Page 26 - Nuclear Plant Journal - March April 2013
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26
Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2013
A Safe Plant...
5.
What monitoring systems have been
provided in EPR to monitor and detect
degradation of a structures, systems,
equipment, and instruments to ensure an
early warning of an incipient failure?
AREVA has several monitoring
systems that automatically collect
operating data on plant systems, structures
and components, and make it available to
multiple diagnostic programs. This not
only provides early warning of problems,
but EPR
TM
owners can share real-time
or historical data and remotely access
expertise at other EPR
TM
units or at the
original equipment manufacturer. This
approach allows fleet-wide solutions and
significant reductions in operating staff
required at each site normally used to
assess the data.
Some of the technologies employed at
EPR
TM
plants currently under construction
in Finland, France and China include:
Loose parts monitoring
•
Vibration monitoring for stationary
•
equipment
Seismic monitoring
•
Fatigue monitoring
•
Leakage monitoring
•
Diagnostics of rotating machinery
•
Diagnostics of valves and actuators
•
Flow-assisted corrosion monitoring
•
Plant transient, performance and
•
condition assessment
Containment tendon load measure-
•
ments
Containment displacement measure-
•
ments
6.
What are the features of the EPR
control room to make it user friendly to
the younger generation who are more IT
and Internet savvy?
The controls of the EPR
TM
are based
on proven experience at the French N4
and German KONVOI facilities. The
man-machine interface is a cornerstone
of the highly automated EPR
TM
control
system. Any of today’s computer savvy
generation will feel right at home working
the EPR
TM
digital control systems, with
flat panel displays and point-and-click
technology. In addition to wide displays
at individual workstations, large heads-
up panels provide indications of plant
conditions. Standard screens are pre-
programmed to rapidly display important
equipment and operating parameters, but
some leeway is allowed for operators to
program user-specified displays.
Of course, the control room layout
and user interfaces are developed
from a Human Factors Engineering
(HFE) Program that conforms to the
requirements and the structure of
NUREG-0711, Revision 2
2
, in which
the HFE team is integrated with the
instrumentation and control design team.
The “older generation” will recognize
conventional control panels with push
buttons and toggle switches to monitor,
and if necessary, actuate safety-related
functions in case of a plant event with
loss of the digital controls.
7.
What margins are built in the
design of the turbine, condensate pumps,
motors, generators and transformers to
accommodate extended power uprate
or other type of power uprates in the
future?
With a net electrical output of 1600
MWe, the EPR
TM
is designed to deliver
maximum power for an economical price.
Although the nuclear steam supply system
design can be uprated approximately five
percent, AREVA reserves this design
margin for flexible operations and to
accommodate future regulatory or
emerging issues. “Flexible operations”
refers to non-traditional operation of the
plant. Current units run base-loaded (i.e.,
at full power conditions continuously).
In the future, load following or extended
operations at less than 100% power may
be required depending upon the energy
mix. Over-sizing the secondary plant
for a future power uprate that may never
be pursued must be balanced with the
associated increase in levelized cost of
electricity prior to uprate. “Secondary
plant” is industry shorthand for the
conventional, non-nuclear island; this
part of a power plant typically includes
the turbine, condensate, feedwater, main
generator, electrical distribution system,
and other common systems. AREVA Inc.
has adopted such a balanced approach.
For those items that are intended to have
a service life of 60-plus years, margins
for future uprating are included in the
initial design. Those components that are
relatively straightforward to upgrade are
designed to accommodate the licensed
power level.
8.
What post Fukushima upgrades
have been made to the EPR in response
to US NRC’s Near Term Task Force
Recommendations?
The EPR
TM
is designed for an event
just like the Fukushima earthquake and
tsunami. Four redundant, seismically
qualified emergency generators would
provide power to critical equipment
required to shutdown and cool the
reactor. The plant would be situated
above the highest elevation attainable
by flood or tsunami, and power supplies
and critical equipment are in watertight
buildings. Fuel supplies and electrical
connections for these emergency
generators would also be in seismically
qualified, watertight buildings. Cooling
water for the emergency generators
and other critical equipment, including
core cooling equipment, would be in
earthquake proof buildings completely
2.
J.M.O’Hara,J.C.Higgins,J.J.Persensky,
P.M. Lewis, J.P. Bongarra, NUREG-0711,
Human Factors Engineering Program
Review Model, Revision 2, February
2004 (available on nrc.gov).
Taishan 1 EPR Reactor Construction
Site, China. November 9, 2012.
Copyright: AREVA, TNPJVC.
