Prediction of residual life of reactor steels to ensure safe operation of nuclear power plant reactor vessels

Nuclear power plants are important generating units of the energy system worldwide. In the normal mode, nuclear power plants are absolutely safe, but emergency systems with radiation emissions have a devastating impact on the environment and public health. Despite the introduction of technologies and automatic monitoring systems, the threat of a potentially dangerous situation remains. The reactor vessel is the main object of activities to ensure the safety of nuclear power plants. One of the problems of ensuring the safety of nuclear power plant reactor vessels is the prediction of the level of crack resistance of reactor steels. The paper shows the possibility of estimating the neutron irradiation level on the nature of the temperature dependence of K_IC. The prediction of the influence of radiation damage on the fracture toughness of the reactor steel can be obtained on the basis of the results of tests of small cylindrical samples with annular notches.