6.6 In
the UK, the Pressure Equipment Regulations (PER) are for new equipment specifically designed for nuclear use and do not apply to equipment which, in the event of a failure a radioactive release would occur. Classified components and equipment are excluded from the PER regulations. The rationale is that classified equipment will be designed and installed to the high demands of a nuclear proven code such as RCC-M, RCC-E or ASME III plus the additional customer requirements which will exceed the requirement of the Pressure Systems Safety Requirements (PSSR) which apply to operating equipment and will include conformity assessment requirements.
6.7 For “No
Class” components the Pressure Equipment Regulations (PER) will apply. These regulations are generally satisfied by Industrial standards such as EN 13445 for pressure vessels and EN 13480 for piping.
6.8 The
nuclear pressure equipment codes that are likely to be used for the current generation of nuclear reactors which are being proposed for the UK will be the American ASME III code for the Westinghouse AP1000 design and the French RCC-M code for the AREVA EPR design. This section of the guide describes the ways that the various design and manufacturing processes are addressed within the respective codes. Additionally, a short overview of the RCC-E code entitled “Design and Construction Rules for Electrical Components of Nuclear Islands” is presented here.
6.9 It
is apparent that ASME III and RCC-M codes are very similar in some areas. This is because the RCC-M code is derived from early editions of ASME III. However they are different in the way that quality is assured. It is therefore not possible to say that a component manufactured to RCC-M will automatically be compliant with ASME III, or vice versa.
RCC-M Code for the Design and Construction of Mechanical Equipment 6.10 The
RCC-M code was written by the AFCEN (French Association for Design, Construction, and In-service Inspection Rules for Nuclear Island Components) for use in France. In some areas the code is very prescriptive as it was written to reflect the significant operational experience from the very large fleet of French PWR’s over many years. In other areas, such as in design, more responsibility is placed on the designer to justify design assumptions that are made in the design calculations rather than rely on a prescriptive set of rules.
6.11 The
latest full version of the RCC-M code was issued in 2007, and there are now three addenda issued; the first in December 2008, the second in December 2009 and the third in December 2010.
6.12 Quality
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in RCC-M is covered in Section A5000, which is brief compared with ASME III. In practice, additional requirements over and above that specified in RCC-M are imposed in France through French Law. The use of RCC-M outside of France therefore requires that these additional measures will have to be to be included in the technical specifications appended to the contracts. The approach likely to be adopted in the UK will be to supplement the RCC-M requirements with an ‘RCC-M Adaptation Document’ that will introduce requirements corresponding with those embedded in French law. The relevant requirements will then be made available by the prospective Licensee to inform the supply chain of the additional measures required for use of the RCC-M under a UK licensing regime. Unlike the ASME code, RCC-M does not require manufacturers to attain any type of RCC-M specific