nuclear-plant-journal-digital-versions

Nuclear

Plant

Journal

Plant Maintenance &

Plant Life Extension Issue

March-April 2009

Volume 27 No. 2

ISSN: 0892-2055

Callaway, USA

KEY QUESTION FOR THE FUTURE

How can I enhance the performance

of my existing nuclear fleet?

AREVA experts deliver technology that builds value, reliability

and performance for both PWR and BWR nuclear power plants.

From our wide range of Pump and Motor Services to our expanded Secondary Side Services for steam generators,

AREVA is investing for the future of the nuclear industry. Plus, our brand new Chemistry and Materials Solutions

Laboratory is researching and developing treatments to eliminate steam generator deposits. Want outage predictability,

performance and safety? We provide the resources necessary for your peace of mind, leaving no plant behind.

Expect certainty. Count on AREVA.

For more information please visit www.us.areva-np.com/source

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• Dynamic adaptation of focal laws, for superior inspection

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• High data throughput, up to 20 Mbytes/s

• UltraVision® 3 software, offering 3D work environment for

creation of components and data visualization

View of EDF’s Flamanville construction site for the new AREVA EPR TM nuclear facility (January 2009).

Your Partner for New Nuclear Energy. Today.

For those companies looking at new nuclear, UniStar Nuclear Energy provides economies of

scale and scope through coordinated and systematic development of a standardized fleet of

new nuclear energy facilities.

To find out more about UniStar, call 410.470.4400 or visit www.unistarnuclear.com.

For information on AREVA’s U.S. EPR TM technology, visit www.us.areva-np.com

For monthly photo updates of construction progress, send your e-mail address to info@unistarnuclear.com.

EPR is a trademark of the AREVA Group

Nuclear Plant Journal

March-April 2009, Volume 27 No. 2

27th Year of Publication

Nuclear Plant Journal is published by

EQES, Inc.six times a year in February,

April, June, August, October and December

(Directory).

The subscription rate for non-qualifi ed

readers in the United States is $150.00

for six issues per year. The additional air

mail cost for non-U.S. readers is $30.00.

Payment may be made by American

Express ® , Master Card ® , VISA ® or check

and should accompany the order. Checks

not drawn on a United States bank should

include an additional $45.00 service fee.

All inquiries should be addressed to

Nuclear Plant Journal, 799 Roosevelt

Road, Building 6, Suite 208, Glen Ellyn,

IL 60137-5925; Phone: (630) 858-6161,

ext. 103; Fax: (630) 858-8787.

*Current Circulation:

Total: 12,000

Utilities: 4,600

*All circulation information is subject to

BPA Worldwide, Business audit.

Authorization to photocopy articles is

granted by EQES, Inc. provided that

payment is made to the Copyright

Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive,

Danvers, MA 01923; Phone: (978) 750-

8400, Fax: (978) 646-8600. The fee code

is 0892-2055/02/$3.00+$.80.

Nuclear Plant Journal is a registered

trademark of EQES, Inc.

Printed in the USA.

Staff

Senior Publisher and Editor

Newal K. Agnihotri

Publisher and Sales Manager

Anu Agnihotri

Editorial & Marketing Assistant

Michelle Gaylord

Administrative Assistant

QingQing Zhu

Articles & Reports

Plant Maintenance &

Plant Life Extension

Application of Modeling and Simulation to Nuclear Power Plants

By Berry Gibson, IBM and Rolf Gibbels, Dassault Systemes

Steam Generators with Tight Manufacturing Procedures

By Ei Kadokami, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

SG Design Based on Operational Experience and R&D

By Jun Tang, Babcock & Wilcox Canada

Confi dent to Deliver Reliable Performance

By Bruce Bevilacqua, Westinghouse Nuclear

An Evolutionary Plant Design

By Martin Parece, AREVA NP, Inc.

Designed for Optimum Production

By Danny Roderick, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy

Industry Innovations

Controlling Alloy 600 Degradation 36

By John Wilson, Exelon Nuclear Corporation

Condensate Polishing Innovation 38

By Lewis Crone, Dominion Millstone Power Station

Reducing Deposits in Steam Generators

By Electric Power Research Institute

Minimizing Radiological Effl uent Releases

By Electric Power Research Institute

Plant Profi le

2008-A Year of “Firsts” for AmerenUE’s Callaway Plant 48

By Rick Eastman, AmerenUE

Departments

New Energy News 8

Utility, Industry & Corporation 9

New Products, Services &

Contracts 11

New Documents 14

Meeting & Training Calendar 15

Journal Services

List of Advertisers 6

Advertiser Web Directory 30

On The Cover

Callaway is located in Missouri. It has a

Standardized Nuclear Unit Power Plant

System, using a Westinghouse fourloop

pressurized reactor and a General

Electric turbine-generator. See page 48

for a profi le.

Mailing Identifi cation Statement

Nuclear Plant Journal (ISSN 0892-2055) is published bimonthly in February, April,

June, August, October and December by EQES, Inc., 799 Roosevelt Road, Building 6, Suite

208, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-5925. The printed version of the Journal is available cost-free to

qualifi ed readers in the United States and Canada. The subscription rate for non-qualifi ed readers

is $150.00 per year. The cost for non-qualifi ed, non-U.S. readers is $180.00. Periodicals (permit

number 000-739) postage paid at the Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 and additional mailing offi ces. POSTMAS-

TER: Send address changes to Nuclear Plant Journal (EQES, Inc.), 799 Roosevelt Road, Building 6,

Suite 208, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-5925.

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 5

List of Advertisers & NPJ Rapid Response

Page Advertiser Contact Fax/Email

31 American Crane & Equipment Corporation Karen Norheim (610) 385-6061

2 AREVA NP, Inc. Donna Gaddy-Bowen (434) 832-3840

35 Babcock & Wilcox Canada Ltd. Natalie Cutler (519) 621-9681

21 Bechtel Power www.bechtel.com

49 Bigge Power Constructors Andrew Wierda (510) 639-4053

19 Ceradyne Patti Bass (714) 675-6565

43 Climax Portable Machine Tools, Inc. Debra Horn dhorn@cpmt.com

39 Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Company Arlene Corkhill (714) 528-0128

13 Day & Zimmermann Power Services David Bronczyk (215) 299-8395

11 HSB Global Standards Catherine Coseno (860) 722-5705

34 NPTS, Inc. Rebecca Broman (716) 876-8004

7 Nuclear Logistics Inc. Craig Irish (978) 250-0245

23 Power House Tool, Inc. Laura Patterson (815) 727-4835

8 Proto-Power Corporation Bob Atkisson (860) 446-8292

52 Scientech Don Murphy (301) 682-9209

23 Seal Master Thomas Hillery (330) 673-8410

4 UniStar Nuclear Energy Mary Klett (410) 470-5606

25 Valtimet Wendy McGowan (423) 585-4215

45 Westerman Nuclear Jim Christian (740) 569-4111

51 Westinghouse Electric Company LLC Karen Fischetti (412) 374-3244

33 WorleyParsons Tom Penell (610) 855-2602

3 Zetec, Inc. Patrick Samson (418) 263-3742

Advertisers’ fax numbers may be used with the form at the bottom of the page. Advertisers’ web sites are listed in

the Web Directory Listings on page 30.

Nuclear Plant Journal Rapid Response Fax Form

From the March-April 2009 issue of

Nuclear Plant Journal

To: _________________________ Company: __________________ Fax: ___________________

From: _______________________ Company: __________________ Fax: ___________________

Address:_____________________ City: _______________________ State: _____ Zip: _________

Phone: ______________________ E-mail: _____________________

I am interested in obtaining information on: __________________________________________________

Comments: _____________________________________________________________________________

6 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

HIGH MAINTENANCE

Even if everything is going smoothly,

you already know you can’t afford to sit

back and relax. To keep things humming

along and avoid costly down time—or a

forced outage—it’s imperative to

continually monitor for possible

complications, allocating necessary

resources to resolve issues quickly.

NLI is the world leader in the fi eld of

equipment maintenance, especially if it’s

safety-related. Collaborating closely with

plant personnel, we analyze systems, develop a

comprehensive plan, assemble the right team

and equipment to get the job done, and then

schedule a continuing program. We are able to

repair, re-engineer, or design and build

replacement parts if needed.

With NLI on your team, your equipment

will perform with silky smooth effi ciency...

and that’s the real trophy.

> the single source

www.nuclearlogistics.com �� 800.448.4124

New Energy News

EPR Projects

Utilities ENEL and EDF recently

announced their plan for the joint

development of a fl eet of at least four

EPR TM nuclear reactors in Italy1.

AREVA expresses its pleasure at this

announcement and is honored by the trust

these two major customers have placed in

it. With four EPR TM units under construction

around the world, the technology’s

performance is confi rmed. This brings the

total number of utilities who have chosen

the reactor to 10.

Contact: Donna Gaddy-Bowen,

telephone: (434) 832-3702, email: Donna.

GaddyBowen@areva.com.

Nuclear Fabrication

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

(MHI), AREVA, Mitsubishi Materials

Corporation (MMC) and Mitsubishi Corporation

(MC) have signed the shareholders

agreement to establish a joint compa-

ny (“New Company”) in the nuclear fuel

fabrication business. The New Company

will be a full-fl edged nuclear fuel fabrication

service supplier, integrating development,

design, manufacturing and

sales. The four companies will endeavor

towards the establishment of the New

Company in April, 2009.

The New Company is aimed at

contributing to a stable supply of high

quality nuclear fuel fabrication service

in response to the increasing importance

of nuclear power generation globally

amid expanding efforts to prevent global

warming.

The New Company is also slated

to enter into overseas markets as an

independent supplier of MHI-designed

fuel assemblies for PWRs.

Contact: Hideo Ikuno, telephone:

813-6716-5277, fax: 813-6716-5929,

email: h.ikuno@daiya-pr.co.jp.

Nuclear Joint Venture

Siemens and the Russian State

Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom

signed a Memorandum of Understanding

on the creation of a joint venture in the

fi eld of nuclear energy. The joint venture

plans to push ahead with further development

of Russian pressurized water reactor

(VVER) technology. It also intends

to handle marketing and sales, and the

construction of new nuclear power plants

as well as modernization and upgrades

of existing plants. The joint venture may

take up business opportunities along the

entire nuclear conversion chain from fuel

fabrication to decommissioning of nuclear

power plants.

Contact: Alfons Benzinger, telephone:

49 (9131) 18-7034, email: alfons.

benzinger@siemens.com. �

What do

you see

for thenuclear

future?

From where we stand, big changes are on the horizon—both for Proto-Power and the nuclear industry. In the coming months, we’ll

be joining a visionary force to plan, build and renew the world’s most critical power facilities. Stand with us as we take you to the height

of the U.S. nuclear renaissance. Proto-Power—vision for the nuclear future.

8 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

Utility, Industry & Corporation

Utility

EPC Agreement

STP Nuclear Operating Company,

Nuclear Innovation North America LLC

(NINA), CPS Energy and Toshiba America

Nuclear Energy Corp. (TANE) have

signed and executed the engineering, procurement

and construction (EPC) agreement

for proposed STP Units 3 & 4.

TANE will provide engineering and

development services on a time and materials

basis until the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) issues a license for

Units 3 & 4. Once the federal license is

granted, the EPC agreement will become

lump-sum and turnkey, with performance

and schedule guarantees.

Contact: Buddy Eller, telephone:

(979) 216-8303, email: beller@stpegs.

com.

Industry

Assessments

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission

has issued annual assessment letters

to the nation’s 104 operating commercial

nuclear power plants. All the plants continue

to operate safely.

“Our ongoing assessment of nuclear

power plant performance is at the heart

of the agency’s mission of protecting

people and the environment,” said Eric

Leeds, director of the Offi ce of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation. “The 2008 year-end

results show that about 83 percent of the

plants are performing strongly enough

that we’re satisfi ed with our basic level of

inspections at those sites.”

Contact: Offi ce of Public Affairs,

telephone: (301) 415-8200, email: OPA.

Resource.nrc.gov.

DOE Loan

The fi eld of U.S. companies competing

for $18.5 billion in government-backed

loans to build new nuclear plants has

narrowed to fi ve from about 14 last year,

company sources said.

Offi cials with two projects in Texas,

one in Maryland and one in South Carolina

confi rmed they were still in the running

for a piece of U.S. Energy Department

loan backing, which could be crucial to

spurring the fi rst round of nuclear plant

building in more than 30 years.

Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Co.,

NRG Energy’s South Texas Project, both

in Texas; Unistar Nuclear’s Calvert Cliffs

3 reactor in Maryland; and SCANA Corp/

Santee Cooper’s two-unit expansion at

the Summer station in South Carolina

are among fi ve projects still under DOE

consideration, offi cials said.

Contact: Angela Hill, telephone:

(202) 586-4940.

Corporation

IT Solutions

Alstom Power’s Energy Management

Business (EMB) announced it will

collaborate with Microsoft to deliver the

next generation of high-performance information

technology (IT) solutions for

the power industry. This collaboration

will incorporate leading-edge technologies

to power the next generation of innovation

in power plant solutions. The

initiative will introduce Microsoft technology

into the heart of Alstom’s software

product development, placing the

company at the forefront of IT solutions

for the power industry while increasing

Microsoft’s strong presence as a provider

of computer technologies to end users.

Contact: Susanne Shields, telephone:

33 1 41 49 27 22, email: Susanne.

shields@power.alstom.com.

Safeguard

Trapped key interlocks from Castell

were chosen by China’s Qingshan Nuclear

Power Plant to safeguard two new areas

of the plant during a recent expansion

project.

Castell supplied trapped key interlocking

systems for the Number 3 and

Number 4 units in the second phase of

the project. The interlocks were fi tted to

the middle voltage switchboard and to

the transformer system to create a reliable

busbar and transformer interlocking

safety system.

Castell’s trapped key interlocks force

workers to adhere to a step-by-step safety

process each time access to dangerous

equipment is needed. Each step releases

a key which in turn permits activation of

the next stage in the process. This system

ensures that contact with live transformers

is impossible.

