Project GRETE: Evaluation of non-destructive testing techniques for monitoring of material degradation

The lifetime extension of the existing installations for electricity production requires the development of innovative techniques for the inspection of critical components. Such techniques must detect changes in the materials before the appearance of macrostructural defects and therefore allow planning actions for failure prevention. The project GRETE is supported by the European Commission within the Fifth Framework Programme for «Nuclear Fission». The aim of this project is to assess the capability and the reliability of novel non-destructive techniques by means of a round robin exercise concerning neutron irradiation damage in reactor pressure vessels, and thermal fatigue of piping. Different series of aged samples, metallurgically and mechanically characterised, will be tested by the participants using various non-destructive techniques (i.e. magnetics, thermoelectricity, ultrasounds and dynamic indent). The purpose of this paper is to present the GRETE project through its objectives, its technical work programme and its fifteen participants. The status and achievements obtained so far are also summarised in this paper.