This article elaborates the evolution of code and standards for nuclear power plants. In the 1950s, need was felt for a revised set of design and fabrication rules to facilitate the development of safe, economically competitive water-cooled reactors contained in pressure vessels. These rules were codified in the first edition of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section III, which was completed in 1963 and published in 1964. From the outset, both regulators and industry realized that the best way to develop many of the needed rules for the design, construction, and operation of nuclear facilities was the national standards consensus process. This process, followed by the American National Standards Institute and other recognized standards-issuing bodies such as ASME, brings together the expertise of individuals from government, industry, academia, and other stakeholders. In the years following the first publication of Section III, the coverage of the Code expanded to incorporate piping requirements, pressure-retaining components for pumps and valves, equipment and piping supports, reactor vessel internal structures, and other features of nuclear power plants.
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The Code Builders
The First Nuclear Power Plants Required the Largest Pressure Vessels Ever Built at that Time. To Ensure they Would be Safe Required a New Section of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code.
Sidney Bernsen is a member of ASME's Board on Nuclear Codes and Standards.
Bryan Erler and Dana K. Morton are members of the Section III Committee.
Owen Hedden is a member of the Section XI Committee.
Mechanical Engineering. May 2014, 136(05): 36-41 (6 pages)
Published Online: May 1, 2014
Citation
Bernsen, S., Erler, B., Morton, D. K., and Hedden, O. (May 1, 2014). "The Code Builders." ASME. Mechanical Engineering. May 2014; 136(05): 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2014-May-2
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