DIVISION 2
RULES FOR INSPECTION AND TESTING OF
COMPONENTS OF GAS-COOLED PLANTS
FOREWORD
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Section XI, Division 2, Rules for Inspection and
Testing of Components of Gas-Cooled Plants, of the
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code is addressed
to the examination, inspection, and testing requirements
for the components in gas-cooled nuclear power plants.
This Section of the Code was developed under sponsor-
ship of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
This Division of the Code is unique in that recognition
was given to the problems of examining radioactive
areas where access by personnel is impracticable; provi-
sions are incorporated in the rules for the examination
of such areas by remote means, employing equipment
which may require development. Examination of these
areas is dependent upon providing the access and space
requirements as dictated by the latest development
programs to mechanize and automate existing nonde-
structive examination techniques; but where the equip-
ment has not been developed, no requirement is stipu-
lated for the performance of the remote examinations
until near the end of the inspection interval, or about
10 years from the time this Division of the Code was
adopted. The rationale is that the equipment develop-
ment can be completed or alternative examinations
devised within that time period.
INSERVICE INSPECTION PHILOSOPHY
The object of inservice inspection of components in
nuclear power plants is to provide a continuing assurance
that they are safe. To provide this assurance for those
components that are subject to the requirements of the
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, a set of rules
has been formulated to provide assurance that the safety-
related functions of the components are available when
required. The rules have been arranged to provide
533
appropriate levels of assurance according to the impor-
tance of the component in its relationship to plant
safety. The classifications that are established during
design and manufacturing have been adopted to provide
the levels of importance for the components. The
types of components typically found in the various
classifications have then been identified and rules formu-
lated for each type. For each type of component in
each classification, the typical safety functions have
been considered and methods of inspecting, testing, or
monitoring each component specified. Rules have also
been formulated for establishing the methods of de-
termining the limits of acceptance of the results. Should
it be necessary to take corrective actions to repair various
components, rules have been provided to establish
acceptable methods of repair.
The basis on which the rules were developed assumes
that a component has initially been accepted as being
safe. To establish an indication of its condition for a
later comparison, a preservice (baseline) examination
is required. Subsequent examinations are compared to
this preservice examination to determine if there has
been a change in the component.
A further assumption presumes that similar compo-
nents, which are subjected to essentially identical service
conditions, will behave in a like manner. For this
reason, representative sampling, which is rotated through
the similar components, is presumed to provide adequate
assurance that all the components are safe. The percent-
age of like components or portions of components
examined and the frequency of examination are adjusted
in accordance with the level of assurance judged to
be appropriate.
The purpose of establishing rules, in the form of a
Code, is to provide a uniform standard to which all
gas-cooled nuclear power plants are subjected. By pro-
viding such a standard, important areas are not over-
looked and unimportant areas do not distract attention
from significant ones. Unlike water-cooled nuclear
 1998 SECTION XI — DIVISION
power plants, the integrity of the primary coolant
pressure boundary is not the primary concern of the
inspection rules. Rather, the inservice inspection rules
for each component are based on the safety function
of the component which has been determined by its
role in plant operations.
REACTOR SYSTEM CONSIDERED IN CODE
RULES
These rules are presently addressed to only a single
concept of a gas-cooled nuclear power plant, that
commonly known as the High Temperature Gas-Cooled
Reactor (HTGR). The primary reason is that a need
for these rules exists only for those plants which are
expected to be built and operated in the United States
and Canada during the next 5 to 10 years. Other
concepts, such as the direct-cycle, the fast reactor, and
the pebble bed, are not expected to reach such early
development. Probably at least one full-size, full-func-
tion demonstration plant would be required before any
newer concept would become available to an Owner
within the meaning of the ASME Boiler and Pressure
534
Vessel Code. This demonstration period would provide
ample time for the drafting of Code provisions applica-
ble to the specific concept. A secondary reason is that,
although it might be desirable to attempt to write rules
of sufficient generality to serve as precedents, the
characteristic design features and equipment may differ
so much among concepts that adequate rules could not
be formulated at this time.
The limitation of the rules to the single concept of
the HTGR establishes a context in which they should
be understood. Although a specific reference design is
not described, there are several design features character-
istic of the HTGR. These include: helium cooling;
carbon-encapsulated fuel particles in a graphite matrix;
graphite-moderated, prismatic core and reflector ele-
ments; pressure enclosure by a prestressed concrete
reactor vessel, and steam power cycle. These characteris-
tics inherently affect the way in which safety-related
functions are performed and, thus, the way in which
these rules are formulated and interpreted.
For the rules for inspection and testing of components
of gas-cooled plants, refer to the 1992 Edition including
1993 Addenda, pages 485 through 653.