Contact: telephone: (859) 341-3075,

fax: (859) 957-1577, email: salesmktg@

castell.com.

Heating & Cooling

Management

Curtiss-Wright Corporation has

acquired all of the stock of EST Group,

Inc. for approximately $40 million in

cash. EST Group provides highly engineered

products and comprehensive repair

services for heat management and

cooling systems utilized in the energy

markets. The business will become part

of Curtiss-Wright’s Flow Control segment.

“The acquisition of EST Group provides

major growth opportunities in our

core markets - nuclear power, oil and

gas and naval defense,” said Martin R.

Benante, CEO and Chairman of Curtiss-

Wright Corporation. “EST Group’s expertise

in heat management and cooling

systems enables us to offer total life-cycle

management for critical processes and

positions us as a key supplier in the heat

management business.”

Contact: Alexandra Deignan, telephone:

(973) 597-4734.

Valve Joint Venture

Flowserve, a provider of fl ow control

products and services for the global infrastructure

markets, announced the signing

of a nuclear power industry valve joint

venture agreement between Flowserve

and SUFA Technology Industry Co. Ltd.

CNNC (SUFA).

The joint venture, called Flowserve-

SUFA Nuclear Power Equipment Company

Ltd., will be headquartered in Suzhou,

in the province of Jiangsu, China.

(Continued on page 10)

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 9

Corporation...

Continued from page 9

As part of the arrangement, both

companies will supply nuclear power

industry valve technology and jointly

build a manufacturing facility.

The joint venture will manufacture

safety-related valves, including Main

Steam Isolation Valves (MSIVs), exclusively

for China’s civilian nuclear power

industry. MSIVs are used to assist in the

safe shutdown of a civilian nuclear reactor

in the unlikely event of a rupture in the

plant’s steam piping.

Contact: Lars Rosene, telephone:

(469) 420-3264.

Teaming Agreement

IMPACT Services, Inc. has signed

a teaming agreement with Babcock

Services, Inc. and IceSolv, to provide

expanded decontamination services at

IMPACT Services’ radioactive waste

processing facility located at the East

Tennessee Technology Park in Oak

Ridge, Tennessee.

“This teaming agreement will allow

IMPACT Services and Babcock Services

to provide customers with yet another

process geared toward reducing the

volume of radioactive waste that must be

sent for disposal. The cost savings that

this approach will allow our customers to

achieve is quite signifi cant,” said IMPACT

Services Vice President of Operations

Greg Broda.

Contact: Judith Kane Byrd,

telephone: (865) 250-4434.

Simulator Upgrade

L-3 MAPPS has received an order

from AmerenUE to enhance the Callaway

nuclear plant simulator with its Orchid ®

suite of software tools. In 2008, L-3

successfully replaced the simulator’s

reactor core model with a higher fi delity

version generated by its Orchid Core

Builder software. Work will begin

immediately to upgrade the simulator,

which is slated to enter service in early

2010.

Contact: Andre Rochon, telephone:

(514) 787-4953.

Certifi cation

Mirion Technologies Radiation

Monitoring Systems Division has been

approved as the fi rst foreign Class 1E

supplier of radiation monitoring equipment

in the People’s Republic of China.

This approval was given by the National

Nuclear Safety Administration pursuant

to the “Code on Supervision and Control

of Imported Civil Nuclear Safety Equipment

(HAF604)”.

Class 1E is defi ned by IEEE Std 323-

2003 as “The safety classifi cation of the

electric equipment and systems that are

essential to emergency reactor shutdown,

containment isolation, reactor core cooling,

and containment and reactor heat removal,

or are otherwise essential in preventing

signifi cant release of radioactive

material to the environment.”

Contact: Kimberly Croxson,

telephone: (925) 543-0806, email:

kcroxson@mirion.com.

Steam Generators

Replaced

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

(MHI) has completed the delivery of two

replacement steam generators (RSGs)

for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating

Station (SONGS) Unit 2 of Southern

California Edison (SCE). The RSGs

delivered are among the world’s largest,

each measuring approximately seven

meters in external diameter, weighing 580

metric tons and housing approximately

10,000 heat transfer tubes. The RSGs

arrived at the SONGS site on February

14, 2009 and are slated to replace existing

steam generators (SGs) at SONGS Unit 2

during its next refueling and maintenance

outage scheduled in autumn 2009. Later

this year MHI will ship two additional

RSGs to SCE for installation in SONGS

Unit 3 during the fall of 2010.

Contact: Hideo Ikuno, telephone:

813-6716-5277, fax: 813-6716-5929,

email: h.ikuno@daiya-pr.co.jp.

Purchase

Siempelkamp Nuclear Technology,

Inc. has purchased the USA operations

of the MOTA Corporation. The South

Carolina based company’s name will

change to Siempelkamp Nuclear Services,

Inc. in the near future and is a subsidiary

of Siempelkamp Nuclear Technology,

Inc., headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA,

which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary

of Siempelkamp Nukleartechnik GmbH,

located in Krefeld, Germany.

Contact: Laura Stott, telephone:

(803) 796-2727, email: lstout@motacorp.

com.

Expansion

The rebirth of the U.S. nuclear industry

has convinced one Knoxville-Oak

Ridge Innovation Company to expand.

Southern Testing Services Inc., a quality

assurance company specializing in

nuclear power plant part inspections, has

added 23 highly skilled employees, many

of whom have military or space shuttle

project experience.

The company is expanding in the

Innovation Valley region because of

the availability of skilled employees,

proximity of technology- and nuclearbased

clients, and the region’s low cost

of living and doing business, according

to Southern Testing Services’ Richard

Crawford.

Contact: Garrett Wagley, telephone:

(865) 246-2661, email: gwagley@

knoxvillechamber.com.

Partnership

Trentec, a provider of safety-related

equipment to the global nuclear power industry

announced their partnership with

LS Mtron. Under terms of the agreement,

Trentec will exclusively represent

LS Mtron's ASME Code and Commercial

Grade chillers and air handling equipment

to nuclear power plants in North

America.

Contact: Roy Woeste, telephone:

(513) 528-7900, email: rwoeste@

curtisswright.com. �

10 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

New Products, Services & Contracts

New Products

Shield Modules

An exclusive agreement was reached

with the British based MRP Systems Ltd.

authorizing Dufrane Nuclear Shielding,

Inc. to market MPR's product within

the United States and Canada. The molded

Polyethylene shield modules are an

addition to Dufrane’s existing line of radiation

shielding.

The fully interlocking modules may

be fi lled with water, sand or concrete to

achieve the desired attenuation factors

for multitude of situations. Each unit is

nominally 73 pounds when empty and

may be easily assembled or dismantled.

Contact: Louis DeRitis, telephone:

(860) 379-2318.

Vibration Switch

IMI Sensors - a division of PCB

Piezotronics, Inc. launches the all new,

industry exclusive Model 686B01 Smart

Vibration Switch from IMI Sensors.

The electronic Smart Vibration Switch

is versatile; user programmable, and directly

replaces most popular mechanical

vibration switches. The Smart Vibration

Switch requires only two wires for

operation, which eliminates the need to

run additional cables, and with Remote

Reset Anywhere TM , climbing your cooling

tower to reset a tripped switch is now

no longer necessary. The Smart Vibration

Switch also provides a signifi cantly lower

cost solution for many electronic vibration

switch applications requiring single

relay operation.

Contact: Jennifer Beal, telephone:

(716) 684-0001, email: prospects@pcb.

com.

As the world turns to nuclear energy,

turn to the world leader in nuclear certification.

Vacuum Bag

MHF Packaging Solutions (MHF-

PS) announced its latest product innovation

for the nuclear and radiological waste

industry. The new DAW-Pak is a vacuum

bag patented technology that will reduce

generators’ contaminated waste stream

soft packaging volume by 30 to 50%. The

DAW-Pak TM allows users to remove 90%

of the air in the package through a simple

vacuum process that signifi cantly shrinks

the size of the pack for fi nal disposition.

Contact: Ken Grumski, telephone:

(724) 772-9800, email: ken_grumski@

mhfl s.com.

RadBall

RadBall is a deployable radiation

mapping device which can locate, quan-

(Continued on page 12)

The world is once again turning to nuclear

power to meet its future energy needs.You can

rely on the leadership and experience of HSB

Global Standards for all RCC-M and ASME code

inspection and certification requirements.

• The world leader in nuclear plant &

equipment inspections

• More than 500 engineers, inspectors and

auditors worldwide

• Our extensive nuclear capabilities support

your global growth

• We provide certification assistance &

training in ASME and RCC-M code

compliance

Go to www.hsbgsnuclear.com for more

information, local contacts or to request a

nuclear code training program.

NUCLEAR CERTIFICATION

Worldwide: +1 860-722-5041

Toll-free: 800-417-3437 x25041

(USA and Canada only)

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 11

New Products...

Continued from page 11

tify and characterise radiation hazards

from a single position.

This innovative device is currently

being developed and trialled by the National

Nuclear Laboratory, U.K.

About the size of a tennis ball the

RadBall device uses a radiation sensitive

polymer material which becomes opaque

when exposed to radiation. The degree of

opaqueness depends upon the absorbed

dose and once exposed to radiation the

change in opacity is stored inside the

polymer matrix. The information captured

within the polymer core can be used to

determine the type, intensity and location

of the given radiation source.

Contact: Keith Miller, telephone: 44

0 1925 832727, email: keith.x.miller@

nnl.co.uk.

Helmets

MAXAIR Systems’ helmets continue

to provide comfort and convenience.

The enhanced digital controller, convectional

air fl ow frame, and air fl ow software

increase operational performance

and reliability. The 5 Safety Indicator

LEDs are the optimum in always-on,

always-visible user alert information for

air fl ow (fi ltering capability) and battery

charge condition (run-time reliability).

Whisper Quiet Motor/Blower pulls in air,

passes it through the HE Filter, and provides

a gentle, cooling fl ow of SAFE Air

down, in front of the face.

Contact: telephone: (800) 443-3842,

website: www.maxair-systems.com.

Ion Exchange Resins

ResinTech Inc. manufactures a

broad range of ion exchange resins for

water and wastewater treatment, including

deionization, softening, metals removal,

radwaste treatment, and pollution control.

In addition to ion exchange resins,

ResinTech supplies activated carbon and

inorganic selective media.

Contact: Dave Malkmus, telephone:

(856) 768-9600, email: dmalkmus@

resintech.com.

Services

Rebuild Services

Morris Material Handling, the original

equipment manufacturer of P&H ®

Cranes, Hoists, and Replacement Parts,

provides life-extending rebuild and overhaul

services for vital crane components

affected by age and usage. Rebuilding or

overhauling the components of expended

cranes is a cost-effective solution to keep

crane components running smoothly and

effi ciently.

Morris Material Handling has inhouse

machining and rebuilding capabilities

to refurbish cranes with custom-built

and replacement components. Rebuilding

and overhauling critical parts restores the

ability of the crane to lift heavy loads, accelerate

and travel faster, position loads

quickly and precisely, simplify load handling,

and save operator time.

Contact: Steve Kirschner, telephone:

(513) 421-1169, email: skirschner@

stimulusworldwide.com.

Contracts

Turbine Retrofi tting

Alstom announced that is has signed

a contract worth approximately EUR 125

million with South Africa’s state-owned

utility Eskom to retrofi t the low-pressure

turbines of the two 970 MWe units at

Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, South

Africa’s sole nuclear power plant.

The retrofi t will increase the station’s

power output by over 65 MW, improve

availability and reliability, as well as

extend the lifetime of the plant. The

retrofi ts will be carried out during planned

refueling outages.

Contact: Susanne Shields, telephone:

33 1 41 49 27 22, email: Susanne.

shields@power.alstom.com.

Steam Generator

Contract

AREVA and URS Corporation’s

Washington Division announce that their

SGT, LLC joint venture has signed a contract

with the Tennessee Valley Authority

(TVA) to provide project management,

engineering and construction services for

the replacement of four steam generators

at the Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant Unit

2 in Tennessee. Engineering and planning

activities will begin immediately with installation

scheduled for spring 2011.

SGT replacement services will include

the following: management and

outage planning, design engineering, construction

and craft management, rigging

and handling of the old and new steam

generators, heavy haul transportation, fi tup

metrology, and large-bore pipe cutting

and welding. Each generator is over 67feet

long and weighs nearly 350 tons.

Contact: Laurence Pernot, telephone:

(301) 841-1694, email: Laurence.

Pernot@areva.com.

Uranium Enrichment

AREVA and EDF have signed a

long-term uranium enrichment contract

worth more than €5 billion, making it the

biggest AREVA has ever signed for this

activity.

The deal secures EDF’s long-term

enrichment services, which will be

provided by AREVA’s future Georges

Besse II centrifugation enrichment plant.

Located on the Tricastin site in the south of

France, GBII has been under construction

since September 2006, and at around €3

billion represents one of France’s biggest

industrial investments of the decade.

Contact: Donna Gaddy-Bowen,

telephone: (434) 832-3702, email:

Donna.GaddyBowen@areva.com.

Snake Arm Robot

Ontario Power Generation (OPG)

has awarded a contract to OC Robotics

to design and build a snake-arm robot

mounted on a mobile vehicle that will be

used to inspect complex pipework and

structures within CANDU reactors.

The snake-arm will be 2m (7') in

length and will have a rectangular crosssection

measuring 25mm (1'') in width

and 50mm (2'') in height. In the fi rst

instance the snake-arm will be equipped

with tip cameras for pipe inspection.

Contact: Ros Conkie, telephone:

44 117 3144700, email: contactus@

ocrobotics.com. �

12 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

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New Documents

EPRI

1. Demonstration of Fatigue Sensor

Technology for Steam Turbine

Blades. Product ID: 1018537, Published

January, 2009.

EPRI initiated a supplemental project

for the demonstration of fatigue sensor

technology for steam turbine blades. The

project team included Wyle Laboratories,

Luna Innovations, and Structural Integrity

Associates. The project included the use

of nonlinear ultrasonic technology to

measure consumed fatigue life in steam

turbine blade material.

