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NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, September-October 2015
additional responsibilities related to
equipment storage, required in-storage
maintenance, records management and
quality inspection problem resolution.
Another option is to source an alternate
but equivalent replacement. For this
option, engineering must perform an
equivalency evaluation to demonstrate
that the replacement equipment has the
same form, fit and function as the original
equipment. If there is no equivalent
replacement available, then a utility can
perform a modification to the plant’s
designand replace the componentwithone
that is not equivalent. Plant modifications
typically require substantial engineering
and licensing resources, which ultimately
result in a higher replacement cost.
One of the most cost effective
options, however, is for the plant to
purchase commercial-grade components
and parts, and have them dedicated to
meet NRC design and manufacturing
safety standards. This solution is called
commercial grade dedication. This is
an acceptance process that uses one or
more approved methods of acceptance
to validate the characteristics of an item
that are deemed critical for the item to
perform its safety-related function(s).
The
process
for
dedicating
components typically takes much
less time than reverse engineering
or plant modifications. There is also
a significant cost savings, meaning
commercial grade dedication is often
a much more cost-effective option for
utilities. From an operations perspective,
there are no differences between
equipment that was manufactured under
Appendix B program and equipment that
was commercially dedicated under an
Appendix B program. Commercial grade
dedication allows utilities and plants to
have replacement options for their safety-
related equipment, and it is a viable
option for meeting a plant’s aging and
obsolescence challenges, and ensuring
the safe operation of the existing U.S.
nuclear fleet.
7.
Does AREVA provide any service
doing “physical checkup” of pumps and
motors during refueling outages?
AREVA has a robust pump and
motor service center located at the
AREVA Solutions Complex. Reliability
of primary pumps and motors is critical
to a nuclear steam supply system and
through the Pump and Motor Service
Center, AREVA has the resources and
facilities to inspect, repair and refurbish
all designs of primary and auxiliary
pumps, motors and seals.
During refueling outages, physical
checkups on pumps and motors are
necessary to ensure the life of the
components and the safety of the systems.
During equipment walk downs, operators
physically inspect the pumps and motors,
ensuring the oil levels are accurate and
that there are no leaks or anomalies within
the systems. Many utilities have stringent
10-year maintenance and refurbishment
cycles to protect and extend the life of
their large components. Due to effective
maintenance and inspections, a number
of utilities have not had to replace a
primary system motor in over 30 years.
8.
How does the AREVA Solutions
Complex benefit from the experience of
other industries, including aerospace,
petrochemical and NASA?
AREVA and the nuclear industry
in general are held to one of the highest
safety and quality standards in the
world. These standards compare to
or exceed those in industries such as
aerospace and petrochemical. Industries
that are recognized as being high risk
and influenced by public opinion and
perception also have highly skilled
engineering expertise and systems
to support and ensure the safety of
the public. AREVA’s expertise is
complimentary to these industries and
the capabilities available at the AREVA
Solutions Complex are already being
leveraged across these channels.
The core competency at the AREVA
Solutions Complex includes the U.S.
Technical Center, which is known for
its high-level testing and inspection
capabilities. Today, AREVA is developing
industryassociationstoprovideuniqueand
highly specialized services to the nuclear
industry. Moreover, technologies that
support nuclear reactors’ life extensions
of up to 80 years have been developed
out of such outside experiences. For
example, ultra-high pressure cavitation
peening, used to correct issues identified
by non-destructive examination (NDE)
technology inside nuclear reactor vessel
heads, was created through a partnership
with an aerospace-focused firm. Through
this partnership, AREVA modified and
enhanced the process for mitigation
procedures in the unique nuclear reactor
environment.
On
the
flipside,
AREVA’s
technology – used to examine nuclear
reactor components – is offered to the
aerospace, train transportation and
forging industries. AREVA systems are in
the field providing ultrasonic automated
inspections for steam and gas turbine
discs for a major forging business in the
steel industry. The AREVA Solutions
Complex also provides avionic vibration
and landing gear shock testing that meet
military specifications.
Contact: Curtis Roberts, AREVA
Inc., telephone: (202) 374-8766, email:
.
Solutions to...
it for our existing technology, which we
think is the most advanced. We see it for
small modular reactors, likely to be a big
market. And that’s why we’d like to get
small modular reactors developed not just
for here but in international markets. It is
a tougher market for our guys for all the
reasons we discussed.
Domestically we think nuclear
is more important than ever with the
carbon rule. We think that we play
an incredibly important role from our
baseload standpoint in this country, and
we’ve got to get that better appreciated by
the political forces, by the regulators and
by the policymakers so that we can make
sure our existing plants are sustainable,
and we can build new plants in our
country.
Contact: John Keeley, Nuclear
Energy Institute, telephone: (202) 739-
8020, email:
.
The American...
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