PR-EDB: Power Reactor Embrittlement Database - Version 3 [report]

Jy-An John Wang, Ranjit Subramani
2008 unpublished
Information from radiation embrittlement research on nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels and from power-reactor surveillance reports has been gathered to assist the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) effectively monitor current procedures and databases used by vendors, utilities, and service laboratories in the pressure vessel irradiation surveillance program. The radiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel materials depends on many factors, such as neutron fluence, flux,
more » ... energy spectrum, irradiation temperature, and preirradiation material history and chemical compositions. These factors must be considered to reliably predict pressure vessel embrittlement. Large amounts of data from surveillance capsules are needed to develop a generally applicable damage prediction model that can be used for industry standards and regulatory guides. Furthermore, the investigations of regulatory issues such as vessel integrity over plant life, vessel failure, and sufficiency of current codes, Standard Review Plans (SRPs), and Guides for license renewal can be greatly expedited by the use of a well-designed computerized database. The Power Reactor Embrittlement Database (PR-EDB) is such a comprehensive collection of data for U.S. operated commercial nuclear reactors. The current version of the PR-EDB lists the test results of 104 heat-affected-zone (HAZ) materials, 115 weld materials, and 141 base materials, including 103 plates, 35 forgings, and 3 correlation monitor materials that were irradiated in 321 capsules from 106 commercial power reactors. The data files are given in dBASE format and can be accessed with any personal computer using the Windows operating system. "User-friendly" utility programs have been written to investigate radiation embrittlement using this database. Utility programs allow the user to retrieve, select and manipulate specific data, display data to the screen or printer, and fit and plot Charpy impact data. The PR-EDB Version 3.0 upgrades Version 2.0. The package was developed based on the Microsoft .NET framework technology and uses Microsoft Access for backend data storage, and Microsoft Excel for plotting graphs. This software package is compatible with Windows (98 or higher) and has been built with a highly versatile user interface. PR-EDB Version 3.0 also contains an "Evaluated Residual File" utility for generating the evaluated processed files used for radiation embrittlement study.
doi:10.2172/932609 fatcat:rdavipngnbekbj3etlh7725xee