Acoustic monitoring of containment tendons Original Research Article

Assured safety and operational reliability of post-tensioned concrete components of nuclear power plants are of great significance to the public, electric utilities and regulatory agencies. Prestressing tendons provide the principal reinforcement for 40% of the containment structures in the United States. This paper briefly examines current in-service inspection requirements for prestressed containments and also reviews the feasibility of developing a passive surveillance system for identification of ruptures in tendon wires and its application to a one-tenth scale ring model containment structure.