About BRT CICERO TM

  The Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) of carbon steels is a form of corrosion that is accelerated by a flow of water or wet steam. It is responsible for numerous degradations on steam / water circuits of fossil and nuclear power plants (NPPs). FAC causes wall thinning on the inside surface of components and can lead to leaks or ruptures if wear is not detected in time.

Due to the stakes of personnel safety and plant availability associated to the FAC phenomenon, EDF has developed a software called BRT-CICERO™ for the surveillance of the secondary piping system of its Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs). The software enables the operator to calculate the wear rates taking into  account all the influencing parameters such as : pipe isometrics, chromium content of the steel, chemical conditioning and operating parameters of the secondary circuit (temperature, pressure, etc.).

The use of BRT-CICERO™, whose developments began in the early 90's, is mandatory for all NPPs of EDF. It enables to identify the most sensitive pipe elements to FAC and to calculate their remaining time to reach the minimum design thickness. BRT-CICERO™ helps then the operators to manage the risk of FAC on pipes and to build appropriate inspection programs prior to outages. The inspections consist in wall thickness measurements by ultrasonic and chromium content measurements by portative XRF devices qualified by EDF.