practical implementation of the methodology, a description
Within this project, upgrading/updating of the VERLIFE of the process of qualification of an inspection system,
procedure is being prepared together with the extension by (at according to that methodology, specifying its minimum
least) following procedures: technical and documentation related requirements, as well as,
- Leak-before-break (LBB) concept for WWER NPPs several specific requirements with regard to the NDT
LBB analyses should demonstrate that the probability of procedures, equipment and personnel to be qualified and to
pipe rupture is extremely low under conditions consistent the test specimens to be used in practical trials. Finally, it
with the design basis for the piping. A deterministic suggests an appropriate distribution of responsibilities, among
evaluation of the piping system that demonstrates sufficient all the parties involved in a qualification process, based on
margins against failure, including verified design and international practice.
fabrication and an adequate inservice inspection program,
can be assumed to satisfy the extremely low probability
criterion.

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 - Component and piping supports Updating/upgrading of the VERLIFE procedure into the ”IAEA
This Appendix contains requirements for development, Guidelines on Integrity and Lifetime Assessment of
structure design, materials, manufacturing, installation, Components and Piping in WWER NPPs during Operation” is
repair, operation (including in-service inspection), now being prepared within the IAEA regional project together
th
operation life time extension and decommissioning of with the “pilot project” within the 6 FP EU project NULIFE.
supports and hangers (hereinafter referred to as supports)
intended for elements of NPPs with WWER.

- Monitoring and evaluation of erosion-corrosion damage in

piping materials REFERENCES
The goal of this Appendix is to provide an instruction and
recommendation for performance of such long-term [1] Standard for Strength Calculations of Components and
monitoring program at pipelines potentially sensitive to Piping in NPPs, PNAE G-7-002-86, Energoatomizdat,
flow-accelerated corrosion in WWER nuclear power Moscow, 1989
plants. The aim of successful implementation of the [2] Guidelines on Pressurized Thermal Shock Analysis for
program is minimization of damage inflicted to important WWER Nuclear Power Plants, IAEA-EBP-WWER-08,
components of the secondary circuit and reduction of Vienna, 1997
probability of degradation of the secondary circuit [3] VERLIFE – Unified Procedure for Lifetime Assessment of
pressure pipeline systems. Components and Piping in WWER NPPs during Operation,
2008
Preparation of this IAEA Guidelines is done with the active
co-operation of experts from WWER operating countries –
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland,
Ukraine, Russian Federation and also within the NULIFE “pilot
project” with experts of PWR operating countries – Germany,
France, Spain, UK, Sweden. It is also foreseen that this project
will be closely co-ordinated with the other IAEA regional
project with application of the VERLIFE procedure to the
Chinese WWER NPPs.

Final document, after its approval by expert groups of the IAEA

and NULIFE, will be issued as “IAEA Guidelines for Integrity
and Lifetime Assessment of Components and Piping in WWER
NPPs”.

6. CONCLUSIONS

The Concerted Action for the projects VERLIFE and also

COVERS has been successfully finished in accordance with the
plan and the contract. The “Unified Procedure for Lifetime
Assessment of Components and Piping of WWER NPPs” –
VERLIFE 2008 has been prepared, discussed, evaluated and
finally agreed and accepted by all participants. This “Procedure”
represents a procedure for WWER components based on former
Russian codes and rules but harmonized with approached used
in PWR type plants. Thus, this “Procedure” is now in a good
agreement with the state-of-the-art of the knowledge in the field.
The last version of the “Procedure” – VERLIFE 2008 is now
under negotiation with national Nuclear Regulatory Authorities
for approval and use.

This document is now being used in several WWER operating

countries as a legal regulatory document - fully in Czech
Republic, and Slovakia, partially in Finland, and it use is under
consideration in China and Ukraine, in all cases for WWER type
NPPs.

During the project performance, a very effective and qualified

group of experts were created – and within the activity of the
new European 6FP program – COVERS - it was further
developed and validated by a round robin calculation exercise.
Thus, this document will be living documents with revisions
every three years to be able to be in touch with the state-of-the-
art in this field.

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