Recommendations for managing equipment aging in nuclear power plants

Research conducted under the auspices of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission´s Nuclear Plant Aging Research (NPAR) Program has resulted in a large database of component and system operating, maintenance, and testing information. This database has been used to determine the susceptibility to aging of selected components, and the potential for equipment aging to impact plant safety and availability. It has also identified methods for detecting and mitigating component and system aging. The authors describe the research recommendations on electrical components which could be applied to maintenance, testing, and inspection activities to detect and mitigate the effects of aging prior to equipment failures