Design of protective coatings for steel-made containment vessel of AP1000 nuclear power plant

AP1000 nuclear power plant, the third generation technology nuclear power plant designed by USA Westinghouse Electric Corporation, adopts double-layer containment vessel structure. The outside containment vessel with a prestressed concrete structure serves as radiation shield and inner structure protection, and the inside one is a steel-made containment vessel (CV) including main process system equipment of reactor and steam producer, which effectively prevents the leakage of radioactive material under accident situation. In the article, design requirement of the coatings for outside and inside surface of CV of AP1000 nuclear power plant was introduced. The technical requirement of inorganic zinc-rich coating and epoxy coating used for CV painting was discussed. A comparison was made between coating requirements for CV of AP1000 and for CV steel lining of traditional M310 nuclear power plant.