Understanding and Mitigating Ageing in Nuclear Power Plants
Materials and Operational Aspects of Plant Life Management (PLIM)
Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy Series

Plant life management (PLiM) is a methodology focussed on the safety-first management of nuclear power plants over their entire lifetime. It incorporates and builds upon the usual periodic safety reviews and licence renewals as part of an overall framework designed to assist plant operators and regulators in assessing the operating conditions of a nuclear power plant, and establishing the technical and economic requirements for safe, long-term operation.Understanding and mitigating ageing in nuclear power plants critically reviews the fundamental ageing-degradation mechanisms of materials used in nuclear power plant structures, systems and components (SSC), along with their relevant analysis and mitigation paths, as well as reactor-type specific PLiM practices. Obsolescence and other less obvious ageing-related aspects in nuclear power plant operation are also examined in depth.Part one introduces the reader to the role of nuclear power in the global energy mix, and the importance and relevance of plant life management for the safety regulation and economics of nuclear power plants. Key ageing degradation mechanisms and their effects in nuclear power plant systems, structures and components are reviewed in part two, along with routes taken to characterise and analyse the ageing of materials and to mitigate or eliminate ageing degradation effects. Part three reviews analysis, monitoring and modelling techniques applicable to the study of nuclear power plant materials, as well as the application of advanced systems, structures and components in nuclear power plants. Finally, Part IV reviews the particular ageing degradation issues, plant designs, and application of plant life management (PLiM) practices in a range of commercial nuclear reactor types.With its distinguished international team of contributors, Understanding and mitigating ageing in nuclear power plants is a standard reference for all nuclear plant designers, operators, and nuclear safety and materials professionals and researchers.

Part 1 Introduction to PLiM: Nuclear energy, materials and operations; Key elements of PLiM for long-term operation; Safety regulations and license renewal; Probabilistic and deterministic safety assessment; Socio-economic impacts. Part 2 Ageing degradation of irradiated materials in systems, structures and components: Failure prevention and analysis; Operational loads and creep-, fatigue- and corrosion-interactions; Microstructure evolution of irradiated structural materials; Stress corrosion cracking in light-water reactors (LWR); Void swelling and irradiation creep in LWRs; Irradiation hardening and materials embrittlement in LWRs; Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) annealing and mitigation. Part 3 Analysis of materials and advanced SSC: Characterisation of irradiated and ageing materials; On-line and real-time corrosion monitoring; Multi-scale modelling of irradiation effects; Instrumentation and control; Nanostructured materials. Part 4 PLiM practices in nuclear power plants: PWR; WWER; BWR; PHWR; SFR; Magnox/AGR; Outlook.

Dr Philip G. Tipping, is a Nuclear Energy and Materials Consultant, and was formerly a Senior Materials Specialist/Metallurgist at the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI), Switzerland. He is noted for his research into ageing degradation in nuclear power plant materials and was lead author of IAEA Technical Report Series No. 448: Plant Life Management for Long Term Operation of Light Water Reactors.