Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2015 NuclearPlantJournal.com
11
Utility,
Industry &
Corporation
Utility
Callaway
On March 6, 2015 the Nuclear
Regulatory
Commission
(NRC)
announced approval of
Ameren
Missouri’s
Callaway Energy Center’s
license renewal application, which allows
for 20 additional years of operation –
beyond the original 40-year operating
license that was set to expire in 2024.
Callaway’s new license extends the life
of the energy center to 2044. Approval
by the NRC marks the culmination of a
rigorous, six-year process that included
various comprehensive design reviews
and numerous inspections.
The application process included a
technical review and an environmental
review. The technical portion required
an evaluation of equipment to ensure
programs are in place to monitor how
the equipment may age over time.
Site personnel evaluated over 17,000
components and credited 42 different
programs to ensure equipment aging is
monitored and repairs or replacements
are performed to keep the equipment
in top condition. The environmental
review examined the impact of Callaway
Energy Center on the local environment
and economy. The NRC’s review of the
application has taken three years, and
involved six weeks of site inspections
and several meetings with members of
the public in nearby Fulton, Missouri.
The Callaway Energy Center,
which generates 1,200 megawatts of
clean and reliable energy, will continue
to follow the same rigorous programs
of safety, oversight and inspection by
the NRC during its extended period of
operation, led by two full-time inspectors
at the station, as well as supplemental
inspectors from the NRC regional
headquarters. The energy center has its
own extensive programs in preventative
and corrective maintenance, equipment
testing, monitoring and replacement, and
environmental testing.
Contact: telephone: (314) 554-2182.
Tricastin
Unit 2 of the four-unit Tricastin
nuclear power plant in southern France
has been given approval by the French
nuclear regulator to operate for a further
ten years.
In France the authorization to operate
a nuclear reactor does not specify a time
limit. Instead, the law requires that the
operator of a reactor performs a review
of the level of safety at the unit every ten
years.
The
French
Nuclear
Safety
Authority (Autorité De Sûreté Nucléaire,
ASN) said that EDF has successfully
completed a third ten-year safety review
for Tricastin 2. The review comprised
two phases: a review of the unit’s
compliance with safety requirements and
a reassessment of security measures at
the plant.
ASN said that it was satisfied that
EDF has the ability to safely operate the
900 MWe pressurized water reactor for a
further ten years.
However, the ASN issued EDF with
additional requirements for the unit’s
continued operation. It now requires EDF
to implement most of the post-Fukushima
safety upgrades imposed in June 2012
and January 2014 before the end of this
year.
The next ten-year safety review
for Tricastin 2 is to take place before
November 18, 2021.
Credit:
World Nuclear News
,
website:
Industry
Nuclear Research
Program
The
Electric Power Research
Institute
(EPRI) announced today that
the Paks Nuclear Power Plant in Hungary
has joined its nuclear research program.
The membership will enable Paks to
access a wide array of EPRI research
results and technical guidance that can
help the safe, reliable, cost-effective
operation of Hungary’s commercial
nuclear power plants.
The Paks facility, which is
principally owned by state-owned power
wholesaler Magyar Villamos M
ű
vek
(MVM), consists of four VVER 440
nuclear reactors, each rated at 500 MW.
The VVER reactor is a Russian-designed
pressurized water reactor design that is
deployed in Russia and a number of other
eastern and central European countries.
The collaboration between Paks and
EPRI will enable EPRI to further expand
the applicability of its technical products
and guidance to VVER reactors.
Hungary currently obtains the
majority of its electricity from thermal
and nuclear power, but government
policy intends to increase the amount of
renewable energy, nuclear energy, and
energy efficiency to meet future demand.
In 2014, the Hungarian government
signed agreements with nuclear vendor
Rosenergoatom to build two new VVER
units at Paks, to be brought on-line in the
2020s.
The Hungarian nuclear power sector
will derive many benefits from the EPRI
membership.
Contact: Clay Perry, telephone:
Annual Assessments
The
Nuclear
Regulatory
Commission
has issued annual letters
to the nation’s 100 commercial nuclear
power plants operating in 2014 regarding
their performance throughout the year. As
of the end of December 2014, 94 plants
were in the two highest performance
categories.
Of the 94 highest-performing
reactors, 75 fully met all safety and
security performance objectives and were
inspected by the NRC using the normal
“baseline” inspection program.
The NRC will host a public
meeting or other event in the vicinity of
each plant to discuss the details of the
annual assessment results. A separate
announcement will be issued for each
public assessment meeting. In addition to
the annual assessment letters, plants also
receive an NRC inspection plan for the
coming year.
