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A set of standard surveillance programs for monitoring the design life of reactor pressure vessels (up to 40 years of operation) has been analyzed. In view of the improved test methods and embrittlement evaluation procedures, the necessity has been shown of introducing modifications in the present surveillance programs aiming at a more precise reactor pressure vessel integrity evaluation facing a possible service life of 60 years. Service life predictions are performed for reactor pressure vessels, based on the available surveillance data, reconstituted Charpy specimens, and Master Curve testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study by SEM/EDX and spectrophotometry in the visible region attempting to assess the stability of new resin-bound mortars used for casting replicas of marble historic fountains is presented in this paper. Different accelerating tests such as thermal ageing, UV light ageing, ageing in an SO2 pollutant chamber, freezing cycles ageing, salt crystallisation ageing, natural ageing and biological attack have been applied to a series of test specimens prepared with polyester-, epoxy- and gel-coat-bound mortars. Examination of morphology, measurement of chemical composition and chromatic coordinates before and after ageing treatments establish the higher stability and resistance properties of these resin-bound mortars by comparison to those from the natural marbles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]