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NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, July-August 2015
by an increase in the discharge exposures
of the fuel. Discharge exposures are
higher with the coastdown strategy and
Graphic 3: Limerick Unit 1 Cycle 13 MCO Trend with Core Power.
the associated reduction in the number
of required new fuel assemblies. Higher
discharge exposures reflect more efficient
fuel utilization.
Exelon works collaboratively with
the fuel vendor, Global Nuclear Fuel
(GNF), on the core designs which
implement the optimum power coastdown
strategy. The coastdown length is one of
Optimum Power...
the design inputs that comprise the energy
utilization plan for the fuel cycle.
With the optimum power coastdown
implemented towards the end of a fuel
cycle after all control rods are fully
withdrawn from the core, Reactor
Engineers and Nuclear Fuels personnel
are able to focus on and prepare for the
upcoming refueling outage work instead
of control rod maneuvers.
Transferability
The Exelon optimum power
coastdown
strategy
is
directly
transferrable across the industry to both
BWRs and PWRs. It can be used for
annual cycles and two-year fuel cycles.
The strategy will realize cost savings in
all cases.
Contact: James Tusar, Exelon
Generation, telephone: (610) 765-5818,
email:
Listening to...
challenges with some of our alliances,
those get a lot of attention from me, the
product line leaders and from the chief
executive officer (CEO). We know that in
a company this big we have to work very
hard to deliver flawless performance, but
there are going to be some challenges
now and then.
We use the customer exchanges
gathered from our Voice of the Customer
program as a platform to make
Westinghouse more accessible. Any
customer can tell me any problem, and
my job is to listen and get it addressed.
That’s the same for any ofWestinghouse’s
customer-facing representatives. I am
here to make sure that when a customer
goes to the next level – or any level – of
the Westinghouse organization, they get
the same type of committed discussion
and result.
The Voice of the Customer results
are presented to the entire Westinghouse
senior leadership team as well as to our
employees. We have a “customer of
the month” now that flashes on all our
screens in our facilities, and once every
month our President and CEO Danny
Roderick announces who the operating
plant customer of the month is, what
work we’re doing with them that month
and what outages we’re supporting with
them.
Westinghouse is committed to
ensuring that our workforce realizes the
tremendous importance of supporting
our operating plants, as well as new
plant development. Our operating plant
business is what turns our lights on. We
know that customers have a choice. We
must pay attention and respond towhat our
customers tell us so that we can continue
to serve them. The Westinghouse Voice
of the Customer program is a means to
support our company’s commitment to
the operating fleet.
Our customers have expressed
satisfaction with the program and its
results so far. They have seen benefits
from it with work implemented at their
plants. And that is our goal – to have our
customers experience increased value
every time that they invest in work with
Westinghouse.
Contact: Donna Ruff, Westinghouse
Electric Company, 1000 Westinghouse
Drive, Cranberry Township, PA 16066;
telephone: (412) 374-4705, email:
.
