The cost and duration of a LSFCR outage can vary substantially. Shorter LSFCR outages can be achieved but with increased up-front development cost and labour premium costs during execution. Typical pre-planning activities for an LSFCR have found that the facilities provided in the existing HWR designs for undertaking LSFCR may be limited and access constrained. These limitations should be addressed up-front, as they could have a major impact on the duration and cost of retubing.

To achieve the optimum balance between lost production during the outage and overall cost, an economic model is typically developed to assess various alternatives. Alternative methods of retubing HWR reactors have been developed to address these issues.

The scope of work related to feeder pipe replacement during the LSFCR activities will depend on the success of the mitigation programme being implemented. A number of options are under consideration to mitigate the flow assisted corrosion of outlet feeder pipes to ensure the design life is achieved, see component section below.