2. BWRVIP-206: BWR Vessel and Internals

Project, Effect of Hydrazine

and Carbohydrazide on ECP of

OLNC- and LTNC-Treated Stainless

Steel During Simulated BWR

Startup Conditions, Product ID :

1018429, Published January, 2009.

Hydrogen water chemistry (HWC)

and noble metal chemical addition

(NMCA) mitigate intergranular stress

corrosion cracking (IGSCC) in boiling

water reactors (BWRs) during operation.

Results from an earlier phase of this

project confi rmed addition of chemical

reductants, such as hydrazine and

carbohydrazide, signifi cantly reduced

electrochemical corrosion potential (ECP)

under simulated startup conditions for

NMCA-treated stainless steel specimens

and, to a lesser extent, on prefi lmed but

untreated stainless steel specimens.

3. BWRVIP-208: BWR Vessel and Internals

Project, Bottom Head Drain

Line Replacement Design Criteria,

Product ID: 1018499, Published

January, 2009.

The Boiling Water Reactor Vessel

and Internals Project (BWRVIP) is an

association of utilities focused exclusively

on BWR vessel and internals issues. This

report documents criteria that can be used

to design a replacement of the bottom

head drain line (BHDL) in a BWR.

4. Materials Reliability Program: Beta

Test of the MRP-227 Report on Inspection

and Evaluation Guidelines

for PWR Internals (MRP-240),

Product ID: 1018496, Published

January, 2009.

The objectives of this study were

to provide an initial beta test of the

usability of the draft MRP-227, identify

the completeness and adequacy of the

guidelines, and note any gaps or areas for

improvement. The process was not without

hurdles; considerable reconciliation

efforts requiring experienced plant

personnel working with the beta test

teams were necessary for successful AMP

development.

5. Post-Irradiation Examination of

Simulated NobleChem and Shadow

Corrosion Coupons Tested in

MITR-II Research Reactor, Product

ID: 1016240, Published February,

2009.

Numerous GNF Zircaloy-2 and

alternate zirconium alloy materials that

were tested in the MITR-II research

reactor at MIT in 2004 under simulated

BWR conditions have been examined at

the GEH Vallecitos Nuclear Center to

evaluate the effect of process and material

variables on corrosion and hydriding

under simulated Noble Metal Chemical

Application (NMCA or “NobleChem”)

and shadow corrosion conditions. In

addition, ten zirconium alloy cladding

samples tested by Westinghouse-ABB in

MITR-II in an unrelated test in 1999 to

investigate shadow corrosion effects were

also examined to further characterize

those test results.

The above documents may be obtained

from EPRI Order and Conference

Center, 1300 West WT Harris Blvd.,

Charlotte, NC 28262; telephone: (800)

313-3774, email: orders@epri.com.

NEA

1. Nuclear Energy Outlook, ISBN 978-

92-64-05410-3. Price: $161, 460

pages.

2. Market Competition in the Nuclear

Industry, ISBN 978-92-64-05406-6.

Price: $60, 124 pages.

3. Nuclear Energy Data 2008, ISBN

978-64-04796-9. Price: $46, 116

pages.

4. Timing of High-level Waste Disposal,

ISBN 978-64-04625-2. Price: $69,

132 pages.

Publications on sale can be ordered

at the OECD bookshop: www.oecd.org /

scripts/publications/bookshop/redirect.

asp.

1. Occupational Exposures at Nuclear

Power Plants, ISBN 978-64-

99042-5. 120 pages.

2. Moving Forward with Geological

Disposal of Radioactive Waste, ISBN

978-92-64-99057-9. 24 pages.

3. Analytical Benchmarks for Nuclear

Engineering Applications, ISBN

978-92-64-99056-2. 296 pages.

The above free publications are available

at www.nea.fr/html/pub/webpubs/. Paper

copies may be requested by sending an

email to neapub@nea.fr. �

www.

nuclearplantjournal.

com

14 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

Meeting & Training Calendar

1. 9 th International Symposium Conditioning

of Radioactive Operational

& Decommissioning Wastes KON-

TEC 2009, April 15-17, 2009, Dresden,

Germany. Contact: KONTEC,

telephone: 49 40 52 74 82 8, email:

info@kontecHH.de.

2. 8 th International Exhibition on Nuclear

Power Industry NUCLEAR 2009,

April 19-22, 2009, Beijing, China.

Contact: Coastal International Exhibition

Co, Ltd., email: general@

coastal.com.hk.

3. Radiation Detection and Measurement

Course, April 20-24, 2009, Orlando

Marriott Downtown, Orlando, Florida.

Contact: Technical Management

Services, Inc., telephone: (860) 738-

2440, fax: (860) 738-9322, email:

info@tmscourses.com.

4. World Nuclear Fuel Cycle, April 21-

23, 2009, Sydney, Australia. Contact:

World Nuclear Association, telephone:

44 (0) 20 7451 1520, email:

wna@world-nuclear.org.

5. World Nuclear Fuel Cycle 2009, April

22-24, 2009, Sydney, Australia. Contact:

Stuart Cloke, World Nuclear,

telephone: 44 207 451 1520, email:

cloke@world-nuclear.org.

6. International Topical Meeting on

Nuclear Research Applications and

Utilizations of Accelerators, May 4-8,

2009, Vienna Austria. Contact: IAEA,

telephone: 43 1 2600 21310, fax: 43 1

26007, email: Offi cial.Mail@IAEA.

ORG.

7. International Congress on Advances

in Nuclear Power Plants ICAPP 09,

May 10-14, 2009, Tokyo, Japan. Contact:

email: info@icapp09.org.

8. Joint ICTP/IAEA Training Workshop

on Technology and Performance

of Desalination Systems, May 11-15,

2009, Trieste, Italy. Contact: telephone:

39 040 2240 111, email: sci_

info@ictp.it.

9. Annual Meeting on Nuclear Technology,

May 12-14, 2009, Congress

Center, Dresden, Germany. Contact:

dbcm GmbH, telephone: 49 02241

93897 0, email: info@dbcm.de.

10. North American Young Generation in

Nuclear, May 16-19, 2009, Washington,

D.C. Contact: Nuclear Energy

Institute, telephone: (202) 739-8039,

email: registrar@nei.org.

11. Conference and Exhibition on Desalination

for the Environment: Clean

Water and Energy, May 17-20, 2009,

Baden-Baden, Germany. Contact:

European Desalination Society,

telephone: 39 0862 319954, email:

balaban@desline.com.

12. Nuclear Energy Assembly, May 18-

20, 2009, Washington, D.C.. Contact:

Nuclear Energy Institute, telephone:

(202) 739-8000, email: conferences@

nei.org.

13. World Nuclear Fuel Market 36 th Annual

Meeting and International Conference

on Nuclear Fuel, May 31-June

3, 2009, Edinburgh, Scotland. Contact:

World Nuclear Fuel Market,

Christina DeLance, telephone: (678)

328-1281, email: cdelance@nacintl.

com.

14. American Nuclear Society Annual

Meeting: Advancing Nuclear Technology

for a Greater Tomorrow, June

14-18, 2009, Atlanta, Georgia. Contact:

American Nuclear Society,

telephone: (708) 352-6611, fax: (708)

352-6464, email: meetings@ans.org.

15. Canberra’s 2009 Users’ Group Meeting,

June 15-19, 2009, Loews Lake

Las Vegas Resort, Henderson, Nevada.

Contact: Canberra, telephone:

(203) 639-2148, email: events@canberra.com.

16. 2009 ASME/EPRI Radwaste Workshop,

June 22-23, 2009, Knoxville

Marriott Hotel, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Contact: EPRI, telephone: (248) 336-

8611, email: epri@specialdevents.

com.

17. Platts 4 th European Nuclear Power

Conference: Sustaining the Momentum,

June 29-30, 2009, Paris, France.

Contact: Platts, telephone: 44 20

7176 6111, fax: 44 20 7176 6144,

email: nukes@platts.com.

18. International Low Level Waste

Conference 2009, June 23-25, 2009,

Knoxville Marriott Hotel, Knoxville,

Tennessee. Contact: EPRI, telephone:

(248) 336-8611, email: epri@

specialdevents.com.

19. Energy Business Opportunities Conference

2009, July 7-8, 2009, EN-

ERGUS, West Cumbria, England.

Contact: Hazel Duhy, West Cumbria

Business Cluster, email: hazel.duhy@

westcumbriabusinesscluster.org.uk.

20. ASME Power 2009, July 21-23,

2009, Hyatt Regency, Albuquerque,

New Mexico. Contact: ASME, John

Varrasi, email: varrasij@asme.org.

21. Global 2009 & Top Fuel 2009, September

6-11, 2009, Paris, France.

Contact: SFEN, Sylvie Delaplace,

telephone: 33 (0) 1 53 58 32 16, email:

global2009@sfen.fr.

22. The 12 th International Conference

on Environmental Remediation and

Radioactive Waste Management,

October 11-15, 2009, Liverpool Arena

and Convention Centre, UK. Contact:

Gary Benda, IECM Conferences,

telephone: (803) 345-2170) website:

http://www.icemconf.com/

23. ETRAP- Education and Training Radiation

Protection, November 8-11,

2009, Lisbon, Portugal. Contact: European

Nuclear Society, telephone:

32 2 505 30 54, fax: 32 2 505 39 02,

email: etrap2009@euronuclear.org.

24. Nuclear Industry, China 2010: The

11 th China International Nuclear

Industry Exhibition, March 23-26,

2010, Beijing, China. Contact: Lin Yi,

NIC'2010, telephone: 0086 10 6526

8150, 65260852, email: linyinic@126.

com.

25. 2010 American Nuclear Society

Topical Meeting and Decommissioning,

Decontamination, & Reutilization

and Technology Expo, August

29-September 2, 2010, Idaho Falls,

Idaho. Contact: Teri Ehresman, telephone:

(208) 526-7785, email: Teri.

Ehresman@inl.gov. �

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 15

Application of Modeling and

Simulation to Nuclear Power Plants

By Berry Gibson, IBM and Rolf Gibbels,

Dassault Systemes.

1. Please describe the accuracy of 3D

process simulation to nuclear power

plants?

Rolf Gibbels: People normally think

of a physical mock up as the most accurate

way of simulating something. They

think that the digital version is an estimation.

However the environment of a nuclear

plant is so complex, the fact that you

can actually model all the components

digitally, relatively easily, makes the digital

mock up actually much more accurate

than the physical mock ups. Physical

mock ups are the simplifi ed representation

of the environment, and what our

customers have found out is that they actually

miss many interferences and other

challenges that they later run into during

maintenance or construction procedures.

They eventually found out the benefi ts of

digital mock ups the hard way.

As I mentioned, the digital environment

is actually a more accurate representation

than the physical, and this

is possible because of partnerships that

Dassault Systemes has with companies

like AREVA. Many older plants face the

challenge of using digital planning and

construction because they have no – or

very little – digital data about the plant.

We’re talking about plants that have been

online for decades and were built before

digital design and construction were

mainstream. However, AREVA’s Metrology

Services can use laser scanning technologies

effectively to digitally scan a

plant and record an “as-built” model that

can be used with Dassault Systems’ solutions.

This is a much better option than

trying to digitize blueprints, which aren’t

always accurate. The virtual environment

can be easily changed and allows a company

to perform as many ‘rehearsals’ as

needed to reach the best possible process

In person interview at Dassault

Systemes’ Managing Outage and New

Build Risk through Virtual Planning

Conference on Thursday, February 12,

2009 in Orlando, Florida.

Berry Gibson

Berry Gibson is a Sales Executive

at IBM with responsibility for Plant

Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions.

Before joining IBM in 2007, Berry led

strategic growth initiatives for a major

PLM software vendor and also managed

client relationships and successful PLM

implementations. Berry has served as a

management consultant in the Product

Development Consulting Practice of

KPMG Consulting and began his career

as an engineer with both Northrop

Grumman and Lockheed Martin.

Berry holds bachelors and masters

degrees in Engineering from the

University of Texas.

scenario prior to the start of the actual

work.

(The Hydro Quebec nuclear case

study is very new. It’s so new that this is

the fi rst time we’ve ever heard it ourselves.

They just fi nished the project.)

2. How old is the 3D simulation technology?

Is the nuclear industry receptive

to the technology?

Berry Gibson: We were helping companies

go from 2D design to 3D design

back in the 80’s and 90’s. This is something

that has been a focus of IBM and

Dassault for a number of years. Just now

however, many companies within the

energy industry are trying to fi gure out

Rolf Gibbels

Rolf Gibbels is Dassault Systemes’

global industry director for the Energy

and Process Industry domain. Rolf

joined Dassault Systemes in May 2001

and brings over 15 years of experience

in high technology and the computeraided

design software market to his role

in PLM (Product Lifecycle Management)

business development and strategy. He

focuses primarily on developing new

opportunities and solutions in a market

now realizing the need for product

lifecycle management.

Rolf holds a masters degree in Civil

Engineering from the University in

Munich, Germany and has extensive

experience working for leading

engineering and architecture fi rms in

Germany.

how to work in a 3D part-centric process.

By “part-centric”, I mean allowing plant

defi nition data to fl ow seamlessly through

the organization in a design process that

encompasses the total project life cycle

activities with an information framework

based on associativity of data to parts and

structures of parts, rather than to drawings

for instance. This is key enabler to

creating information only once and reusing

it many times. 3D design and simulation

technologies had their genesis in

the aerospace and automotive industries

20-plus years ago so there has been a lot

of time for these solutions to mature. We

have found that the nuclear utility owner/

operators have been very receptive to the

16 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

technology as it solves real business problems

for them today. If they don’t have

a 3D model of their plant, then they use

laser scanning to generate one. Now, for

the new plants, they are telling their suppliers

that they want the richness of a full

3D part-centric plant virtual plant design

with one master representation of the design

and associative access to all related

deliverables and descriptive content.

3. Can the 3D simulation software run

on PC based systems (servers as well as

clients)?

Berry Gibson: For design, design

simulation and design data management,

in the old days hardware was a constraint,

and you had to buy very expensive servers.

