Optimizing
SMR Staff
By Electric Power Research Institute.
Excerpt from EPRI’s The Nuclear
Connection Summer 2016 newsletter.
Although small modular reactors
(SMRs) feature passive systems,
repeatable designs, and small footprints,
optimizing the SMR staff size is not
without its challenges. Traditionally,
demands from industry programs,
policies, regulations, and protocols have
been met through the use of staff, rather
than available technology. New SMR
designs that use modern technology
provide an opportunity to better address
these industry expectations and maintain
safety while also reducing operational
and maintenance costs.
“With the increasing popularity of
intermittent renewable sources such as
wind and solar, SMRs have the potential
to provide robust, dependable generation,
making them an ideal component of
electrical grids responding to national
environmental goals,” said Ron King,
program manager, Advanced Nuclear
Technology at EPRI. “To be truly viable,
however, SMRs must be designed and
operated with an optimized staff, without
compromising safety.”
EPRI and the U.S. Department of
Energy are collaborating to address this
need. In March 2016, the EPRI Advanced
Nuclear Technology (ANT) program
released the results of a project identifying
technologies and design details that will
inform decisions regarding SMR staff
optimization. The project details and
conclusions are available in Product
Number 3002007071, "Using Technology
for Small Modular Reactor Staff
Optimization, Improved Effectiveness,
and Cost Containment".
Examining Tasks,
Developing Technology
For the project, an international
technical advisory group and multiple
subject matter experts considered more
than 250 individual tasks performed
at nuclear power plants, King said.
They focused on the following areas,
identifying 25 tasks that warranted
further development of technology and
design details (TDD).
Each TDD contains the elements
that would allow a third party, such as
an SMR design team or an industry
research development group, to move
the concept forward. However, because
additional R&D will be needed, the ANT
program will be incorporating several
of these elements into its multiyear
planning process, starting with chemistry,
radiochemistry, intelligent alarms, and
Integrated Public Alert and Warning
Systems (IPAWS).
Critical Areas
Pinpointed
The
project
identified
six
overarching concepts critical to SMR
staff optimization:
• Cross training of plant staff in
multiple disciplines and tasks.
• Design details that seamlessly feed
plant programs and organizational
needs.
• Remote support of plant functions by
fleet capabilities.
• Fully developed and mutually
compatible
digital
controls,
monitoring, analytic reporting, and
archival systems.
• Connectivity from and among
all necessary plant areas and
capabilities.
• Digital integration of the plant’s data-
centric configuration management
processes,
access,
use,
and
maintenance into all plant-related
activities on a real-time basis,
supported by an industry-wide
common plant information model.
When viewing the assembled TDDs
in their entirety, five mandatory common
infrastructure platforms were identified
as necessary to achieving maximum
SMR staffing optimization:
• Data-centric plant information model
and configuration management system
(e.g., system and component condition
database, plant configuration and
status database, 3-D plant model,
training/qualification database).
• Communications and connectivity
(e.g., in-plant wireless and off-site
management channels, internal
positioning system).
• Automated processes and reporting
(e.g., work planning, RadiationWork
Permit generation, dose calculations,
plant health monitoring).
• Automated monitoring, analysis,
and reporting (e.g., chemical and
radiological parameters, component
and system status and condition).
• Automated procedures and training.
Although EPRI’s study focused on
SMRs, most of the TDDs are technology
neutral. While SMRs are uniquely able
to appreciate the cost savings of this
technology, new advanced light water
reactors and the existing fleet also can
benefit.
Contact Renita Crawford, EPRI,
telephone: (704) 595-2888, email:
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telephone: (630) 364-4780
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NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, September-October 2016
