ABSTRACT

Check Valves in Nuclear Power Plants – ASME OM Code Requirements and Industry Compliance

L. Ike Ezekoye, Ph.D., P.E

Ezekoye Engineering Services LLC

1407 Old Beulah Road

Pittsburgh, PA 15235 USA

 

Mark Rain, P.E.  
Flowserve Corporation  
1900 S. Saunders St.  
Raleigh, NC  27603

 

Check valves are one of the simplest valves to design and use in power plants.  Their primary function is twofold; open and discharge flow in the forward direction when required, and quickly close and isolate back flow when the pump is shut off or when there is reverse flow to minimize water hammer.  The simplicity of check valves masks the fact that during plant operation, the valve's internal moving parts are subjected to operational age-related wear that, over time, would lead to failures.  As the valve internals are not accessible, predicting when a check valve will fail in operation is an uncertain science.  In the nuclear industry, where these valves are relied upon to perform safety related functions, plant engineers responsible for maintaining these valves are constantly challenged to come up with ways to comply with the ASME Code requirements and NRC regulations that assure that the valves will perform their safety functions. In this paper we present challenges that plant engineers responsible for maintaining check valves face trying to address ASME Code requirements, NRC regualtory requirements, snapshot review of some check valve failures,  industry guidance on management of check valves, and overview of new technologies being developed to inspect check valves internals.  Insights of future directions are covered.   


Check Valves in Nuclear Power Plants \u2013 Asme Om Code Requirements and Industry Compliance

Division / Sponsors: 
Pressure Vessels & Piping (PVP)


Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/PVP/PVP2020/volume/83815

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