Posted by Extrapolation [Anointed] on November 27, 1999 at 18:03:17 {nwG7wj0NI.0hi4VK0MIQASIIcexUto}:
In Reply to: Evolutin Phase III posted by Amazing on November 27, 1999 at 17:00:56:
Just to follow up on a point made by One Glove. He correctly pointed out that tests are not set up for eons of time.
In test set-ups that I conducted, we were evaluating maintenance cycles and age related phenomenon. Normally nuclear plants have a design life of 40 years. Ideally, we want components, like electrical cables, to last the life of the plant and still be able to withstand the effects of a worst case accident scenario. Cables are very difficult to replace due to installation configurations.
Our test programs generally accelerated the aging effects of thermal, mechanical, seismic and radiation exposure. We use accepted theory to run a short time test to extrapolate the life of a component. For example, we could run a test for several months to demonstrate a 5, 10, 15 or more years of natural aging.
Two additional factors are still under consdieration in the power industry. One of the aging phenomenon is the effects of moisture, whether from accumulated humidity or total submergence. Presently, there are no known methods to accelerate these aging conditions. So, there are models used to evaluate moisture effects, at the same time there are ongoing parallel long term tests in progress.
Likewise, there are electrical cables being evaluated for a normal 40 year life. That is, samples are taken from operating nuclear plants every so often and examined for natural, non-accelerated aging effects. These tests will not be completed for another 15 to 20 years. They will be used to compare to the earlier short term accelerated aging programs. To date, our accelerate aging programs have proven to be more conservative than natural aging cycles. This is good news. But the long term tests were necessary to establish what was theorized in short term test programs.
That is closer to what I have in mind for evolutionary theory. Could we set up a test program for the short and long term cycles to see what the results are? Run them concurrently, and make periodic comparisons, extrapolate the data, and continue the testing.
Simply Amazing