ENIQ TGQ Technical Document - Practical Examples for Manufacturing of Test Pieces for Inspection Qualification

This ENIQ TGQ Technical Document is a companion of Recommended Practice 5 (Issue 2). RP5 identifies issues to be considered when designing test-pieces for use in experimental inspection qualification trials and provides recommendations for conducting these trials and is intended to help plant owners, inspection qualification bodies, inspection designers and inspection vendors in the execution of their respective roles in the qualification process. The purpose of this Technical Document is to give examples of possible specific approaches to qualification in different application areas. More examples can be incorporated as time passes and experience grows. The examples were provided by individual ENIQ TGQ members. Any views expressed in the examples are those of these individual members, and not necessarily those of ENIQ as a whole.JRC.DDG.F.5-Safety of present nuclear reactor

ENIQ Position Document - "ENIQ 2020 Roadmap"

ENIQ, the European Network for Inspection and Qualification, is driven by the nuclear utilities in the European Union and Switzerland and managed by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC). It is active in the field of in-service inspection (ISI) of nuclear power plants by non-destructive testing (NDT), and works mainly in the areas of qualification of NDT systems and risk-informed in-service inspection (RI-ISI). In 2010, the ENIQ Steering Committee recognised that the European nuclear industry is at a turning point and thus initiated an internal discussion to determine its vision and objectives regarding the network's future role and activities. This exercise resulted in the issuing of the present position document.JRC.DDG.F.5-Safety of present nuclear reactor

International Developments in the Field of Unconventional Gas and Oil Extraction

The last few years have witnessed a wealth of studies, reports and assessments being published in many EU member states, by national and international organisations and in the research community on economic, environmental and human health related aspects of unconventional oil and gas exploration and production. Many R&D initiatives are also under way. This report attempts to provide a survey of several of such studies and initiatives, with a focus on the years 2014, 2015 and early 2016. Principally, reports and studies from public bodies and scientific institutes were covered. Additionally, relevant papers published in peer-reviewed journals were included. A review of the quality of the studies covered, the accuracy of their claims and their possible limitations was not carried out. This report is therefore only meant to provide a compilation of their summaries, without any endorsement of the findings reported in any of the studies and assessments covered in the report.JRC.F.3-Energy Security, Systems and Marke

A Bayesian Framework for the Quantitative Modelling Of the ENIQ Methodology for Qualification of Non-Destructive Testing

The European methodology for qualification of non-destructive testing, produced by the European Network for Inspection and Qualification (ENIQ), has been adopted as the basis of inspection qualifications for nuclear utilities in many European countries. According to this methodology, the inspection qualification is based on a combination of technical justification (TJ) and practical trials. The methodology is qualitative in nature, and it does not give explicit guidance on how the evidence from the technical justification and results from trials should be weighted. Recently, we have proposed a quantified approach to combine evidence from technical justifications and practical trials. A Bayesian statistical framework for the quantification process was introduced, and some examples of possibilities to combine technical justification and trial results were given. The underlying idea was to improve transparency in the qualification process, whilst producing at the same time estimates of probability of detection that could for instance be used in structural reliability evaluation and Risk-Informed In-Service Inspection. In the present work, we attempt to give a more detailed description of the approach and some guidelines regarding how a user (utility, qualification body, etc.) could tackle the problem of quantifying the outcome of a qualification exercise in practical terms.JRC.F.4-Nuclear design safet

ENIQ TGR Technical Document - Influence of Sample Size and Other Factors on Hit/Miss Probability of Detection Curves (ENIQ report N. 47)

The purposes of this document, aimed mostly at NDT engineers and practitioners, are threefold: (1) to extend the conclusions of an earlier report (ENIQ report No 41: “Probability of Detection Curves: Statistical Best-Practices” ), (2) to justify the Rule-of-Thumb that a valid Probability of Detection (POD) vs. size curve requires a minimum of 60 targets for binary response (hit/miss) data, (3) to provide guidelines for the NDE practitioner in designing a study to assess the effectiveness of a binary response inspection system using POD vs. size curves.JRC.F.4-Nuclear Reactor Integrity Assessment and Knowledge Managemen

An overview of hydraulic fracturing and other formation stimulation technologies for shale gas production - Update 2015

