Ageing management platform for NPP concrete structures

Finland has four nuclear reactors units in two power plants. The first unit started operation in 1977 and in the early 1980's all four units were in use. During the last few years the ageing management of the Nuclear Power Plant's (NPP) concrete structures has grown an important issue because the existing structures are reaching the end of their licensed operating lifetime (about 40 years). Therefore there is a need for developing ageing management systems to avoid premature degradation of NPP facilities and to be able to extend their operating lifetime. This paper is about the development of a web-based application for ageing management platform for the nuclear power plants concrete structures (MANAGE platform). The platform is a part of the research project "Ageing Management of Concrete Structures in Nuclear Power Plants (MANAGE)". This research project is funded by SAFIR 2014 (The Finnish Research Programme on Nuclear. Power Plant Safety 2011-2014). The goal is to create web-based platform that (i) visualizes the NPP concrete structures, (ii) stores the in-service condition inspection data and (iii) predicts the service life of the NPP concrete structures. The platform consists of the central database and a group of analysing and planning tools which use the data of the database. The database together with the analysing and planning tools can be used during different phases in the lifetime of a plant: design, operation, inspection, monitoring, maintenance and repair of structures. The platform will provide systematic methods for planning, surveillance, inspection, condition assessment, maintenance and repair of structures. The presented platform is as an example for NPP ageing management of concrete structures but it can also be applied to all types of reinforced concrete structures.