Research and Surveillance Activities for the Improvement of Pipe Wall Thinning Management

(1. Overview of Research Committee)

Abstract

Pipe wall thinning is an important issue for aging management of nuclear and fossil power plants. The Japanese Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) published a guideline on pipe wall thinning management in 2005 and management codes in 2006, which is based on inspection using UT. In JSME, research committee for the improvement of pipe wall thinning management has been held since 2008, where state of the arts technical knowledge was investigated. In this committee, research for new technical knowledge for the mechanisms of wall thinning, evaluation methods, new inspection methods etc. Regarding the evaluation methods, how it is reflected to the management codes is considered. Risk based management and criteria for local wall thinning are also investigated.