Development of risk-based inspection programme for BARC Research Reactors–Dhruva: experience and insights

As part of defence-in-depth philosophy an In-Service Inspection programme for research reactors at BARC has been implemented. The current ISI methodology is based on deterministic approach through the application of rules and criteria provided in ASME Section 11 and Section 5. For the research reactor Dhruva two campaigns of ISI have been completed. The risk-informed approach is widely employed for Nuclear Power Plants; however, there is no published literature on Risk-informed ISI for a research reactor. Development work on risk-informed ISI has been performed for Dhruva and a document has been prepared and submitted to safety committees for review and approval. The objective is to utilize the available Level 1 PSA and ISI insights to optimize the ISI programme. This paper, discusses the development approach and insights gained from this project and provides recommendation on initiating activities to encourage other facilities to consider implementation of RI-ISI for research reactors.