Today, it’s not a constraining factor. PC

based systems are fi ne for the majority of

applications. This information can now

be run on a moderately powered PC. In

many cases it can be displayed over the

web in a web browser from a remote

system. We have the ability to show light

weight visuals of information, including

recorded visuals of complex assembly

or dismantling sequence. You can show

it over the web in a web browser, and

collaborate with other users worldwide.

4. How many partners have developed

Dassault’s applications worldwide?

Rolf Gibbels: Dassault has thousands

of technology partners worldwide. In

the energy industry specifi cally, we work

with companies like AREVA for its metrology

services, and BCP Engineers to

help with the specifi c work processes, nuclear

engineering specialists and unique

regulatory requirements. Of course, IBM

and Dassault Systemes have a long history

together as well, which has carried

over to greatly benefi t our shared customers

in the energy industry.

5. What mechanism does Dassault

Systemes and IBM have to collaborate

with the nuclear power industry?

Berry Gibson: IBM has a couple of

initiatives. We created our Nuclear Power

Advisory Council (http://www-03.ibm.

com/industries/utilities/us/detail/news/

T701956Z61598F04.html) that consists

of Chief Nuclear Offi cers, CEO’s, CIO’s

and other thought leaders from a number

of very large operating utilities with large

nuclear fl eets. We periodically meet with

this group of executives to talk about the

future, the challenges and needs that they

see in the future, the things that IBM is

working on for the future of technology

and how we can innovate together. At

these meetings we identify areas of collaboration

where we can work with these

companies on the future of energy production

and transmission and how this

business can benefi t from advances in

information technology. That informs our

go-to-market and solution development

strategies. We’ve also established Center

of Excellence for Nuclear Power (http://

www-03.ibm.com/industries/utilities/

us/detail/news/W547897K49179Q12.

html). This center supports improved design,

construction, safety and operation

of power plants based on IBM software,

hardware, consulting, and services industry

offerings. These include IT systems

design and architecture consulting, high

performance computing, advanced simulation/modeling

capabilities, Enterprise

Asset Management and Plant Lifecycle

Management solutions aimed at both the

extension of existing nuclear power plant

life, as well as streamlining new plant

construction.

6. How will Dassault Systemes’ technology

help the nuclear industry in designing

and building its new nuclear power

plants?

Rolf Gibbels: Dassault Systemes

offers solutions to help usher nuclear

power plants from design through construction

and into maintenance. It begins

with CATIA, Dassault Systemes product

for designing the virtual plant. During

design you can perform early fi nite element

analysis (FEA) and multiphysics

analyses using SIMULIA Abaqus solutions

for virtual testing and simulation.

DELMIA can be used to virtualize construction

planning and fabrication sequencing

to virtually plan critical maintenance

scenarios before any physical

work begins. Changes made in the virtual

world are coming at a fraction of the

cost versus any changes identifi ed during

construction, which typically result in

costly delays of the project. Throughout

a project, ENOVIA provides a backbone

for collaboration and business process

management. In addition, 3DVIA can be

used to enhance operator experience by

easily providing a 3D Virtual Reality en-

vironment for training and related work

instructions during the entire lifecycle

of a project All together, the Dassault

Systemes Energy offering promotes innovation

by integrating business process

management with cutting-edge tools for

design, engineering and construction

planning.

Berry Gibson: I think IBM would

see that one of the biggest challenges in

the industry is the potential for lack of

consistency of the information related to

plant defi nition as the plant is being designed,

constructed, operated and maintained.

Historically there hasn’t been a

technology-enabled mechanism for consistently

managing the defi nition of the

plant throughout its life cycle. Because of

that, mistakes are made and millions of

dollars of unnecessary, non-value-added

activity are undertaken to transition information

from the design/build stage to

the operational stage of the plant’s lifecycle.

The technology exists to manage

a consistent, integrated controlled, and

complete defi nition of a nuclear plant

throughout its lifetime, from initial design

through to decommissioning, and

the industry is in the process of getting

their arms around it. One of the keys is

a 3D model/part centric design paradigm

in which there should be one master representation

of the design, and that representation

should associatively drive all

related deliverables and representations.

The question remains process maturity

in the owner/operator and supplier ecosystem.

Other highly regulated industries

(aerospace, defense, shipbuilding) have

successfully managed the transition to

3D with stringent confi guration control

requirements, and many of their practices

are applicable, but not yet known to

many nuclear industry players. IBM has

developed solutions that can unlock substantial

business value through shortening

plant development and start-up times,

effi ciently fi nding, reusing, and changing

plant data and enabling an integrated and

transparent collaborative environment in

which to address asset management business

processes.

Contact: Berry Gibson, IBM,

telephone: (412) 865-5066, email:

btgibson@us.ibm.com. Rolf Gibbels,

Dassault Systemes, telephone: (818) 673-

2234, email: Rolf.Gibbels@3ds.com. �

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 17

Steam Generators with Tight

Manufacturing Procedures

By Ei Kadokami, Mitsubishi Heavy

Industries.

1. What is the life expectancy of the

future generation steam generators currently

manufactured by Mitsubishi Nuclear

Energy Systems?

Our steam generator is designed

and verifi ed for 60 years of lifetime. “60

years” is just design lifetime and the

limitation of integrity is considered to be

much longer than that.

2. What are Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy

Systems’ recommendations to its clients for

ensuring optimum life and functionality

of its steam generators regarding the

following:

a. Maintaining the water chemistry

for the steam generators (primary as well

as secondary side).

MHI recommends that the clients

control the water chemistry in accordance

with EPRI guidelines.

b. Preventive maintenance practices

One of the most important preventive

maintenance practices is control of secondary

water chemistry. Since tube material

of Inconel 690 has high resistance

against corrosion, the corrosion phenomena

is not a concern for our steam generator.

On the other hand, the secondary side

scale management is important for degradation

of thermal hydraulic performance.

For this concern, MHI recommends that

the pH of secondary side is maintained

high (9.2 or more), which results in very

low iron concentration rate in the steam

generator. Even if the secondary water

pH control is performed, scale could be

deposited. MHI recommends that chemical

cleanings should be performed in this

case.

c. Ensuring minimal leak rate of

reactor coolant into the secondary loop.

Our steam generator has Inconel 690

tubes to have enough corrosion resistance

Responses to questions by Newal

Agnihotri, Editor of Nuclear Plant

Journal.

against several degradation modes, which

could avoid the leakage due to tube

degradation.

For tube to tubesheet joint region,

seal weld is performed and the weld is

designed to have the structural integrity

to withstand the design pressure. Tube

expansion is also performed. This expansion

procedure is verifi ed to avoid the

leakage even if the seal weld is not performed.

d. Avoiding potential for in-service

rupture.

Our steam generators are designed

to have enough resistance for several

degradation modes as follows:

• Tube material is alloy 690 which has

high resistance against corrosion.

• Anti-Vibration bar (AVB) and tube

support plates (TSP) are designed to

have enough margins against fretting

wear.

On the other hand, all heat transfer

tubes are inspected by Eddy Current

Testing (ECT) in outage to fi nd the

degraded tubes. The criteria for plugging

is determined by considering the tube

walls thinning growth until the next

outage, ECT measuring degradations and

other uncertainties, ensures that there is

no in-service tube rupture.

e. Chemical cleaning methods.

Chemical cleaning is taken into

account for material selection for US-

APWR. The material for the steam

generators of US-APWR is suitable for

Ei Kadokami

Ei Kadokami is the deputy general

manager of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

(MHI), Kobe Shipyard & Machinery

Works. In 1978, he graduated from

the faculty of nuclear engineering,

the University of Kyushu and joined

MHI. He has been working in the

nuclear engineering fi eld throughout

his career. His expertise includes

entire Pressurized Water Reactor

power plants technology(basic plan,

design, manufacture, construction , and

maintenance).

general chemical cleaning so the owner

of the plants can use general commercial

chemical cleaning method.

f. Reactor coolant temperature to

insure least corrosion

There is no clear criterion of

reactor coolant temperature for tube

degradation.

No corrosion is observed when the

temperature is less than 617°F so the

thermal design temperature at full power

is 617°F.

g. Injection of chemicals into the

secondary side water.

High pH control is recommended

to maintain the low iron concentration

rate, which could avoid the performance

degradation.

h. Recommended tools and techniques

for sleeved tubes or other technologies to

defer replacing the steam generators.

MHI has techniques for plugging and

sleeving degraded tubes. Normally the

plugging is recommended. However, we

have several techniques and experiences

for sleevee tubes such as laser weld

sleeves.

To prevent performance degradation,

chemical cleaning and secondary water

chemistry control (high pH) is recommended

for long life operation.

3. What are the recommended techniques

for repairing tubes allowing degraded

tubes to remain in operation?

The sleeve tubes technique such as

18 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

laser weld sleeves can allow degraded

tubes to remain in operation. The tubes

may also be plugged.

4. What instrumentations are provided

by Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems

with its steam generators to monitor

degradation in a timely manner and

accurately?

3D-CAD Model of Steam Generator

for US-APWR

During operation,

• Steam pressure is monitored to

evaluate fouling factor of tubes.

• Leak rate is watched by N16

monitor.

During outage,

• Tube ECT inspection using Intelligent

ECT method can be applied for quick

and detailed tube inspections.

5. What in-service inspection is

recommended during:

Plant operation?

Leak rate, steam pressure and loose

parts are monitored.

Outages?

In outage, all heat transfer tubes can

be inspected by Eddy Current Testing and

the weld lines of pressure boundary can

be inspected by Ultrasonic Testing (UT).

6. How has Internet and the evolution

of Information Technology in the last

30 years helped Mitsubishi Nuclear

Energy Systems provide a state of the

art instrumentation to ensure effi cient

and productive operation and detect

degradation during operation and

refueling?

The information on degradation experience

is stored in the electronic database,

which can be instantaneously accessed

by internet. MHI recommends the

best operation and maintenance method

based on the investigation of the database.

Tube ECT source data can be

transferred from the job site to MHI Kobe

by internet and the data can be analyzed

immediately; earlier it used to take one or

more days to carry the data media from

job site to MHI.

7. Please provide any other design,

operation, and construction highlights,

which makes you believe that Mitsubishi

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Nuclear Energy Systems future generation

steam generator has an edge over other

steam generator technologies?

Tube P/D (pitch/outer diameter)

is narrower than others so that the tube

bundle and the Steam Generator itself are

smaller, which is the fi rst feature.

The second feature MHI would

like to emphasize is that MHI has not

experienced any signifi cant degradation

in recent design.

Alloy 690 is used for almost

all steam generators and has high

resistance against corrosion, but some

steam generators fabricated by other

manufacturers have wear caused by tube

vibration in the U bend region. No tube

wear has been experienced in recent MHI

steam generators because not only AVB

and TSP are designed to have enough

margin against fretting wear but also the

manufacturing procedure is appropriate to

control gaps between the tube and AVB.

Contact: MHI Nuclear Energy

Systems Headquarters, 16-5, Konan2choume,

Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; email:

reply-nuclear01@mhi.co.jp. �

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 19

SG Design Based on Operational

Experience and R&D

By Jun Tang, Babcock & Wilcox Canada. Jun Tang

1. What is the life expectancy of the

future generation steam generators currently

manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox

Canada?

Historically steam generators were

designed for a life expectancy of 30 or

40 years. However, Babcock & Wilcox

Canada have designed and fabricated 12

replacement steam generators for three

PWR plants that have design lives of 60

years. To our knowledge these were the

fi rst RSGs supplied with extended life

relative to the more typical 40 year design

life. To achieve an extended design life,

overall improvements in reliability are

required in addition to qualifying more

service cycles and larger corrosion allowances.

Consideration of operating experience,

potential degradation mechanisms

and material selection are required to

maximize reliability. Requirements for

extended design lives are becoming more

common in the industry and it is expected

that a 60 year design life will become the

standard for future replacement steam

generators.

2. What are Babcock & Wilcox Canada’s

recommendations to its clients for

ensuring optimum life and functionality

of its steam generators regarding the following:

a. Maintaining the water chemistry

for the steam generators (primary as well

as secondary side).

Maintaining water chemistry in accordance

with industry guidelines and

best practices is essential to long-term

reliable SG operation. For recirculating

steam generators, impurities in the feedwater

remain within the steam generator

and are concentrated within the tube

bundle. Best practices include taking

precautions to eliminate chemistry excursions,

having good plant procedures for

recovery from excursions and maintain-

Responses to questions by Newal

Agnihotri, Editor of Nuclear Plant

Journal.

ing good shutdown chemistry. Many observations

of SG degradation have been

as a result of poor shutdown chemistry. It

is essential to minimize iron and contaminant

ingress in the secondary side of the

SGs to minimize deposit buildup.

b. Preventive maintenance practices

Secondary side deposit loading

should be monitored at regular intervals

through direct visual inspection and by

inference from eddy-current inspections

(where possible) and this information

is used to update the SG secondary side

deposit management strategy. Tubesheet

waterlancing (fl ushing from the no-tubelane)

should be performed at regular intervals,

not exceeding 4 years of operation,

and is effective at removing accumulated

hot-leg sludge. Tubesheet fl ushing

should be augmented with high-pressure

inter-tube waterlancing to remove hard

sludge collars that form after 7 to 10 years

of operation to maximize tube reliability.

Bundle fl ushing can be effective at some

plants to remove bulk tube bundle deposits,

but there is no substitute for minimizing

iron and contaminant ingress to the

secondary side. Although there is limited

long-term experience in the fi eld, feedwater

additives, such as polymer dispersants,

appear to be a promising method to maximize

blowdown effi ciency and prevent a

much higher percentage of contaminants

from depositing on the tube bundle. This

should be considered as an adjunct to a

good secondary side contaminant ingress

Jun Tang is the Director, Marketing

& Sales, Nuclear Power at Babcock

& Wilcox Canada and is responsible

for determining business strategy

and direction for the Nuclear Power

Division. Mr. Tang originally joined

Babcock and Wilcox Canada in March

1993 as a Design Engineer (Nuclear)

and holds a Bachelor Degree of

Engineering from Tongji University in

China, a Masters Degree of Engineering

from McGill University in Canada and a

MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University in

Canada.

program and not a fi x for high secondary

plant iron oxide loading. These methods

should be effective in minimizing the

need for secondary side chemical cleaning,

either full-bundle cleans or chemical

additives, which are costly and have the

potential to damage SG internal components.

