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Article: Check valves: Oak Ridge's new diagnostics.
- Article from:
- Mechanical Engineering-CIME
- Article date:
- May 1, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Check valves are used extensively in nuclear plant safety systems and balance-of-plant systems. Their failures have resulted in significant maintenance efforts and, on occasion, damage to other flow system components. These failures have largely been attributed to severe degradation of internal parts resulting from instability (flutter) of check valves under normal plant operating conditions. During the last five years, check valves have received increased attention by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the nuclear power industry.
In support of the NRC Nuclear Plant Aging Research (NPAR) program and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Advanced ...