Approaches to Accounting and Prediction of Fast Neutron Fluence on VVER Pressure Vessels for Estimation of RPV Residual Lifetime in Compliance with Russian Utility's Procedure

Abstract

The Paper describes a new Russian Utility's regulatory document (RD EO) which has been recently developed and implemented since the beginning of 2013. This RD EO includes the procedure of RPV FNF monitoring and provides recommendations on how to predict fluence over the design lifetime taking into account results of FNF monitoring. The basic method of RPV neutron fluence monitoring is neutron transport calculations of FR in the vicinity of the RPV. Reliability of the calculation results should be validated by ex-vessel neutron-activation measurements, which were performed during different fuel cycles with different core loadings including new types of fuel.