Foreign object tube wear is a

signifi cant SG management issue and

can lead to primary to secondary side

leakage and forced shutdowns. Utilities

should maintain a rigorous plant feedtrain

foreign-material-exclusion program

to prevent foreign objects from entering

the SGs. Repair products and repair

methodologies for up-stream feed-train

components should be carefully evaluated

for potential failure consequences since

failed components will ultimately end

up in the secondary side of the SGs.

Similarly, secondary plant or SG integral

debris traps should be inspected and

cleaned regularly to ensure that they

are functioning properly and to prevent

failure.

c. Ensuring minimal leak rate of

reactor coolant into the secondary loop.

B&W utilizes a zero-defect criterion

for primary-to-secondary leakage during

manufacturing inspection, heliumleak

testing and hydro-testing, which

is imperative in preventing primary to

(Continued on page 22)

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SG Design...

Continued from page 20

secondary leakage. The other source of

primary to secondary leakage is foreign

object tube wear.

d. Avoiding potential for in-service

rupture.

In-service tube rupture has occurred

due to corrosion degradation of

Alloy600MA tubing, improper tube FIV

support and tube support blockage causing

secondary side fl ow maldistribution

leading to high-cycle tube fatigue failure.

All modern SGs utilize corrosion resistant

tube alloys (Alloy 690 or 800) thereby

mitigating corrosion related tube failure.

B&W further enhances the reliability of

the tubing through close collaboration

with the tubing suppliers to ensure high

quality defect-free tubing from the manufacturing

process.

B&W SG designs and manufacturing

processes ensure proper placement

of U-bend tube supports and the designs

are suffi ciently redundant that tubes are

adequately supported in the unlikely

event of an out-of-position U-bend support.

Additionally, B&W’s tube support

design does not signifi cantly obstruct the

secondary fl ow and therefore does not

build up preferential deposits that would

cause fl ow maldistribution. Through design

and careful attention to secondary

side deposit management, the B&W SGs

effectively preclude the possibility for deposit

induced fl ow maldistribution leading

to tube high-cycle fatigue failure.

e. Chemical cleaning methods.

As discussed in the preventative

maintenance practices above, chemical

cleaning should not be viewed as the

fi rst line of defense for secondary side

deposit management. Secondary side

deposits can be managed effectively with

tubesheet waterlancing, inter-tube high

pressure waterlancing, bundle fl ushing

and minimizing deposit ingress. Feedwater

additives such as polymer dispersants

appear to be a promising adjunct to good

secondary side deposit ingress management.

Chemical additives to soften sludge

prior to the above deposit removal strategies

can be effective in increasing deposit

removal effectiveness, and minimize the

potential degradation of secondary side

SG internals structures. As discussed, full

bundle, full-strength chemical cleaning is

considered the last-line-of-defense for

secondary side deposit management and

all B&W SGs are pre-qualifi ed for multiple

applications of high-strength chemical

clean as an available contingency.

f. Reactor coolant temperature to

insure least corrosion.

While maintaining temperature is

desirable from a corrosion perspective,

the reactor coolant temperature is

carefully chosen by the system design to

achieve the required thermal output and

to minimize the adverse effect on reactor

coolant master components including the

steam generator.

g. Injection of chemicals into the

secondary side water.

Chemical additives should be mixed

up-stream to the SGs to minimize any

partitioning of chemicals inside the SGs,

particularly during layup.

h. Recommended tools and techniques

for sleeved tubes or other technologies to

defer replacing the steam generators.

Most of the older, fi rst-generation

PWR SGs have been replaced. Those

that have not have well proven repair

strategies in place to achieve their target

end-of-life.

Thorough degradation assessment is

important to understand the degradation

mechanism and what drives the degradation.

This can include removed tube

examination, historical defect growth determination

and review of chemistry and

layup practices for corrosion related tube

degradation. B&W has collaborated effectively

with clients and other industry

experts to defi ne the root-cause of degradation

in older SGs and has worked with

clients to put in place operational strategies

to maximize SG life for older degrading

SGs.

Carbon steel tube support deterioration

can be life limiting in some cases.

B&W has worked with clients to investigate

the root-cause of deterioration and to

design strategies to mitigate and manage

the degradation. Mitigation can include

tube support inter-tube waterlancing

(chemical cleaning is not recommended

for obvious reasons). Advanced analytical

techniques to determine the true structural

margins have been helpful in extending

SG life, and when coupled with

a regulatory approved targeted inspection

program, can be an effective way to extend

SG life.

Tube vibration wear can appear to

be life limiting; however often a rigorous

review of the inspection data to characterize

the defect population and growth reveals

that the degradation is manageable

over the anticipated SG life. Where that

is not the case, additional tube stabilization

hardware has been effective at mitigating

tube support wear.

As noted below, the tube-to-tubesheet

expansions in the B&W SGs have a

maximized pull-out strength by nature of

the unique B&W manufacturing process

and therefore the tube-to-tubesheet

expansions can be readily qualifi ed as the

pressure retaining boundary in the event

of tube-end degradation in-service.

Sleeving technologies are typically

expensive to install, require extensive inservice

examination and have not proven

to be reliable in the long-term and is not

seen by B&W as an economical way of

extending SG life prior to replacement.

3. What are the recommended techniques

for repairing tubes allowing degraded

tubes to remain in operation?

B&W steam generators can accommodate

all commercially available tube

repair products designed for modern

steam generators. The major degradation

mechanism for newer SGs is foreign

object wear. B&W SGs are designed

with no obstructions in the way of foreign

object search and retrieval at the

top-of-tubesheet. This means no tie-rods,

no shroud obstructions, no fl ow baffl e

obstructions and no surface blowdown

header obstructions. This design approach

allows maximum access for fi nding

and retrieving foreign objects. Utilities

have had good success in removing

22 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

foreign objects from B&W SGs, many

times allowing foreign object degraded

tubes to remain in service.

The B&W SGs can readily accommodate

qualifi cation of the tube-totubesheet

expansions as the pressure

retaining boundary in the event of tubeend

damage in-service. B&W performs

tube-to-tubesheet expansion after all

post-weld-heat-treatment operations are

complete and therefore the tube-end expansion

pull-out strength is maximized.

It is known that post-weld-heat-treatment

can signifi cantly degrade tube-end expansion

pull-out strength and compromise

the ability to qualify the tube-totubesheet

expansion as the pressure retaining

boundary, which is not a problem

with the B&W SGs.

B&W collaborates extensively with

tube suppliers to maximize signal-to-noise

eddy-current characteristics of the steam

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generator tubing and ensure minimal tube

manufacturing artifacts. When tubing is

installed in the SGs, B&W utilizes a very

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damage to SG tubing on installation and

avoids heat-treatment operations with the

SG tubing installed, where possible. It

is known in the industry that tube manufacturing

artifacts and tube damage from

heat treatment operations that were not

carefully controlled can cause signifi cant

numbers of tube indications that need to

be tracked for potential degradation over

the steam generator life. B&W strives to

eliminate these manufacturing related artifacts.

In that way, utilities with B&W

SGs are not faced with having to inspect

and justify degraded tubes whose degradation

started with the manufacturing

process.

4. What instrumentations are provided

by Babcock & Wilcox Canada with its

steam generators to monitor degradation

in a timely manner and accurately?

On-line monitoring of potential degradation

can be accomplished by monitoring

primary to secondary side leakage

from measurements of radiation in the

condensate system. Increased secondary

side activity may be an indication of

a tube leak. In addition, acoustic monitoring

of the SG shell in the inlet plenum

and tubesheet area of an RSG can indicate

the presence of loose parts. Water

level, steam pressure and moisture carryover

can be monitored and tracked as

indicators of the overall thermal hydraulic

health of the steam generator. Despite

these on-line monitoring methods the

most effective method for quantifying

and assessing steam generator health is

(Continued on page 24)

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Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 23

SG Design...

Continued from page 23

to perform inspections during regularly

scheduled inspection outages. These inspections

need to focus not only on tube

integrity, but also on the secondary side

of the steam generator.

5. What in-service inspection is recommended

during:

a. Plant operation?

During plant operation it is

recommended that the steam generator

be monitored for primary to secondary

side leakage as well as to monitor for

loose parts. The thermal hydraulic

condition of a steam generator including

an assessment of over-all fouling levels

can be monitored by tracking steam

pressure, moisture carryover and water

level. New ultrasonic technology also

exists to measure down-comer fl ow in

a recirculating steam generator thereby

measuring water circulation which can

also be an indicator of fouling. It is

also essential that water chemistry be

monitored and carefully managed to

ensure compliance with manufacturer

and industry guidelines.

b. Outages ?

During refueling outages more direct

inspections of both the primary and

secondary sides are possible. Typically

tubes are inspected by eddy current

techniques such as bobbin probes, rotating

coils or array probes. These techniques

can quantify all types of tube degradation

and are essential for performing condition

monitoring and operational assessments.

Advanced ultrasonic inspection methods

are also available for characterizing

tube wall degradation however it is

recommended that bobbin and arrayprobe

inspections be routinely performed

with supplemental special purpose probes

designed for special interest fl aws.

It is important that the secondary side

of steam generators be visually inspected

to assess tube, tube support and tube

sheet fouling. Visual inspections of the

tube sheet surface may also locate foreign

objects that may have been transported

into the steam generator through the

feedwater system. These inspections can

provide valuable input for the initiation

of maintenance activities such as water

lancing, foreign object retrieval, upper

bundle fl ushing or chemical cleaning.

Secondary side visual inspections can

also be effective in assessing fl ow assisted

corrosion within high velocity liquid fl ow

regions.

6. How has Internet and the evolution

of Information Technology in the last 30

years helped Babcock & Wilcox Canada

provide a state of the art instrumentation

to ensure effi cient and productive

operation and detect degradation during

operation and refueling?

Over the last 30 years there has been

a “hand in hand” advancement of Information

Technology and in-service inspection

systems. As Information Technology

and data management systems

became more effi cient at handling large

amounts of data the inspection systems

became more sophisticated and in an effort

to provide more resolution began to

generate more data. IT systems allow

quick accurate ‘look-backs’ at the progression

of degradation which provides

valuable insight into future projections of

degradation allowing more accurate condition

monitoring and operational assessments.

Transmission of outage data over

the Internet on a secure Virtual Private

Network (VPM) has allowed data analysis

remote from the acquisition sites. The

Internet has generally made information

much more readily accessible, making it

easier to stay on top of the state-of-the-art

developments and industry issues. Sharing

of this industry knowledge has improved

the availability of nuclear power

and made the nuclear industry safer.

7. Please provide any other design,

operation, and construction highlights,

which makes you believed that Babcock

& Wilcox Canada future generation

steam generator has an edge over other

steam generator technologies?

Babcock & Wilcox Canada has

designed and manufactured approximately

300 steam generators for service in North

America and worldwide. The success

of these steam generators is attributed

to a history of continuous improvement

which has positioned B&W for the

future market. The B&W tube support

system design which offers high strength

and low pressure drop is one feature

that sets the B&W recirculating steam

generators apart from the competition.

The tube support system is also very

effective at mitigating tube wear as

proven by the performance of the B&W

PWR replacement recirculating steam

generators. The B&W design promotes

a high circulating ratio which improves

water level control and minimizes

deposition of impurities. High effi ciency

centrifugal moisture separators provide

low moisture carryover improving the

overall effi ciency of the nuclear plant.

The advanced B&W RSG design includes

many maintenance features including

numerous hand-holes and inspection ports

allowing clear unobstructed access to the

tube bundle. Features are also provided

to trap incoming foreign objects before

being transported into the tube bundle

region. A sludge trap in the steam drum

region captures recirculating particulate

contaminants thereby minimizing tube

bundle fouling.

The development of innovative design

features has been a careful evolution

based on operational experience and

supported by research and development

(R&D). B&W is also unique in that

design engineering and manufacturing

are located at the same facility. The

effective interaction between engineering

and manufacturing made possible by their

close proximity is a defi nite benefi t to the

execution of nuclear projects.

Contact: Jun Tang, Babcock &

Wilcox Canada, 581 Coronation Blvd.

Cambridge N1R 5V3, Ontario, Canada;

telephone: (519) 621-2130, fax: (519)

622-7352, email: jtang@babcock.com. �

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Confi dent to Deliver Reliable

Performance

By Bruce Bevilacqua, Westinghouse

Nuclear.

1. What material degradation issues

has Westinghouse learned from the past

experience and what measures have

been taken in AP1000 to make sure that

these material degradations during

anticipated operating conditions (normal

or abnormal) are under control?

The evolution of the Westinghouse

AP1000 TM design is based on careful

evaluation of approaches for mitigating

potential material-degradation issues, and

nearly 40 years of operating plant experience.

Westinghouse reviewed specifi c

material-degradation mechanisms and

operating experience to factor in lessons

learned into the AP1000. Material-related

degradation was considered in designing

the AP1000 and selecting materials and

processes; ongoing successful usage of

these materials in existing plants supports

their similar application in the AP1000

design.

Those materials degradation issues,

which have been shown to have an infl uence,

include uniform corrosion, SCC,

wear, fatigue, thermal embrittlement, irradiation

embrittlement, stress relaxation,

void swelling, and fl ow-assisted corrosion.

For each of these, the features of

the AP1000 design, material selections,

manufacturing process, and fabrication

that mitigate degradation are summarized

in Table 1.

2. What preventive maintenance is recommended

for Westinghouse AP1000

Reactor Coolant System Pressure Boundary,

to provide mitigation against a loss

of system integrity or a sudden break in

the System pressure boundary?

Westinghouse recommends following

the techniques of the ASME B&PV

Section XI and leak-before-break analy-

Responses to questions by Newal

Agnihotri, Editor of Nuclear Plant

Journal.

