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Technical Meetings and Conferences
The Second International Symposium on Plant Life Management in Nuclear Power Plant, October 2007, Shanghai, China
The safety in all stages of operation of a NPP is paramount, and all requirements have to be met to obtain and to extend/renew the operating license. A PLiM programme is essential to achieve the goal of long term safe, economic and reliable operation. Some utilities already have advanced PLiM programmes while others are establishing theirs. The PLiM objective is to identify all relevant factors and requirements for the overall plant life cycle, including decommissioning and return of the site to a "green field". The optimization of these requirements would enable a minimum period for the return of investment and a maximization of the revenue from the sale of the produced electricity.
Recognizing the importance of safe, continued operation, and in response to the requests of Member States, the 2nd Plant Life Management Symposium was organized with the hosting of the China Atomic Energy Authority and China Nuclear National Corporation from 15 to 18 October 2008 in Shanghai, China. It attracted about 300 participants from 35 Member States and 3 international organizations. 175 papers were presented in keynotes, oral and poster sessions.
The 18 technical sessions were divided into six categories as follows:
- Session 1: Approaches to plant life management
- Session 2: Economics of plant life management
- Session 3: Ageing management and related operational programme
- Session 4: System, structure and component design modification, modernization, refurbishment and replacement
- Session 5: Managerial issues concerned with plant life management
- Session 6: Regulatory issues concerned with plant life management
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The 2nd PLiM symposium was much larger than the first one, and thus gave a clear indication of the growing importance of the topic of PLiM for long term /continued operation and the ways in which to implement it. The 2nd PLiM symposium demonstrated the value of open international exchange of information between experts, especially concerning operational aspects and the ways SSCs behave in various NPP designs. The presentations covered a wide range of subjects from very specific solutions for reactor pressure vessel integrity and material degradation and mitigation through to ageing management and licensing renewal approaches, risk informed inspection, non destructive examination methods and tools to be used in various stages of PLiM programmes.
References:
- Nuclear Power Plant Life Management Proceedings of an International Symposium in Shanghai, China, 15-18 October 2007
- Plant Life Management for Long Term Operation of Light Water Reactors, IAEA-TRS-448, IAEA, Vienna (2006)
- Nuclear Power Plant Life Management Processes: Guidelines and Practices for Heavy Water Reactors Details, IAEA-TECDOC-1503, IAEA, Vienna (2006)
- Nuclear Power Plant Life Management Proceedings of an International Symposium in Budapest, Hungary, 4-8 November 2002, C&S Papers CD Series No. 21