Critical Reflections about Doel3 & Tihange2

Integrity reactor vessels Doel 3 and Tihange 2

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Figure 15: Equivalent flaw as result of the flaw grouping [ 14 ] p75.

Figure 16: Flaw content of a grouped flaw with 69 mm equivalent size [ 13 ] p16.

demonstrates that the "equivalent flaw" is really the worst case flaw, which could imply that some flaw groups are less conservatively evaluated than the individual flaws. For example, a large flaw together with some other flaws in its shadow could result in a box with the same dimensions as the large flaw, i.e. in such a case the effect of the other flaws in the box is not considered. Also branched flaws will not be considered, although it is an almost certainty that with such a high flaw density in

R.Boonen & J.Peirs

May 18, 2017