 Depending on the material of construction and the coatings applied, the threats to the integrity of a plant’s buried piping include internal and external corrosion mechanisms. As a plant’s piping ages, its coatings deteriorate, exposed pipe corrodes, and other deterioration mechanisms come into play, which will eventually lead to leaks or possible rupture. Even if the plant achieves a modest corrosion rate of 2-5 mils of wall thickness per year, over a 40 year lifespan piping wall thickness would be reduced by as much as 0.2 inches; with license renewal efforts to expand plant operation to 60 years, the wall thickness wastage from general corrosion could increase to as much as 0.3 inches. In many cases, corrosion of this magnitude could result in an unacceptable loss of wall thickness to piping components that are critical to safe and successful plant operation.
SI’s Buried Piping Life Cycle Management (LCM) program will answer the following questions: Is the plants’ buried piping aging management system optimized? How can the aging management system be improved? When will the plant be required to replace or repair their buried piping to maintain safe operation? Should the plant plan to replace the piping, or are there mitigating measures and alternatives that could keep the pipe operational during the lifespan of the plant? What is the most cost effective alternative that will maximize the pipe’s net present value (NPV) and minimize operational costs?
To date, SI has performed buried piping LCM studies at 5 nuclear power plants. The primary objective of our buried piping studies is to arm the plants with specific information regarding their buried piping systems so that they can make economic plans and decisions to optimize the continued management of those buried piping systems. SI’s Buried Pipe LCM Program combines our expertise from the pipeline industry with SI developed advanced statistical probability distribution tools that predict piping failure rates. With our nationally recognized Financial Risk Optimization software, SI will tailor a buried piping asset management plan selecting the most cost effective alternatives and determining the optimal time to implement action.
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