Robust quality control of PM HIP-material, for nuclear power plants

Important results from the project

The purpose of the project has been to contribute to increased robustness in quality control of PM HIP-material, to enable use in nuclear power plants. The goal has been to get enough data to be able to start an ISO standardization. The project has had 3 sub-goals, which have largely been met: 1. Evaluate and find weaknesses in the existing standard, and compile possible measures, 2. Create a reference material with a known content of a contaminant, and 3. Certification of reference material via evaluation of repeatability and reproducibility.

Expected long term effects

Effect goals for the project include that quality control should be described by a future ISO standard, opportunities for the use of PM-HIP materials in the nuclear power industry and development of such technology. The project has contributed to a new standard that is out for review, and to extensive knowledge built for future technology development. For knowledge dissemination and discussions, a successful open webinar has been conducted in the project on the subject "Argon detection in PM HIP materials", with invited speakers and about 50 participants from around the world.

Approach and implementation

The project has been carried out in collaboration between institutes, industry and industry organizations. The work packages of the project have focused on the various sub-goals that have since been brought together. The participation of external parties in the evaluation was important but required a large network not only within Sweden but also internationally in order to find parties with competence for assessment of the results. Producing reference material has proved to be challenging, but input from external parties gave the project valuable advice for establishing a method.