Repair and replacement of reactor internals for plant life extension Original Research Article

Recent experience from early Swedish BWRs corroborate that all components in a nuclear power plant can be repaired or replaced with new ones. Oskarshamn 1 has gone through a thorough refurbishment project. A number of internals were repaired or replaced including the core shroud support which was welded to the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel. The project verifies that it is fully possible to carry out complicated inspection and repair work inside a nuclear pressure vessel which has been in operation for more than 20 years. Along with increased capacity factor, operating nuclear power plants get the financial conditions needed for extensive repair and modernization projects. Large power output leads to short pay-back times for the investments. The FENIX project at Oskarshamn 1 is such a project. There are utilities whose policy is to keep their plants in as-new condition for an unlimited length of time.