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Electrical Cable Aging: What does IAEA Recommend?. Module 2. Dr. John H. Bickel Evergreen Safety & Reliability Technologies, LLC. Objective is to Understand. Recommendations of TECDOC-1147 regarding aging management of electrical cables. Aging management program process
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Electrical Cable Aging: What does IAEA Recommend? Module 2 Dr. John H. Bickel Evergreen Safety & Reliability Technologies, LLC
Objective is to Understand.. • Recommendations of TECDOC-1147 regarding aging management of electrical cables. • Aging management program process • Types of cables previously investigated and aging mechanisms considered • General recommendations for tests, inspections, and maintenance programs
IAEA TECDOC-1147 • Title: “Management of Aging of I&C Equipment in Nuclear Power Plants” • Prepared by experts from US, UK, France, Germany, Finland • Findings/recommendations reviewed by countries with large nuclear programs (Russia, Czech, Slovak Republics, India, others) • Purpose: “guide worldwide nuclear industry on potential effects of I&C aging on plant safety and economy” • Identify “means available to minimize or eliminate any detrimental effects of aging”
Aging Management Program Essentials: • Identify components whose aging may impact safety • Determine aging mechanisms important to safety and consequences of this aging • Identify tests, inspections and evaluation criteria for detection of safety component aging • Establish testing and replacement strategies to assure NPP operates safely over intended lifetime.
General Observations: • Electrical cable experience indicates cable aging problems generally less significant than for other types of I&C components. • Under normal operating conditions, electrical cable lifetimes exceed most other active components. • Under accident conditions, potential for common cause failure considered serious enough to warrant further investigations.
Mechanisms Which Aggravate Cable Aging: • Elevated local temperatures • Humidity, moisture ingress • Mechanical Stresses due to cyclic loads • Radiation Exposure
Tests, Measurements for Assessing Aging • Chemical testing of insulation composition • Mechanical testing of insulation ductility • Electrical resistance testing of cable conductors and insulation • All of these tests are based on measurements of degradation in aged cables compared to a “base-line” sample.
Recommended Methods Used to Monitor Cable Aging • Visual examinations of insulation (cracking) • Hardness testing of small cable section • Chemical analysis of sample section of cable • Measurement of resistance of insulation • Microscopy examinations of cable insulation samples • Swept frequency tests to measure dielectric properties (instrumentation cables) • Time domain reflectrometry (TDR) of conductor cable and connectors • AC/DC conductor resistance measurements