Nuclear Plant Journal, September-October 2015 NuclearPlantJournal.com
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PSC’s trained operators simply drive the
loaded SPMT onto the PMLS platform.
This approach eliminates the need for
additional equipment and lifts to transfer
components from one system to another,
thereby reducing risks to personnel and
equipment. Once the PMLS reaches the
desired elevation, the SPMT drives off
the platform and transfers the cargo to the
adjoining structure for delivery.
High Wind Tolerance
Another unique feature of the PMLS
is its ability to operate in winds up to
50 miles per hour and withstand winds
of 120 miles per hour. This high wind
tolerance recently proved beneficial to
a Midwestern nuclear plant. The PMLS
helped the plant keep a large maintenance
project on schedule, in spite of numerous
windy days.
The utility needed to replace 48
cooling coils in four containment coolers
inside its reactor building. This work,
along with other activities, was performed
during the plant’s regularly scheduled
refueling outage. Any schedule loss
could cost the utility substantial loss of
revenue per day. To complicate matters,
all equipment had to be lifted 50 feet
above the ground to access the reactor
building’s only equipment hatch.
After erecting the PMLS, which
took just five days, PSC used its SPMT
to move the cooling coils, knuckle boom
cranes, and other materials onto the
PMLS platform. Once each load reached
the elevated equipment hatch, PSC drove
PSC’s patent-pending Pipe Modular Lift System (PMLS) was erected and
fully functional in just five shifts.
