| description abstract | Operating conditions specific to pressurizer safety valves (PSVs) have led to numerous problems and have caused industry and NRC concerns regarding the adequacy of spring-loaded self-actuated safety valves for reactor coolant system (RCS) overpressure protection. Specific concerns are: setpoint drift, spurious actuations, and leakage. Based on testing and valve construction analysis of a Crosby model 6M6 PSV (Moisidis and Ratiu, 1992), it was established that the primary contributor to the valve problems is a susceptibility to weak seating. To eliminate spring instability, a new spring washer was designed, which guides the spring and precludes its rotation from the “reference” installed position (Figs. 6 and 7). Results of tests performed on a prototype PSV equipped with the modified upper spring washer has shown significant improvements in valve operability and a consistent setpoint reproducibility to less than ±1 percent of the PSV setpoint (testing of baseline, unmodified valve, resulted in a setpoint drift of ±2 percent). Enhanced valve operability will result in a significant decrease in operating and maintenance costs associated with valve maintenance and testing. In addition, the enhanced setpoint reproducibility will allow the development of a nitrogen to steam correlation for future in-house PSV testing which will result in further reductions in costs associated with valve testing. | |
