But what about embrittlement?

Taiwan wants to extend the operating lifetime of its nuclear reactors.

Taiwan wants to keep old reactors running

Whenever I read things like this -- this is an important issue in several countries where the plants are getting older -- I have to be concerned about embrittlement. In case you don't know what that is, it's when steel exposed to radiation gets brittle. Meaning it can crack, corrode more easily, and break; unfortunately those breaks usually occur in places where breaks are not desirable.

Now, the Taiwan plants are all boiling water reactors, and BWRs don't suffer embrittlement as much as pressurized water reactors (PWRs). That does not mean, however, that it doesn't happen.

Boiling Water Reactor Vessels and Internals (Quality Assurance)


One of the easy conclusions is that if Taiwan and other countries/utilities operating BWRs want to keep the older plants in service, they're going to have to invest in inspections, and likely retrofit susceptible critical systems; it would also be good to go back and check the materials reports to determine where the most potentially susceptible steel was used in critical areas.