Nuclear Plant Journal, May-June 2008

Outage Optimization Initiatives
By George B. Beam, AREVA NP Inc..
1. Please describe the challenging and
rewarding Plant Life Extension projects
undertaken by AREVA NP in the last fi ve
years in the U.S.
Over the last five years, AREVA
NP’s most challenging and rewarding
Plant Life Extension projects included
the replacement of key components:
Steam Generators at six customer sites,
20 Reactor Vessel Heads, and several
pressurizers. For several customers,
we also provided and installed a new
Integrated Head Structure which
significantly reduces the time and dose
required for RV Head disassembly and
reassembly during refueling.
Our biggest reward is in knowing that
AREVA NP is helping customers provide
CO 2
-free, cost effective nuclear energy to
meet America’s future energy needs.
2. What types of reactors are serviced
by AREVA NP
AREVA NP routinely works on all
reactor designs in the U.S. (Westinghouse,
CE, B&W, and GE). In addition, we
perform specialty work on the CANDU
design in Canada.
3. What are AREVA NP’s recent key
achievements and solutions for refueling
outages, including any Top Industry
Practice Awards (by Nuclear Energy
Institute)
Key technology recently introduced
for reducing dose and duration of refueling
outages includes the installation of a
Permanent Cavity Seal Plate at several
plants (reduces outage time), new SG
NDE technology (RANGER manipulator,
MIZ80s, an innovative rapid-setup control
trailer), and NDE tooling for BWRs: a
highly advanced shroud inspection tool,
Responses to questions by Newal
Agnihotri, Editor of Nuclear Plant
Journal.
George B. Beam
George Beam has been Senior Vice
President, Nuclear Services, AREVA NP
Inc. since 2001. He began his career
jet pump beam inspection tooling, plus
an RV Outer Diameter crawler. Based
on our Stearns Roger refueling bridge
technology, we are also working on
upgrading the current bridge controls on
several plants to digital, which includes
the use of collision avoidance software.
On the human performance side of
outage improvement, we have invested
significantly in our full-scale mockup
and training center, technical and task
training for outage workers, outage
planning methodology (playbooks) and
choreography software for performing
several tasks over top of the RV at the
same time; for example, moving fuel in
parallel with inspections.
4. What has AREVA NP done to ensure
equipment reliability at nuclear power
plants, utilizing advanced information
technology
The two areas we are working the
most are Critical-to-Generation pumps
and motors and Steam Generator Long-
Term Asset Management. With regard
to pumps and motors, we are advocating
online monitoring and predictive
maintenance along with a rotating offsite
refurbishment program. Since new
replacement SGs have better corrosionresistant
material and design features, our
with the company in 1981 as a Stategic
Planner. Following several assignments
in Business Development/Marketing for
Steam Generator and Reactor services,
he became General Manager for Plant
Services with responsibility for all fi eld
services performed, excluding SG
Services. In 2001,, he was promoted to
Senior Vice-President, Nuclear Services.
Beam holds a BS in Applied Math and
Computer Science from the University of
Virginia, a MS in Nuclear Engineering
from North Carolina State, and a MBA
from the University of Virginia. He is a
registered PE in the State of Virginia.
SG asset management focus has shifted
from the primary side to the secondary
side. That’s why we are advocating the
concept of deposit mapping and routine
chemistry monitoring. Today the key to
long-term SG health care is keeping as
much foreign material as possible out of
the secondary side of the SGs.
5. What has been AREVA NP’s record
in reducing the Plant Refueling outages
of Nuclear Power Plants in the last fi ve
years
We continue working with our
customers on outage optimization and
reduction initiatives in the U.S. Our
best examples include a site where we
helped reduce their outage duration by
approximately six days, and at another
site we worked closely with the customer
to set a world record for the shortest
refueling outage involving a RV Head
replacement (25 days). As mentioned
previously, a customer had AREVA NP
install Integrated Head Assemblies (IHAs)
on their replacement RV Heads. As a
result, they expect to save approximately
six days per outage going forward.
6. Please describe the top material
degradation issues in the industry as
perceived by AREVA NP and what has
been done to alleviate these issues to
24 http://www.NPJOnline.com Nuclear Plant Journal, May-June 2008