Document: NUREG-0800
Document ID: 29ea352c-081e-469e-95b8-7278f6da64ce
Document Type: srp
Title: FRACTURE PREVENTION OF CONTAINMENT PRESSURE BOUNDARY
Source: NUREG-0800
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0636/ML063600407.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 6
Section ID: 6.2.7
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
ncrete containment liners, are established staff practices reflecting that Code Class MC or CC requirements for materials, design, fabrication, and testing are commensurate with the safety function of containment (see SRP Sections 3.8.1 and 3.8.2). The application of Code Class 2 criteria for materials that were not fracture toughness tested is consistent with the methodology for application of quality standards to pressure-retaining components commensurate with the importance of their safety functions as described in Regulatory Guide 1.26, “Quality Group Classifications and Standards for Water-, Steam-, and Radioactive-Waste-Containing Components of Nuclear Power Plants.” The consistency is developed in that the containment system is addressed in the licensing review process as an engineered safety feature, as is, for example, the emergency core cooling system. Regulatory Guide 1.26 does not explicitly discuss or classify the containment pressure boundary, but does assign a Quality Group B classification to the emergency core cooling system. Regulatory Guide 1.26 assigns correspondence between Quality Group B components and ASME Code Section III, Division 1 requirements for Class 2 components. The containment pressure boundary is one of the barriers that prevent the release of radioactivity to the environment in the event of an accident, and therefore fulfills a vital safety-related role. Use of appropriate design and fabrication standards in conjunction with Article NE-2300 or CC-2520 fracture toughness testing or evaluation of ferritic containment pressure boundary materials with respect to ASME Code Class 2 fracture toughness requirements provides assurance that containment will not fail due to brittle behavior and will thus be capable of preventing the release of radioactivity to the environment. 2. GDC 16 requires reactor containment and associated systems to be provided to establish an essentially leak-tight barrier against the uncontrolled release of