Fig. 4: Neutron irradiation work in Belgium SCK-CEN BR2 reactor: capsule In-Pile Behaviour of Additive Manufacturing, design and position in the cross section of BR2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe strategy for acceptance of metal additive manufacturing in the nuclear sector is to implement directly the qualification of the process and component in nuclear design codes and standards, such as the French nuclear code for Design and Construction Rules for Mechanical Components or American standard. The project has defined new quality control methods to ensure stability, repeatability and reproducibility of AM processes.<\/p>\n
The qualification method draft has been delivered at mid-term project, and will be completed during the next two years of the project with the results of four main tasks: qualification process, characterisation of L-PBF 316L materials, irradiated material resistance, and nuclear functional pressure tests and thermal ageing tests on component. The backbone of the standard has been defined at an early stage in the project and defined all the required sections to be documented to have a consistent standard harmonised with existing nuclear standard on 316L material (obtained by classical manufacturing and with the new requirements for AM which exist in other non-specific nuclear standards). The objective is to have a \u2018pre-codification\u2019 document to propose in the French RCC-M code.<\/p>\n
An end user group is constituted of 17 industries from nine countries; nuclear industry experts on materials; additive manufacturing, mechanical assessment, nuclear industry, and codification to promote NUCOBAM work in the nuclear field. It will advertise the partners involved in the preparation of the pre-codification documents.<\/p>\n
Obsolescence management of nuclear power plants remains a technical challenge for European asset owners, because original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), who were historically subjected to nuclear quality assurance requirements, may not be willing to maintain their costly nuclear qualification. Most of those manufacturers have disappeared or have left the nuclear sector. The project will help to develop in-depth qualifications for new manufacturers of components and equipment. Metal additive manufacturing has the unique potential to produce near-to-shape components in a one-step manufacturing process, followed by post-processing steps. This unique approach will simplify the fabrication value chain and make it more reactive and effective for the delivery of unique parts. The development of such a manufacturing process could improve the reliability of the material, reduce the sequence of manufacturing steps, develop new, more efficient tools, improve material performance and develop a new component design for new NPP design.<\/p>\n
Then, the project will contribute to design components for new NPP design or existing LWR operation for the nuclear industry profitability, and to improve nuclear safety with optimised component design for higher performances.<\/p>\n
The project will contribute to creating new additive manufacturing industry and support employment in Europe.<\/p>\n
<\/a>This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 945313. The content of this document reflects only the author\u2019s view. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.<\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr Myriam Bourgeois, NUCOBAM Coordinator at Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay CEA, explains how the European project aims for future AM Standard in the nuclear energy industry. The main aim of NUclear COmponent Based on Additive Manufacturing (NUCOBAM) is to develop the qualification process allowing the use of such a metal Additively Manufactured (AM) components in a nuclear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":29834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[596],"tags":[24407],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
NUCOBAM: Increasing nuclear industry profitability and improving safety<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n