Bruce Bevilacqua

As vice president of Nuclear Power

Plants Engineering, Bruce Bevilacqua

is responsible for organizational and

industry leadership for the design of the

only Generation III+ pressurized water

reactor to receive design certifi cation

from the Nuclear Regulatory

sis. This preventative maintenance includes

periodic inspection of the pressure

boundary components. Also, Westinghouse

recommends:

• Strict chemistry control on primary

and secondary water

• Careful design of branch lines to

prevent thermal stratifi cation, which

can cause excessive stresses

• Careful development of thermal

transients and the resulting fatigue

analysis of the components / lines.

3. How is water chemistry controlled

to ensure that primary and secondary

fl uid in the reactor coolant system is not

aggressive on the serviced equipment?

The AP1000 employs leadingedge

industry standards such as those

provided in the EPRI guidelines for

Primary Water Chemistry and Secondary

Water Chemistry guidelines. Another

key component to the AP1000 operating

chemistry on the primary side is the

addition of zinc. This soluble compound

is added to the coolant as a means

to reduce radiation fi elds within the

primary system; the corrosion and related

Commission, the Westinghouse AP1000.

He assumed this position in June 2006.

Before his current position, Mr.

Bevilacqua was president of WesDyne

International, a fully owned subsidiary

of Westinghouse Electric Company

and global supplier of state-of-the-art

inspection services for the nuclear

power industry.

Mr. Bevilacqua holds Professional

Engineer licenses with the states of

Pennsylvania and South Carolina,

and is the author of approximately

15 U.S. patents. He holds a master’s

degree in business administration and

a Bachelor of Science in mechanical

engineering. Mr. Bevilacqua received

both of his degrees from the University of

Pittsburgh.

degradation of wetted materials within

the primary system; and, the potential for

crud-induced power shift.

4. What ASME or other codes are applied

for in-service inspection of the reactor

coolant system during refueling outages?

The Code of Federal Regulation (10

CFR 50.55a) and the ASME Code Section

XI defi ne the in-service inspection

requirements of the reactor coolant

system.

5. How often (number of years) does

full in-service inspection need to be

performed on AP1000?

In general, in-service inspections are

conducted over a 10-year cycle; however,

10 CFR50.55a may mandate inspections

of some components on a more frequent

cycle.

6. Between full in-service inspection programs,

how often are partial inspections

recommended and what is the objective of

these partial in-service inspections on the

reactor coolant system pressure boundary

equipment?

26 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

In-service inspections to some degree

are conducted every refueling outage.

Whereas the inspection cycle is 10

years, it is mandated that various categories

of components be examined over the

course of 10 years. A certain percentage

range of such component categories must

be examined in three-, seven- and 10-calendar

years of plant service. At 10 years,

the examinations completed must equal

100 percent. This cycle is repeated for

the next 10 years of plant service.

7. What type of inspection methods and

equipment are recommended for detecting

potential material defects in large pieces

of equipment and pipelines in the reactor

coolant system?

The types of inspection methods

and equipment are based on the inspection

requirements, which are generally

based on the safety level of the component.

The more critical Class 1 welds are

required to be inspected by volumetric

and surface examination methods. Volumetric

examination methods include the

more commonly applied ultrasonic testing

method but may include eddy currents

and radiography dependent on the

component confi guration and the inspection

requirements. Surface examination

methods include magnetic particle testing

and liquid penetrant testing. Surface examination

methods are conducted manually.

Ultrasonic examination methods

are implemented using a wide variety of

equipment platforms ranging from remote

underwater robots to manual instruments.

The manner of implementation is

dictated by the environment in which the

component is situated.

For components associated with

lesser degrees of safety, the examination

methods may be by visual testing.

8. What enhancements has Westinghouse

made in AP1000 such that problems

with material and equipment which

have caused plant shutdown or major

equipment replacement issues in the past

do not occur in the new design?

Many of the operating-plant issues

are related to material-degradation issues,

as described in the answer to question 1.

These operating plant issues have been

accounted for through AP1000 component

design, materials selection and methods

of fabrication enhancements. The design

enhancements are extensive and include

elimination of susceptible materials and

replacing these with current proven and

superior property materials; innovative

approaches in fabrication technology to

prevent sources of degradation; and, for the

AP1000 as a whole signifi cantly reducing

the number of pieces of equipment that

can result in reduced availability. Some

examples include:

• Eliminating Alloy 600 and related

weld metal from the primary system.

Table 1 Summary of Component, Material Degradation and AP1000 Design

Mitigation Features

Componen

Reactor Pressure

Vessel (RPV)

Reactor Vessel

Head

Primary Mechanisms AP1000 Mitigation Features

PWSCC of Nozzles,

RPV Embrittlement

PWSCC of CRDM vessel

Welds

Pressurizer Stainless Steel SCC

Steam Generator

Shell

Channel Head (assembly)

Internals (Lower)

Internals (Upper)

Piping

Fatigue

PWSCC of divider plate

SCC of Welds and

bends in core barrel

Wear of guide cards, bolt

cracking, SCC

TGSCC in stagnant

lines, Fatigue of small

piping, corrosion of

large piping

Bolting Galling, Corrosion

Core Make up

Tank

Passive Heat Recovery

System

Corrosion

Corrosion/SCC of

Tubes

• Using many large forgings, minimizing

the number of welds (the reactor

vessel head is a single forging)

• Controlling reactor vessel material

(and weld metal) chemistry and

critical alloy element and locations

of welds outside the high fl uence

regions to minimize concerns for radiation

embrittlement

• Eliminating the majority of bolts

from the reactor internals, thus minimizing

bolting issues

(Continued on page 41)

Eliminated Alloy 600/82/182 and uses Alloy 690/52/52MS

materials; RPV welds are designed to be outside high

fl uence regions and RPV shell materials are specifi ed to

minimize use of known alloying elements that contribute to

irradiation embrittlement

Eliminated Alloy 600/82/182 and uses Alloy 52/52MS materials.

Supplemental materials specifi cations have been developed for

weld materials used in conjunction with qualifi ed weld processes

to enhance quality of weld and reliability during operation.

Stainless steel heaters are used; however, the specifi cation

allows for thermal treatment and light shot peening to aid to

eliminate surface stress in critical areas.

No current issues experienced in current or replacement SG’s

in existing plants.

Eliminated Alloy 600/82/182 and uses Alloy 52/52MS materials.

Supplemental materials specifi cations have been developed for

weld materials used in conjunction with qualifi ed weld processes

to enhance quality of weld and reliability during operation.

Operating experience in Westinghouse System 80 plants has

been good, so, no changes to AP1000 design.

Guide card wear is a relatively new and still not completely

defi ned issue for operating fl eet. Inspections are being performed

and trend data is being developed. AP1000 design will monitor

data as it becomes available to determine if inspections late in

life are to be performed. Issues related to bolting have been

mitigated by using welded structures. SCC of X-750 split

pins has been mitigated through re-design of component and

use of 316 stainless steel, which has been proven currently in

existing plants.

Generally good service performance with piping in operating

PWRs because of chemistry and design. Enhancements

include minimizing welds, reducing stagnant locations and

design to minimize vibration. Primary piping is stainless

steel so corrosion is not an issue.

No change to design; operating experience has been good

with bolting performance

SA 508 Gr 3 plate that is clad with 309L materials is being

used; corrosion not expected

Eliminated Alloy 600/82/182 and uses Alloy 690/52/52MS

materials.

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 27

An Evolutionary Plant Design

By Martin Parece, AREVA NP, Inc. Martin Parece

Martin Parece is Vice President,

1. What material degradation issues has

AREVA learned from the past experience

and what measures have been taken in

EPR to make sure that these material

degradations during anticipated operating

conditions (normal or abnormal) are

under control?

AREVA’s EPR TM plant is an evolutionary

design that incorporates the operating

experience of the last four decades.

Each component has been studied with

respect to the proper selection of materials

such that material degradation has

been minimized over the 60-year design

life. Some signifi cant examples include:

• Alloy-600, which is the single largest

cause of cracks in the pressure

boundary, has been eliminated from

the design. Steam generator tubing

and reactor vessel control rod drive

nozzles are made of thermally-treated

alloy-690, shown to be signifi cantly

more resistant to stress corrosion

cracking. In addition, all alloy-82

and 182 (weld material equivalents

of alloy-600) are replaced with alloy-

52 or 152 (weld material equivalents

of alloy-690) or stainless steel

materials.

• Signifi cant corrosion of carbon

steel steam generator internals was

observed in the operating fl eet.

The EPR TM steam generators utilize

stainless steel tube support plates

and anti-vibration bars that are

proven resistant to corrosion in over

20 years of operation in replacement

components installed in the operating

reactors.

• The EPR TM design virtually eliminates

bolts in the high neutron fl uence

regions of the reactor vessel internal

structures by replacing the former and

baffl e plates that surround the fuel

with a stainless steel heavy refl ector.

Responses to questions by Newal

Agnihotri, Editor of Nuclear Plant

Journal.

Consequently, unlike the Generation

II PWRs, EPR TM plant owners will

not have expensive campaigns to

inspect and repair cracked or broken

internals bolts.

• Flow-assisted corrosion (FAC) of

carbon steel components and piping

is an issue at most reactors today.

AREVA applied design guidelines

for use on all systems and components

to minimize or eliminate FAC

by prudent selection of FAC-resistant

materials (e.g., stainless steel

or chrome-molybdenum alloys) or

by limiting fl uid velocities below

known threshold values for the onset

of FAC.

• Use of high temperature or wearresistant

seal facing materials to

signifi cantly reduce pump seal wear

and the frequency of pump seal

replacements.

2. What preventive maintenance is

recommended for AREVA EPR Reactor

Coolant System Pressure Boundary which

will ensure that a loss of system integrity

or a sudden break in the System pressure

boundary does not occur?

The reactor coolant pressure

boundary of EPR TM plant has been

designed to operate for 60-years with

no special preventative maintenance.

Pressure boundary materials for the

Technology for AREVA NP, Inc. He is

responsible for technical oversight and

confi guration control of pressurized

water reactor and high temperature gas

reactor designs planned for deployment

in North America.

Martin is part of the Alpha Nu Sigma

Society, an INPO Scholar and is a

member of the American Nuclear

Society. He received his bachelors

and masters of Science in Nuclear

Engineering from the University of

Illinois.

EPR TM plant have proven reliable in

reactor environments over the last 40

years. Routine replacement of seal

materials is required. Of course, routine

inspections mandated by ASME code

or NRC regulation will be performed.

The scope of these routine inspections

has been signifi cantly reduced through

the extensive use of forgings, which

reduces the number of welds that require

inspection.

3. Describe the leak detection system

in the reactor coolant system to verify

Reactor Coolant System integrity? What

instrumentation is coupled to the leak

detection devices and systems to ensure

accurate and easy to decipher results?

Several leak detection systems are

employed in the EPR TM design. Local

humidity and temperature values are

monitored in over 13 different locations

inside containment, including areas near

reactor coolant piping, pressurizer, surge

line and reactor vessel. In addition, level

indications are provided on condensate

collection tanks for multiple containment

room coolers. Normal operational leakage

is directed to separate monitoring tanks so

it can be isolated from other leak sources.

These various measures allow leak

detection accuracy to be approximately

0.05 gpm. Use of radiation monitors

facilitates identifi cation of the leak

28 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

location. All systems interface with the

latest, state-of-the art digital controls and

information management systems that

alarm when undesired values are sensed,

provide real-time output for operator

review and store data time-histories to

allow trending analysis.

4. How is water chemistry controlled

to ensure that primary and secondary

fl uid in the reactor coolant system is not

aggressive on the serviced equipment?

EPR TM equipment is designed to

accommodate the latest water chemistry

requirements published by the Electric

Power Research Institute. The design

facilitates automated and manual samples

of primary and secondary system fl uids to

ensure compliance with the standards.

5. What ASME or other codes applied

for in-service inspection of the reactor

coolant system during refueling outages?

In-service inspection is performed

in accordance with ASME Section XI.

Inspection of steam generator tubing is

in accordance with NEI-97-06, Steam

Generator Program.

6. How often (number of years) full inservice

inspection need to be performed

on EPR?

In-service inspection of the pressure

boundary is required every 10 years, in

accordance with ASME Section XI.

7. Between full in-service inspection

programs how often partial inspections

are recommended and what is the objective

of these partial in-service inspections

on the reactor coolant system pressure

boundary equipment?

Steam generator tubing must be

inspected on a frequency dictated by

NEI 97-06. For steam generators with

thermally-treated alloy-690 tubing, like

the EPR TM design utilizes, this will likely

mean eddy current examination of the

tubing every third refueling outage for a

plant using 18-month refueling cycles.

Although the penetrations of the

EPR TM reactor vessel (RV) head are made

from material highly resistant to cracking,

the NRC requires that each PWR

licensee conduct a bare metal visual

examination of 100 percent of the RV

head surface and perform nondestructive

examination of the associated RV head

penetration nozzles at a frequency commensurate

with the susceptibility of the

RV head to primary water stress corrosion

cracking (SECY 03-0214). ASME

Code Case N-729-01 limits 100 percent

visual examination of the EPR TM RV closure

head to once every three cycles, not

to exceed 5 years.

8. What type of inspection methods

and equipment are recommended for

detecting material defects in large pieces

of equipment and pipelines in the reactor

coolant system?

Existing ultrasonic technology is

suffi cient to detect any defects in the

EPR TM pressure boundary.

9. What enhancements has AREVA

made in EPR to ensure that the problems

with material and equipment which

have caused plant shutdown or major

equipment replacement issues in the past

do not occur in the new design?

As discussed previously, the

EPR TM design is an evolutionary plant

incorporating the operating experience of

the last four decades. Each component

has been studied with respect to the

proper selection of materials such that

material degradation has been minimized

over the 60-year design life. Using

alloy-690 tubing and stainless steel

tube support structures, AREVA is

confi dent that EPR TM steam generators

will not be replaced over the design life.

Likewise, use of alloy-690 RV closure

head penetrations and stainless steel

pressurizer heater sleeves ensure that

the RV closure head and pressurizer will

not need replacement over the life of

the unit. Electric feedwater pumps are

used to increase reliability of the unit

and eliminate maintenance problems

with steam turbines, steam admission

lines, trace heating, etc. In addition, a

rigorous evaluation of the plant design

was performed to identify and eliminate

single-point vulnerabilities so that the

frequency of forced outages could be

reduced compared with the Generation II

fl eet.

