Vrbina, Krško, Slovenia - October 22, 2022 Hi Tech Solutions (HTS) palyed a critical role in supporting the Mechanical Stress Improvement Process (MSIP®) project for the Krško Nuclear Power Plant in Slovenia. HTS sent a team of technicians, supervisors, and project leaders to augment the Westinghouse / Nuvision Engineering team. All work was performed as scheduled with first time quality and zero safety or human performance issues.
The objective of the project was to prevent and mitigate any Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) which can compromise nuclear plant safety and availability. MSIP®, patented by NuVision Engineering, is a permanent solution for mitigating SCC in Nuclear Plant piping weldments. MSIP® uses a hydraulically operated clamp to contract the pipe on one side of the weldment. This removes tensile residual stress from the vulnerable area and generates a more favorable compressive stress pattern in its place. The result is prevention and permanent mitigation of SCC without the need for relief request. MSIP® is accepted by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a stress improvement process for mitigation of stress corrosion cracking in both boiling water reactor (BWR) and pressurized water reactor (PWR) plants.
The Krško NPP NPP operating company Nuklearna elektrarna Krško (NEK) is co-owned by the Slovenian state-owned company Gen Energija and the Croatian state-owned company Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP). The power plant is critical to the region, providing more than 20% of Slovenia's electricity and 16% of Croatia's electricity.