Proceedings of the Inaugural Meeting of the International Forum for Reactor Aging Management (IFRAM)

In almost all countries with nuclear power plants (NPPs), regulatory authorities and the nuclear industry are looking at some form of extended operating periods. To support life extension activities it is necessary to ensure the continued safety and reliability of system, structures, and components, and the component materials. Internationally, a variety of individual national and international activities have been initiated including Plant Life Management through the International Atomic Energy Agency, Electric Power Research Institute’s Long Term Operation program, and various national programs in managing materials degradation and related topics. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) engaged the international community in workshops in 2005-2006 to identify research needs and to collect information in an expert panel report on Proactive Management of Materials Degradation (PMMD), which was reported in NUREG/CR-6923. These results are also available via an Information Tool on the internet at http://pmmd.pnl.gov. This information builds on the extensive compilations known as the GALL Report (Generic Aging Lessons Learned, NUREG-1801, Vols. 1 and 2). Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) recently issued a report on the review of various international activities in PMMD (PNNL-17779). There have also been initiatives by Electricite de France, Tokyo Electric Power Company, EPRI, and others to establishmore » a "Materials Aging Institute." Within the materials degradation research community there are also networks and technical meetings focused on some elements of PMMD. In spite of all these efforts, there is currently no forum to bring together these diverse activities and provide coordinated information exchange and prioritization of materials aging management/PMMD topics. It is believed that the International Forum for Reactor Aging Management (IFRAM) would be a good way to achieve this goal and help develop new approaches for ensuring continued safe operation in existing and future nuclear power plants. To begin addressing this need, NRC has established a Proactive Management of Materials Degradation Program for managing in-service degradation of metallic components in aging NPPs. The NRC is seeking to facilitate the establishment of IFRAM as a network of international experts who would exchange information on operating experience, best practices, and emerging knowledge. These experts would be willing to work jointly and leverage the separate efforts of existing national programs into a unified approach to enable the potential for the safe and economic life extension of NPPs. A proposal for establishing IFRAM was developed and presented at Engagement workshops in Seoul, Korea (October 2009) and Petten, The Netherlands (May 2010). Participants in both groups demonstrated strong interest in the establishment of IFRAM. Therefore the Global Steering Committee was formed to plan and carry out the start-up of IFRAM in 2011. This group finalized the documents for IFRAM and organized the kick-off meeting. This document records the contents of the inaugural meeting of IFRAM, which was held August 4-5, 2011, at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Representatives from Asia, Europe, and the United States met to share information on reactor aging management and make plans for the future. Professor Tetsuo Shoji was elected chairperson of the Leadership Council. This kick-off event transformed the dream of an international forum into a reality. IFRAM has begun to achieve its mission.« less