10. What are recommended practices

for reactor pressure vessel in-service

inspection to ensure that a) the entire

thickness of the reactor pressure vessel is

inspected from different angles, b) nozzles

and their associated welds are checked

and c) fl aws in the welds can be detected

in the reactor pressure vessel?

The EPR TM reactor pressure vessel is

designed to make in-service inspection

easier. Extensive use of forgings reduces

the number of welds that must be

inspected. The coolant nozzles are “set

on”, which means there is easy access

to the nozzle welds and inspection is

simplifi ed because the nozzle thickness

(full depth weld examination is required)

is half the reactor vessel wall thickness.

The EPR TM vessel may also be inspected

from the outside surface. Standard

ultrasonic technology should be suffi cient

to inspect the EPR TM reactor pressure

vessel.

11. Describe the application of Reliability

Centered Maintenance to the entire

system, including major components of

reactor coolant system pressure boundary.

AREVA is in the process of applying

the INPO-913 guidance to the design

of EPR TM systems, structures and components.

Each component will be labeled

as critical or non-critical to determine

if special quality or reliability requirements,

as well as determine preventative

maintenance intervals or “run-to-failure”

criteria. This information will be used in

an information management system to be

used for procurement and plant maintenance

activities.

(Continued on page 30)

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 29

An Evolutionary...

Continued from page 29

12. What ongoing research and development

efforts AREVA has in place to

ensure application of enhanced maintenance

technology to EPR?

AREVA is engaged in a global effort

to standardize the EPR TM design, including

standardized approaches for equipment

reliability and maintenance. This

includes common guidelines for application

to EPR plants world-wide, as well

as application of standard performance

monitoring equipment and predictiveperformance

software to diagnose equipment

performance on a plant or fl eet basis.

13. How has the Internet and the evolution

of Information Technology in the last

30 years helped AREVA provide state-of-

American Crane & Equipment

Corporation

www.americancrane.com

AREVA NP, Inc.

www.areva-np.com/source

Babcock & Wilcox Canada Ltd.

www.babcock.com

Bechtel Power

www.bechtel.com

Bigge Power Constructors

www.bigge.com

Ceradyne

www.ceradyneboron.com

Climax Portable Machine Tools,

Inc.

www.cpmt.com

the-art instrumentation to ensure effi cient

and productive operation and detection

of degradation during operation and refueling

for the reactor coolant system

pressure boundary?

Of course, AREVA has fully embraced

the digital revolution in the development

of our TXS platform for our safety

systems and use of other digital controls

for the plant. The integration of leak

detections systems, valve diagnostics,

rotating equipment diagnostics, vibration

monitoring, loose parts monitoring, motor

performance, fatigue monitoring, to

name several, require a robust information

management system. High speed

data transmission will allow EPR TM fl eet

members to share real-time or historical

data on the same equipment at different

plants using the same platforms. This

NPJ Advertiser Web Directory

Curtiss-Wright Flow Control

Company

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Day & Zimmermann Power

Services

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HSB Global Standards

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www.npts.net

Nuclear Logistics Inc.

www.nuclearlogistics.com

Power House Tool, Inc.

www.powerhousetool.com

Proto-Power Corporation

www.protopower.com

means that each EPR TM plant owner can

access the expertise of the other owners

or the original equipment manufacture in

real-time and may implement fl eet-wide

solutions.

Contact: Susan Hess, AREVA NP

Inc., 3315 Old Forest Road, Lynchburg,

VA 24501; telephone: (434) 832-2379,

fax: (434) 382-2379, email: susan.hess@

areva.com. �

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Scientech

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Seal Master

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UniStar Nuclear Energy

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WorleyParsons

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Zetec, Inc.

www.zetec.com

30 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

Designed for Optimum Production

By Danny Roderick, GE Hitachi Nuclear

Energy.

1. What material degradation issues

has GE Hitachi Nuclear learned from

the past experience and what measures

have been taken in ESBWR to make sure

that these material degradations during

anticipated operating conditions (normal

or abnormal) are under control?

The predominant material degradation

issue with the current BWR fl eet is

cracking of austenitic stainless steel and

inconel materials. Where stainless steel

cannot be eliminated, tight control on the

material specifi cations and fabrication

processes have mitigated the cracking.

With the ESBWR, the use of natural circulation

for coolant core through the core

has resulted in the elimination of external

recirculation and a signifi cant portion of

the piping that has historically been prone

to cracking.

2. How is water chemistry controlled

to ensure that primary and secondary

fl uid in the reactor coolant system is not

aggressive on the serviced equipment?

The primary coolant is fi ltered and

de-mineralized by the Reactor Water

Cleanup system (RWCU). RWCU removes

chlorides and other materials

that might be detrimental to the reactor

and the reactor internals. Protection of

the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) and

internals is further enhanced through an

Optimal Water Chemistry program that

the operator may achieve through the use

of GEH’s Noble Chemistry, and Hydrogen

Water Chemistry. In addition to the

RWCU system, the condensate system

includes full fl ow fi lters and de-mineralizers

with one extra vessel for both functions.

A new fi lter or de-mineralizer can

be brought on-line when the beds need to

be regenerated.

Responses to questions by Newal

Agnihotri, Editor of Nuclear Plant

Journal.

3. What ASME or other codes are applied

for in-service inspection of the reactor

coolant system during refueling outages?

For U.S. plants, the owner will be

required to fulfi ll the license commitments

made to the US Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC). The Design Control

Document (DCD) requirements will

govern the codes used for In-Service

Inspection (ISI).

4. How often (number of years) full inservice

inspection needs to be performed

on ESBWR?

The ESBWR is designed for a 12- to

24-month fuel cycle, and the ISI program

would be developed to provide the

necessary inspections during the planned

outages during each 10-year span.

5. Between full in-service inspection

programs how often will partial inspections

be recommended and what is the

objective of these partial in-service inspections

on the reactor coolant system

pressure boundary equipment?

For U.S. plants, the ISI schedule will

follow that of the NRC-approved Edition

and Addenda in place at the plant. That is

presently the 2004 Edition of Section XI.

This is very likely to change before the

fi rst ESBWR ISI examinations.

Danny Roderick

In his role as Senior Vice President,

Nuclear Plant Projects, for GE Hitachi

Nuclear Energy (GEH), Danny Roderick

is responsible for leading all aspects of

project development and management

for new and existing nuclear plant

projects worldwide. GEH’s program

offi ces for the ABWR and ESBWR

reactor technologies report to him.

Danny has more than 26 years of proven

performance in the nuclear industry,

serving in leadership positions in

engineering, project and operational

plant management, outage and work

controls, and operations.

The inspection requirements are

broken up into 10-year intervals, and

each interval into three periods. A full

100% of the required examinations must

be completed in each Interval, spread

over the three periods.

6. What type of inspection methods

and equipment are recommended for

detecting material defects in large pieces

of equipment and pipelines in the reactor

coolant system?

Specifi cations for the ESBWR require

compliance with ASME Section III

during fabrication. ASME requires both

Volumetric (Ultrasonic or Radiography)

and Surface (Magnetic Particle or Liquid

Penetrant) examinations during the fabrication

processes. For large equipment,

the RPV for example, GEH is requiring

an Appendix VIII type of examination be

performed at the fabrication shop. In the

unlikely event of fl aws, this allows signifi

cant fl aws to be detected and repaired

prior to hydro. This is expected to practically

eliminate the possibility of major

surprises during PSI.

(Continued on page 34)

32 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

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Designed for...

Continued from page 32

7. What enhancements has GE Hitachi

Nuclear made in ESBWR to ensure that

the problems with material and equipment

which have caused plant shutdown or

major equipment replacement issues in

the past do not occur in the new design?

Internal reactor components are

designed with the goal of a 60-year life.

Design improvements in the top guide

and core plate eliminate crevices and will

result in lower ISI requirements. While

it is not expected that the internals need

to be replaced during the life of the plant,

the design considers simplifying the

replacement should it become necessary.

Design of the major piping systems

includes suffi cient allowances for erosion

and corrosion to last for 60 years.

NPTS, Inc.

an Engineering, Design, and

Construction Management fi rm has

current and anticipated openings for

the following positions:

• Licensing, USAR & Regulatory

Engineers

• Engineering Design (All Disciplines)

• Sr. Project Managers (All Disciplines)

• Sr. Project Planners (All Disciplines)

• Power Upgrade Project Engineers

• Construction Management, Planners,

Schedulers, Estimators

• Resident Engineers (All Disciplines)

• Operations Support Engineers

• Operations Training Instructors

• Procurement Specialists & Expeditors

• Start-up & Commissioning Engineers

For Power Uprates, New Builds, Life

Extension, Upgrades, Modifi cation and

Maintenance Projects

Please forward Resumes to:

NPTS, Inc.

2060 Sheridan Drive

Buffalo, New York 14223

Phone: 716.876.8066

Fax: 716.876-8004

E-mail: rbroman@npts.net

8. What are recommended practices for

reactor pressure vessel in-service inspection

to ensure that:

a: Entire thickness of the reactor

pressure vessel is inspected from different

angles.

For U.S. plants, ISI techniques must

be demonstrated and performed in accordance

with ASME Section XI, Appendix

VIII and USNRC requirements. At this

time, these include the full thickness of

RPV assembly welds and the angles used

in the performance demonstration.

b: Nozzles and their associated welds

are checked.

For U.S. plants, the examinations

of Nozzle to Vessel welds and other

Category B-D items are expected to be

in accordance with Section XI, USNRC

and BWRVIP requirements. This must

be addressed closer to Start-up, due to the

possibility of changing requirements.

c: Detecting fl aws in the welds in the

reactor pressure vessel.

The detection and sizing capabilities

of Appendix VIII, Performance Demonstration

Initiative (PDI), are determined

in a blind test. The required RMS error

is specifi ed in ASME Section XI. The

industry and NRC accept successful

demonstration for use during ISI. Demonstration

on a range of known fl aw sizes

assures that signifi cant RPV weld fl aws

would be detectable.

9. Describe the application of Reliability

Centered Maintenance to the entire system,

including major components of reactor

coolant system pressure boundary.

Equipment that is subject to high

usage or in which failure could result in

unexpected outages or extended outages

is reviewed to determine what operational

parameters should be monitored to allow

predictive trending. The equipment will

be provided with the necessary sensors

and connected to a data collection system.

Software in the data collection system will

monitor critical parameters and generate

alerts if a parameter trend is indicative

of a potential problem. In addition, the

system engineer will be able to review

the operational history when planning for

systems maintenance requirements.

10. What ongoing research and development

efforts GE Hitachi Nuclear has in

place to ensure application of enhanced

maintenance technology to ESBWR?

GEH’s R&D in this area is primarily

focused on areas where improvements

can result in decreased outage hours and

reduced personnel exposures. An example

of this is the Gamma Thermometers

that are used in the Local Power Range

Monitors. This eliminates the need for

the Traversing Incore Probe System and

replaces a system that required signifi cant

maintenance with one that is practically

maintenance-free. Other areas of R&D

are in the areas of ISI and Digital I&C.

11. How has Internet and the evolution

of Information Technology in the last 30

years helped GE Hitachi Nuclear provide

a state of the art instrumentation to ensure

effi cient and productive operation and

detect degradation during operation and

refueling for the reactor coolant system

pressure boundary?

The expanded capability of the

Digital I&C systems will provide the

operator much more data for trending

and tracking purposes. With the proper

network security it will be possible for

utility and vendor engineers to review at

their desks the operational history and

equipment performance during normal

and upset states and identify pending

signs of degradation and support the

RCM program.

Contact: Ned Glascock, GE Hitachi

Nuclear, email: Edward.glascock@

ge.com. �

34 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

Controlling Alloy 600 Degradation

By John Wilson, Exelon Nuclear

Corporation. John Wilson

Summary:

Background:

Westinghouse PWR plants utilized

Alloy 600 and its weld metal Alloy 82/182

in the fabrication of original equipment.

The components with Alloy 600 include

the: reactor vessel bottom penetrations,

reactor head penetrations, pressurizer

and reactor vessel nozzle dissimilar metal

welds, and steam generator tubing. This

material provided reliable operations

in most cases during the initial 20 to 30

years of operation. However, this material

is susceptible to Primary Water Stress

Corrosion Cracking (PWSCC), and

cracks have initiated at a number of PWRs

world wide. After initiation these cracks

often propagate at rates that preclude

continued operation for an additional fuel

cycle after detection. As a result, repairs

are often required during the refueling

outage when the cracks are detected. This

can cause unplanned outage extensions

and increases in maintenance costs.

Nuclear Energy Institute’s Top Industry

Practice (TIP) Award’s highlight the

nuclear industry’s most innovative

techniques and ideas. They promote

the sharing of innovation and best

practices, and consequently improve the

commercial prospects and competitive

position of the industry as a whole.

This was a 2008 NEI Process Award

Winner.

The team members who participated

included: John Wilson, Exelon Nuclear;

Dave Morey, Chemistry Specialist,

Exelon Nuclear; Erich Wurtz, Fuels

Specialist, Exelon Nuclear; G. Gary

Elder, Chied Engineer, Westinghouse

Electric Co.; and Jeffrey R. Secker,

Fellow Engineer, Westinghouse Electric

Co.

Exelon and Westinghouse employed

an economic model called Alloy 600

Decision Advisor to provide guidance

in planning repair, replacement, or

mitigation of components fabricated

with Alloy 600 in the four Exelon PWRs,

Braidwood 1 & 2 and Byron 1 & 2. One

option extensively evaluated was the

addition of zinc to the primary system.

The addition of zinc has the advantages

of delaying the initiation of PWSCC in

Alloy 600 components and weldments

and reducing the radiation dose involved

in maintenance and inspection of the

primary system. The effect of zinc

addition on PWSCC was developed by

analyzing the extensive laboratory testing

and fi eld experience which has shown

that zinc addition can delay the initiation

of cracking in Alloy 600.

