The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has issued a revised Safety Guide on ‘In-Service Inspection of Nuclear Power Plants’. This guide was published in March 2024 and bears the document number AERB/NPP/SG/O-2 (Rev. 1).
The document outlines the various stresses and environmental factors that impact the structure, systems, and components (SSCs) of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) and the importance of inspecting these to ensure their integrity and safety during operation. These influences can lead to material degradation, affecting the safety and integrity of the SSCs and the NPP as a whole.
Hence, the document emphasizes the need for periodic monitoring and trending of degradation in materials/components to initiate timely actions for repair or replacement. The safety guide provides detailed requirements for Pre-Service Inspection (PSI) before plant operation and In-Service Inspections (ISI) during reactor operation.
It covers various aspects such as establishing inspection programs, personnel qualifications, scheduling, evaluation of inspection results, focusing on the importance of PSI for baseline data, defining ISI periodicity, and providing guidelines for inspection techniques and procedures and more.
The scope of the safety guide applies to land-based NPPs of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) and Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) types, outlining provisions for safety-related systems and pressure-retaining components. While not covering all SSCs or inspection requirements, it offers principles applicable to other nuclear facilities.