The technology of hydraulic fracturing for hydrocarbon well stimulation is not new, but only fairly recently has become a very common and widespread technique, especially in North America, due to technological advances that have allowed extracting natural gas from so-called unconventional reservoirs (tight sands, coal beds and shale formations). The conjunction of techniques such as directional drilling, high volume fracturing, micro-seismic monitoring, etc. with the development of multi-well pads has been especially successful in the last years in their application to shales, making gas production from shales technically and economically feasible. In Europe, the potential application of this technology has led to both great worries and high expectations: worries regarding the alleged magnitude of the environmental impact, and expectations about production of indigenous hydrocarbons. Other types of formation stimulation exist that do not make use of water-based fluids (for instance, explosive fracturing, dynamic loading, etc.), or that make use of fluids other than water. These are currently not extensively applied due to performance considerations. As for any other industrial activity, the deployment of high-volume hydraulic fracturing could potentially entail some risks to the environment. Among the concerns raised are high usage of water, methane infiltration in aquifers, aquifer contamination, extended surface footprint, induced local seismicity, etc. New technologies could help addressing these concerns (for instance by using non-toxic chemicals, by reducing or eliminating altogether the usage of water, by considerably reducing the surface footprint of a well, etc.). This report is an update of the original study carried out in 2013 (2013). It reviews the latest trends in hydraulic fracturing and alternative fracturing technologies, by searching the open literature, patent databases and commercial websites (mainly in the English language). For each identified technique, an overview is given. The technique is then briefly explained, and its rationale (reasons for use) is identified. Potential advantages and disadvantages are identified, and some considerations on costs are given. Finally, the status of the technique (for instance, commercially applied, being developed, concept, etc.) is given for its application to shale gas production.JRC.F.3-Energy Security, Systems and Marke

European Methodology for Inspection Qualification - An Overview for the Non-specialist

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the European Network for Inspection and Qualification (ENIQ) Qualification Methodology and how the process of Inspection Qualification is commonly applied within Europe and elsewhere. It is intended as a reference source for a wide audience of engineers and technical staff such as safety engineers, stress analysts etc. who may not be routinely involved with either non-destructive examination or inspection qualification, but who may benefit from a greater understanding and appreciation of the ENIQ Qualification Methodology. It will also benefit those personnel who have a responsibility to provide practical assistance in the preparation of the qualification process.JRC.DDG.F.5-Safety of present nuclear reactor

ENIQ Recommended Practice 5 - Guidelines for the Design of Test Pieces and Conduct of Test Piece Trials - Issue 2

The purpose of this ENIQ Recommended Practice 5 (Issue 2) is to identify issues to be considered when designing test-pieces for use in experimental inspection qualification trials and provides recommendations for conducting these trials. This document is intended to help plant owners, inspection qualification bodies, inspection designers and inspection vendors in the execution of their respective roles in the qualification process. It is also intended to help the user in understanding the influence of essential input for the design of test-pieces.JRC.DDG.F.5-Safety of present nuclear reactor

ENIQ Technical Report - Link Between Risk-Informed In-Service Inspection and Inspection Qualification

There is a growing need for a quantitative measure of inspection effectiveness as an input to quantitative risk-informed in-service inspection (RI-ISI). A Probability of Detection (POD) curve could provide a suitable metric. However there can be significant problems associated with generating realistic POD curves by practical trials. The ENIQ inspection qualification methodology can provide high assurance that an inspection system will achieve its objectives, but is not designed to provide a quantitative measure of the type that can be used in RI-ISI analysis. A project, led by Doosan Babcock, was therefore set up with main objectives to investigate approaches to quantifying the confidence associated with inspection qualification and to produce guidelines on how to relate inspection qualification results, risk reduction and inspection interval. This report discusses how a simplified POD curve, such as a step curve, could be used as the target for inspection qualification, or as an output from it. Work to investigate the sensitivity of relative risk reduction to the details of the POD curve is described from which it is concluded that use of a simplified POD curve could be justified. Two methods for quantifying the outcome from inspection qualification are described. The first method is a relatively simple process based on direct expert judgement. The second method is based on a more rigorous structured process employing Bayesian statistics, in which the subjective degree of belief in inspection capability derived from a Technical Justification (TJ) is expressed in probabilistic terms, and combined with data from practical trials results. Two pilot studies are described which involved a qualification body applying the quantification methods in practice. Recommendations for further work to make the approaches developed more robust are provided.JRC.F.5-Safety of present nuclear reactor

International Developments in the Field of Unconventional Gas and Oil Extraction: Update 2017

The last few years have witnessed a wealth of studies, reports and assessments being published in many EU member states, by national and international organisations and in the research community on economic, environmental and human health related aspects of unconventional oil and gas exploration and production. Many R&D initiatives are also underway. This report attempts to provide a survey of several of such studies and initiatives, with a focus on the years 2015, 2016 and early 2017. Principally, reports and studies from public bodies and scientific institutes were covered. Additionally, several papers published in peer-reviewed journals were included. A review of the quality of the studies covered, the accuracy of their claims and their possible limitations was not carried out. This report is therefore only meant to provide a compilation of their summaries, without any endorsement of the findings reported in any of the studies and assessments covered in the report.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market