RELIABILITY-BASED SERVICE LIFE ASSESSMENT OF CONCRETE STRUCTURES IN NUCLEAR-POWER-PLANTS - OPTIMUM INSPECTION AND REPAIR

Aging effects in reinforced concrete structures brought on by severe s ervice conditions may cause their structural capacities to deteriorate gradually over their service life. Research is being conducted to add ress aging management of safety-related reinforced concrete structures in nuclear power plants (NPPs). Documentation is being prepared to id entify potential structural safety issues and to recommend criteria fo r use in evaluating reinforced concrete structures for continued servi ce. Time-dependent reliability analysis provides the framework and qua ntitative tools for the condition assessment. The role of in-service i nspection and repair in ensuring continued reliability in service is e xamined. Optimum strategies can be determined on the basis of minimum life-cycle cost. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.