Application Differences of In-Service Inspection Regulations Between RSE-M2010 and ASME Section XI in China PWRs

RSE-M 2010 and ASME Section XI are the widely used and most detailed PWR in-service inspection regulations applied in China PWRs which are separately belong to French AFCEN and American ASME regulations, and come from the different nuclear industry practices of their countries. In 1987, the French M310 type reactor was imported to China and therewith the RSE-M in-service inspection regulation was introduced, beginning to be widely used in China PWRs since that time. Meanwhile, Chinese nuclear power institutes began to independently develop its own PWR reactor named Qinshan Phase I Nuclear Power Plant, and then ASME Section XI in-service inspection regulation was used which was also beginning to be widely used in some Chinese PWRs. With the nuclear power technology development and innovation, such regulations are continually updated and perfected. Thus, there are many differences during application in Chinese specific PWRs. This paper has performed quite deeply application difference analysis between the two regulations based on several aspects, such as upstream laws cited, component classification, inspection requirement, NDE, qualification, pressure test and the Safety Authority review requirements for licensing. Some preliminary thinking has been presented during applying these two regulations and some technical suggestions have been also provided to perfect the regulations in the hope to provide better reference during application on the third generation PWRs (including HPR1000) in China.