Development of an Ultrasonic Performance Demonstration System for Dissimilar Metal Welds in Korean Nuclear Power Plants

To work towards better reliability of ultrasonic testing systems, the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) published Bulletin 2004-13 in June 2004. This was replaced by the Ministry of Education and Science Technology (MEST) Bulletin 2009-37 published in September 2009, which directed that all nuclear power plants in Korea shall implement performance demonstration of dissimilar metal welds. Meeting the MEST bulletin requirements and increasing the reliability of ultrasonic testing require the development of a dissimilar metal weld performance demonstration system for ultrasonic testing. The present paper describes the development of a performance demonstration system for dissimilar metal weld ultrasonic testing for nuclear power plants, which meets the requirements of ASME Code Section XI, Appendix VIII and MEST Bulletin 2009-37 and details some of the results obtained for the system.