Pressurized Thermal Shock in Nuclear Power Plants: Good Practices for Assessment

Pressurized thermal shock (PTS) analysis, which is a part of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) structural integrity assessment, is associated with large thermal shocks and, in some cases, with low temperature repressurization of the RPV after a certain time. At present, several different procedures and approaches are used for RPV integrity assessment. This publication provides benchmark calculations and analyses which compare effects of individual parameters on the final RPV integrity assessment. Based on this, the publication provides recommendations for best practice for their implementation in PTS procedures.