Nuclear technology and ageing

Monitoring the condition and forecasting lifetimes of material within ageing nuclear power plant is a subject of great topicality. Among these materials are the cables of the reactor control systems necessary for safe operation, including controlled shutdown in the event of an emergency. The ability to ensure that such cabling is fit for its purpose is of major concern, but at present there is no universal testing procedure. Rather, there exists a "tool box" of techniques that encompass different mechanical, electrical, and chemical tests. While this is satisfactory to a certain extent, there are many drawbacks, and new methods are required. Accordingly, efforts continue to devise suitable means of accomplishing this. The ultimate achievement for cable monitoring would be the capability to correlate the condition of the insulation with remaining useful life, including survivability in a DBE.