Prognostics health management and life beyond 60 for nuclear power plants

Abstract

There is growing interest in longer-term operation of the current US nuclear power plant (NPP) fleet. This paper presents an overview of prognostic health management (PHM) technologies that could play a role in the safe and effective operation of nuclear power plants during extended life. A case study in prognostics for materials degradation assessment, using laboratory-scale measurements, is briefly discussed, and technical gaps that need to be addressed prior to PHM system deployment for nuclear power life extension are presented.