Full Description

This report attempts to summarize the status of nuclear pressure vessel operating parameters, and is addressed particularly to vessel fabricators and to committees charged with framing pertinent specifications.

Although there are several different types of nuclear reactors, based on the type of cooling medium used, license to confine this report to aqueous type reactors is taken for two practical reasons: (1) the problems peculiar to vessels containing high pressures under conditions of neutron irradiation have particular significance and urgency at this stage of reactor development, and (2) water-cooled reactors to date have the benefit of the acquisition of more operational history than other types.

Operating conditions are herein defined to include only those parameters of importance to vessel integrity, and a description can be based only on those reactors having had some significant operating history.

There has been no attempt to promote any particular set of principles for nuclear vessels, as this subject has been discussed elsewhere.

Some of the information given exists in published form in various documents; other important portions are unpublished to date. Serious gaps in the data and the need for confirmatory work will become apparent from the discussion.

Views expressed are those of the author only.

Product Details

Published: 1961 Number of Pages: 18 File Size: 1 file , 740 KB