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The world's first class 3 safety related nuclear PE4710 piping project - 10 year review

 

Papers

Plastic Pipes Conference Association # 2018 Las-Vegas

Lonnie Corley, Dane Chang, Harvey Svetlik, Matt Brandes, Thomas Musto, Frank Schaaf, David Fink

This paper presents a brief overview of a challenging project at the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant where HDPE was utilized to replace degraded steel buried piping in a Safety Related water system. Callaway was the first Nuclear Power plant to obtain NRC approval and successfully place the HDPE piping system into service in an ASME Section III, Class 3 application. 

In 2008, through a well-collaborative effort with a number of industry experts from several key companies (a resin supplier, a pipe manufacturer, a pipe fittings manufacturer, a consultant, an engineering contractor and a primary construction contractor), the world’s first PE4710 HDPE piping project for Class 3 safety related nuclear plant Essential Service Water system was approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and successfully completed at Ameren UE’s 1,200-megawatt Callaway Nuclear Power Plant in Fulton, Missouri. Approximately 1,600 feet of 36-inch PE4710 pipe (with approximately 4-inch wall thickness) were installed underground in accordance with a site specific NRC Relief Request which was largely based on ASME Code Case N-755. A number of special PE4710 joint fittings at both 45-degree and 22.5-degree angles, were successfully fused to the main pipe components. The two trains in parallel have been in operation with no issues, since full commissioning in April, 2009.

This paper provides details of this historic project including: background, design requirement, ASME Code Case N-755 development, qualification/manufacture/handling of PE4710 pipe & fittings, installation, timeline and, most importantly, review of the operational experiences with this PE4710 ESW system during the last 10 years. The pros and cons including comparison with the traditional ESW carbon steel pipe will be discussed.

Related keywords : Nuclear, PE4710, Buried Pipe, Safety Related.
Please note that the whole article content is available on PPCA website only :

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