May-June 2019 NPJ

20 NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, May-June 2019 Research to Enable Plant Modernization By Robert Austin, Electric Power Research Institute. Robert Austin Robert Austin is a Senior Program Manager for the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) new Plant Modernization Initiative. Previously, he managed EPRI’s Instrumentation & Control research program as well as the Nuclear sector’s Software Development Group. He has over 20 years of technical experience, primarily in the nuclear industry. Mr. Austin joined EPRI in 2008. Mr. Austin holds Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Florida Atlantic University where he was valedictorian of his graduating class. He also attended First Year Law at Georgetown University, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history (Cum Laude) from Davidson College. Mr. Austin is a registered Professional Engineer (PE), a Certified Information Systems Security Profession (CISSP), and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Mr. Austin is also a member of Tau Beta Pi, Phi Beta Kappa and an Eagle Scout. A telephone interview on May 9, 2019 with Newal Agnihotri, Editor of Nuclear Plant Journal. EPRI R&D Supports Plant Efforts to Improve Economics, Helps Address Climate Change The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has launched a Nuclear Plant Modernization Initiative to examine how plant owners and operators could equip their facilities with updated technologies and improved processes to improve economics. Nuclear Plant Journal interviewed the initiative’s Senior Program Manager Rob Austin to further explore different aspects of EPRI’s work, including benchmarking, digitalization, virtual reality, data nd analytics, sensors nd automation, mong other topics. . How has EPRI enchmarked plants worldwide to determine f modernization is conomic for them? A key item of modernization research s understanding the usiness case and how an plants determine what is the best path or them. The overall modernization solution must be scalable. What works for a large fleet with many different units and types of reactors will be very different from a single-site operator. There are differences in a plant’s business environment as well. This might not affect the technology, but it would affect how much a plant is able to spend to modernize; factors like a regulated versus merchant plant, and where the plant is located. We have done some initial work in this area, with our white paper on “The Economics of Nuclear Plant Modernization in the U.S. Markets” (EPRI Product 300201473). Our research for various aspects of modernization has looked within the nuclear industry and also outside it in other safety critical industries such as oil and gas, process chemical and non-nuclear generation. For example, we looked at how digital controllers are designed, programmed and used and incorporated the learnings into our new Digital Engineering Guide (EPRI Product 3002011816). Another example is systems engineering and hazards analysis that were largely developed outside the nuclear industry. We also have an upcoming report utilizing controllers developed under non-nuclear but safety- critical IEC standards in nuclear plants without any additional documentation or features. Using methods and components developed for other safety- critical industries expands the available supply-chain for nuclear and lowers the costs. 2. Describe the application of integrated digital controls and artificial intelligence in nuclear power plants. Many plants in the U.S. already have non-safety digital controls for systems. There are some safety-related digital systems installed in the U.S.; but not many. Outside the U.S., for example in France, South Korea and China, digital is the norm. We’re looking at research to enable plants that are upgrading existing equipment, whether it’s digital or analog, to take advantage of all the benefits that digital can offer. One benefit, for example, could be reducing the number of critical components in systems. One fleet we’re working with predicts that as they moved from an analog to a digital control based system the number of critical components will drop from thousands to hundreds. Less equipment means less to maintain, fix, watch, and inspect. That leads to more opportunities for savings. Our focus is to develop the business cases and the methods where plants can do these digitalization projects effectively and efficiently and also be ready to do it again in another 10 to 15 years because, as everyone knows, the average lifespan of digital systems is less than the analog systems they’re replacing. It’s a very exciting time for digital controls. a a a 1 b i e i b c f