Nuclear Plant Journal, May-June 2016 NuclearPlantJournal.com
11
Utility,
Industry &
Corporation
Utility
FLEX Dome
Southern Nuclear
and Georgia
Power unveiled the new Hatch FLEX
Dome storage building at the Hatch
Nuclear Plant near Baxley, Georgia.
The dome houses portable emergency
equipment and adds yet another layer of
protection to the robust safety systems for
Hatch units 1 and 2. U.S. nuclear plants,
including Plant Hatch, are equipped
with numerous redundant safety systems
to prevent or respond to emergencies,
including backup power resources such as
DC battery banks and diesel generators.
In response to the 2011 Fukushima
Daiichi event in Japan, in which that plant
lost on-site and off-site power needed
to operate its safety cooling systems.
Industry leaders in the U.S. have worked
together to develop flexible, diverse
strategies for protecting U.S. plants
against such extreme events. These efforts
are referred to as the FLEX strategy and
include tactics such as FLEX domes.
The Hatch FLEX Dome is 39-feet
tall, nearly 50 yards wide and features
steel-reinforced concrete walls that are
18 inches thick. The building is designed
to withstand an earthquake, a direct hit by
a tornado, airborne flying objects during
a tornado or similar threats. The dome
will store portable generators, pumps,
communication equipment, refueling
equipment, and other resources that
might be needed if the power supply to
the plant were interrupted for an extended
period. The portable equipment would be
put into service only in the event other
redundant resources at the plant were
depleted or damaged.
Contact:
Southern
Nuclear
Communications, telephone: (205) 992-
5395.
Industry
French Nuclear Platform
In order to develop aligned positions
to meet the major challenges facing the
French nuclear sector and to prepare
the appropriate decisions,
Électricité
de France S.A. (
EDF
)
, the French
Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy
Commission (CEA) and AREVA have
decided to found the French Nuclear
Platform (Plateforme France Nucléaire
– PFN), a tripartite body to discuss the
major topics of mutual interest for the
nuclear sector in France and abroad.
This body will meet quarterly, six
key managers from the three entities,
including the Chairmen of the CEA,
EDF and AREVA. Its chairmanship will
be decided on a rotating basis, with the
Chairman’s mandate lasting one year.
The first mandate will be entrusted to the
Chairman of AREVA.
The purpose of the PFN is to improve
the joint effectiveness of the three
entities, in particular to devise a shared
vision of the medium- and long-term
goals for the sector, which will contribute
to the preparation and implementation of
decisions taken by the French Presidential
Nuclear Policy Council (Conseil de
Politique Nucléaire).
Contact: EDF, telephone: 33 1 40 42
46 37.
Nuclear Safety
Symposium
Delegates
representing
78
organisations from around the world
gathered in London to share their expertise
and experience in nuclear safety. It was
the second Nuclear Safety Symposium
hosted by EDF Energy and EDF with
the support of the
World Association
of Nuclear Operators
(WANO). The
event was opened by EDF Energy Chief
Executive Vincent de Rivaz and follows
the success of the first symposium held in
Paris in 2014.
Leaders from across the global
nuclear
industry
participated,
representing
electricity
generators,
regulators, government, stakeholders
and supply chain partners involved
in the designing, building, operating,
maintaining and decommissioning of
nuclear power plants.
The issues being covered at the
symposium include the growing
importance of nuclear energy to meet the
demand for reliable low carbon electricity,
the worldwide new build renaissance, and
the safe life extension of existing plants.
The agenda includes panel sessions
on:
Safety by design and licensing for
new nuclear
Safely extending the lives of existing
nuclear power stations
The economics of nuclear safety
Maintaining public acceptance
through openness and transparency
Contact: Claire Newell, WANO,
telephone: 44 (0)7826 539 559, email:
.
Corporation
Passive Shutdown Seal
AREVA’s
passive shutdown seal
(PSDS) for reactor coolant pumps
successfully passed actuation testing
after one operation cycle in a nuclear
reactor. This testing confirmed the seal’s
ability to control leaks for an extended
period in the event that the facility loses
external power.
Other tests had previously verified
that AREVA’s PSDS withstood at
temperatures and pressures representative
of facility blackout conditions for
more than one week. This additional
demonstration of enhanced operational
reliability and safety complies with the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s
post-Fukushima recommendations.
The PSDS tested had been operating
since April 2014 in the South Texas
Project (STP) Electric Generating
Station’s Unit 1 reactor.
This product is part of AREVA’s
Safety Alliance program, which offers
nuclear operators worldwide the most
advanced products and services to ensure
the safety of their plants. Following the
completion of this actuation test, AREVA
is now supplying additional PSDSs to
STP for installation during scheduled
maintenance.
Contact: Curtis Roberts, AREVA,