Improvement:

The other aspect that was explicitly

modeled was the effect of zinc on fuel

performance. Although zinc addition has

been implemented at 30 plus PWRs world

wide, it is restricted from use at PWRs

with the highest boiling duty cores due to

concerns about Crud Induced Power Shift

(CIPS) and fuel cladding corrosion. This

was the major barrier to implementing

zinc addition at Byron and Braidwood.

A decision analysis technique and model

called Decision Advisor was employed to

perform the evaluation to determine the

benefi ts of zinc addition including: its

effect on dose, maintenance and repair

costs of the Alloy 600 components,

the costs of implementation, and the

probability and cost of adverse fuel

effects.

The Decision Advisor explicitly

modeled the effect of zinc addition on

the probability of crack initiation in the

Alloy 600 components and the effect on

dose obtained in maintenance activities.

Various scenarios of zinc addition were

modeled with varying levels of effect on

PWSCC, dose reduction, and CIPS. Costs

were included not only for the maintenance

activities and zinc addition but also for the

John A. Wilson (Ph.D., Nuclear

Chemistry, Purdue University)

joined Exelon Nuclear Corporation

in1998, is currently Asset Protection

Manager and was previously the

Corporate Chemistry Manager. His

work includes optimization of water

chemistry purifi cation processes and

chemistry control to minimize material

degradation. He is currently serving

as the chairman of the EPRI Material

Reliability Program Testing and

Mitigation Group.

fuel examinations required as a result of

zinc addition. This evaluation produced

an optimal zinc addition strategy based

on a net present value calculation of all

evaluated costs and benefi ts.

36 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

One of the key conclusions of the

Decision Advisor was that zinc addition

would reduce personnel exposure as well

as mitigate PWSCC. As a result of the

Decision Advisor evaluation, and after

careful review by Westinghouse and

Exelon fuel experts, zinc addition was

initiated at Byron 2 in May 2005. Byron

2 has completed two refueling outages

since starting zinc addition.

Safety:

The primary system dose rates have

been reduced at Byron 2 by zinc addition.

After 2 cycles of zinc addition at Byron

2 the steam generator dose rates are 56%

lower and personnel exposure is 43%

lower compared to the outage before zinc

addition. Although other improvements

contributed to this dose rate reduction,

zinc addition was the largest contributor.

The exposure reduction at Byron 2 was

20.5 Rem (8 Rem in 2005 and 12.5 Rem in

2007). Similar benefi ts are expected with

zinc addition at Byron 1 and Braidwood

1 and 2.

Cost Savings Impact:

As a result of the Decision Advisor

evaluation, it was determined that

implementation of zinc addition provided

signifi cant cost savings due to delaying

component repair costs. The net present

value for Byron 2 was $4.4 million.

Similar results are forecast at the other 3

plants.

Innovation:

Byron 2 and Braidwood 2 have the

highest boiling duty core of all PWRs in

the US that are injecting zinc. The review

of zinc addition required fuel experts to

evaluate the risk of CIPS using the BOA

and VIPRE computer codes. After two

operating cycles, the fuel at Byron 2

was inspected and there were no adverse

effects from zinc addition. It shows that

the corrosion levels seen at Byron 2 are

well within the Westinghouse experience

base.

Byron 1 and Braidwood 1 have the

highest duty cores in the US. Currently,

Westinghouse and Exelon fuel experts are

working with EPRI to enhance the BOA

code and evaluate the CIPS risks from

injecting zinc into these highest boiling

duty cores.

Productivity/Effi ciency:

The major benefi t of this innovation

is to be able to inject zinc into a PWR with

a high boiling duty core. This could not

have been done without an industry team,

with experts from Westinghouse and

Exelon. Input from the EPRI Chemistry

and Fuel Experts was also important in

planning this project. The application

of Alloy 600 Decision Advisor to plan

implementation of PWSCC mitigation

was the key innovation that guided the

team to the optimum business decision

to inject zinc. This decision to inject zinc

showed a $4.4 million net present value

per PWR unit. Another productivity/

effi ciency benefi t is the 56% reduction

in steam generator dose rates that is

discussed in the safety section.

Transferability:

The application of zinc addition was

previously limited to PWRs with lower

duty cores. This innovation of injecting

zinc into a PWR with a high duty core

expands the applicability of the Alloy

600 Decision Advisor to all PWRs. This

methodology can now be transferred to

develop a zinc addition strategy tailored

to every PWR plant situation. As a result,

all PWRs can implement zinc addition in

the most economical manner and without

unexpected adverse effects on the fuel.

Contact: John A. Wilson, Exelon

Generation Company, 4300 Winfi eld

Road, Warrenville, IL 60555; telephone:

(630) 657-3807, email: johna.wilson@

exeloncorp.com. �

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 37

Condensate Polishing Innovation

By Lewis Crone, Dominion Millstone

Millstone now benefi ts from his-

Power Station.

torically low corrosion product transport

values, with a reduction in excess of

This innovation in condensate 60% from 2003 levels. Current projec-

polishing operations:

tions have Millstone’s corrosion product

• Saves hundreds of thousands of transport values at 20% of 2003 values

dollars per year in O&M cost. by the end of 2008. This is an astound-

• Reduces required physical plant ing 80% reduction in corrosion products

operations by thousands of hours per transported to the steam generators. This

year.

reduction, quite simply, means that fewer

• Improves on the safe, effi cient and components are being dissolved in the

reliable operation of the plant. secondary plant. This improves the safety

• Maintains the same high level of to personnel as well as plant reliability by

protection to the Steam Generators. signifi cantly reducing the erosion-corro-

• Reduces the environmental footprint sion mechanism of secondary side com-

of the station.

ponents.

• Can be implemented at any facility Millstone’s steam generators are

with Condensate Polishing at consistently found to be in pristine con-

virtually no cost.

dition during refueling inspections; the

reduction in corrosion products being

Safety:

transported plays no small part in obtain-

This innovation in condensate poling these results. This continued supeishing

operations improves the safe daily rior condition has benefi ted the station

operation of the Millstone plants in many in a reduction in steam generator inspec-

ways.

tions and the performance of preventa-

One of the balances that previously tive maintenance tasks, such as sludge

had to be made was between secondary lancing. The easiest method to ensure a

pH and condensate polishing resin utili- hazardous task is completed safely is to

zation. Secondary pH was controlled and remove the hazard; in this case Millstone

limited by resin utilization and exhaus- has gone one step further and removed

tion times. With amine operations this the task. The ability to remove the task

is no longer a factor; secondary pH can with no detrimental impact to the steam

now be adjusted as necessary to protect generators is due largely to the improved

the plant, not to support condensate pol- water chemistry being fed to the steam

ishing resin utilization. Virtually unlim- generators.

ited resin utilization allows secondary The reduction in steam generator

side pH to be elevated, thereby reducing inspections and preventative maintenance

corrosion product transport to the steam also saves substantial radiation dose, an

generators.

estimated 15 to 20 Rem reduction for

every refueling. This is a signifi cant dose

This was a 2008 NSSS Vendor Award savings and enabled Millstone to enjoy

Winner.

its lowest station exposure ever in 2007.

Corrosion product deposition in the

The team members who participated steam generators can result in sludge

included: Lewis Crone, Dominion piles on the tube to support plate crev-

Millstone Chemistry Department; ices, and tube-to-tube sheet crevices cre-

Michael Lunny Dominion Millstone ating concentrating environments. These

Chemistry Department; Robert

concentrating environments increase

Davis, Dominion Millstone Chemistry corrosive tendencies by many orders of

Department; and John Rotchford, magnitude; increasing the likelihood of

Dominion Millstone Chemistry

tube failure, and unplanned plant shut-

Lewis Crone

Lewis Crone is the Supervisor of

Nuclear Chemistry at Dominion’s

Millstone Power Station in Waterford,

CT. Mr. Crone holds a bachelors

degree in Chemical Engineering from

the University of New Haven and is

presently attending graduate school at

the University of Connecticut, working

on his dissertation on the reaction

kinetics of chemical chelants with the

Department of Chemical, Materials, &

Biomolecular Engineering.

leaks. Minimizing unplanned shutdowns

minimizes plant transients, which challenge

plant equipment and affords opportunity

for additional component failures.

In addition, steam generator tube failures

create a release path environment for radioactive

materials. Releases to the public

such as this are harmful not only from

a public exposure perspective but also a

public perception perspective. The key to

nuclear power is safe, reliable production

and maintaining steam generator integrity

is vital to achieving this goal.

Maintaining contaminant levels low

is a key attribute to steam generator reliability.

The inclusion of condensate polishing

systems in plants using high contaminant

level waters for cooling (seawater)

is to prevent these contaminants from

reaching the steam generators. Protection

of the steam generators, the primary pressure

boundary, is arguably the most important

responsibility of any chemistry

department. Amine form operation of the

polishers affords this protection, at a reduced

cost.

Amine form operation means less

regeneration of exhausted resins. This

reduction is key to cost savings and improving

effi ciency while providing a substantial

positive impact on safety. Amine

operations have drastically reduced employee

exposure to the concentrated acid

and caustic used in regeneration. Bulk

chemical deliveries to the station have

Department.

downs to address primary to secondary

(Continued on page 40)

38 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

��

Condensate Polishing...

Continued from page 38

been reduced in excess of 50% since the

deployment of amine form operations.

Most people consider safety with

regard to plant personnel and equipment;

an additional consideration is safety of

the environment. The renaissance of

nuclear power can be attributed, at least

in part, to its safe and effi cient production

of electricity. Another component to its

resurgence is the minimal environmental

impact nuclear power has in its product

generation. Millstone’s innovation in

condensate polisher operations reduces

station water usage by almost 16,000,000

gallons per year; 16,000,000 gallons of a

vital natural resource not used performing

unnecessary regenerations.

In addition to the reduced water usage,

fewer regenerations produce less

chemical waste, which are subsequently

discharged to the environment. A key

initiative in the State of Connecticut is a

reduction in the nitrogen loading to Long

Island Sound. Amine form operations

support this initiative by reducing Millstone’s

nitrogen loading to Long Island

Sound by almost 20,000 Kg/year.

Improved equipment reliability,

reduced personnel exposure to hazardous

chemicals and less environmental impact,

all point to the improved safety aspects of

amine form operations.

Radiation Protection Savings is 10-

50 person-rem.

Ongoing Savings (recurring) is 10 to

15 Rem Per 36 Month Cycle.

Life of Plant savings is 100 to 150

Rem.

Cost Savings Impact:

The biggest single saving is that associated

with chemical purchases. Amine

operations enhance the effi ciency of condensate

polishing by not removing secondary

pH control chemicals and subsequently

requiring less resin regenerations.

Each polisher operated in the amine form

is estimated to produce annual savings of

almost $70,000. With seven polishers in

the amine form at Millstone this equates

to an annual savings of almost $500,000

each year. As the cost for chemicals con-

tinues to climb, these savings will only

increase in the future.

The reduction in regenerations saves

substantial non-outage labor hours. These

savings refl ect reduced regenerations,

discharges and bulk chemical delivery

support. It is calculated that by having

the seven amine charges in service at the

station, over 3,000 person hours per year

have been able to be redirected to the

performance of other tasks.

A careful review was recently

conducted to ascertain the feasibility of

reducing steam generator sludge lancing

and upper bundle fl ush frequency. A

decrease in corrosion product transport

was key to the conclusion to reduce these

activities to a 36 month performance cycle.

Omission of this activity saves in excess

of $1,000,000 per refueling outage. This

performance frequency reduction would

not be possible without the elevated pH

allowed by utilizing amine operations.

A key expense of any outage is piping

replacement due to fl ow-accelerated

corrosion. Amine operations and the resulting

increase in secondary pH have

had a positive impact on reducing the

corrosion of secondary components. The

station has observed a decreasing trend

in secondary wear rates and a marked

increase in the life of secondary components,

exceeding initial life expectancy of

many parts of the secondary plant. The

savings from reduced corrosion are enormous

and include the materials and labor

saved performing component replacement

and repair. The cost of constructing

staging, the impact of radiography on surrounding

work activities, and the ability

to mitigate the impact of expanded scope

to a refueling outage also factor into this

assessment.

Innovation:

First PWR with recirculating steam

generators in the world to operate full

fl ow condensate polishing in the amine

form.

Deep bed condensate polishing ion

exchangers have typically been utilized in

the industry for the purpose of providing

protection to the steam generators in

the event of a leak of the ultimate heat

sink into the main condensate fl uid. The

resins used in these polishers – normally

a one-to-one equivalent mixture of strong

acid cation and strong base anion – have

traditionally been operated in the H-OH

form. That is, with a hydrogen ion (H+)

attached to the cation resin’s sulfonic

functional group, and a hydroxide ion

(OH-) attached to the anion resin’s amine

functional group. Any ingress of salt

contaminants, e.g., sodium chloride, or

sodium sulfate, would be adsorbed by

the stationary phase of the resins and

be replaced in the liquid phase by an

equivalent amount of water.

One of the drawbacks to H-OH polisher

operation is that the resins are unable

to distinguish between undesirable

chemicals in solution and those intentionally

injected for the purpose of secondary

cycle pH control. For example,

ethanolamine, a volatile, weak base used

by many utilities, is completely ionized

by the strongly acidic and basic resins, removed

from the liquid phase, and replaced

by water. This requires a continuous injection

of ethanolamine at the polisher

outlet to replace the adsorbed chemical.

Furthermore, since the IX resins exhibit a

higher selectivity for the secondary cycle

amine than for the salts, it is common

practice to remove the polisher from service

when the stationary phase becomes

saturated with the amine. The cation resin

is then regenerated with sulfuric acid, restoring

the (H+) inventory to the functional

groups, and placing it in the presumed

most optimum condition for salt

removal. This results in the generation of

appreciable amounts of nitrogen-bearing

wastewater. In the absence of condenser

in-leakage, most of the load on the anion

resin comes from bicarbonate and carbonate

ions originating from carbon dioxide

dissolved in the main condensate.

The relatively low concentration of these

compounds allows utilities to skip anion

resin regenerations; typically, one anion

resin regeneration is performed for every

ten cation resin regeneration cycles. Even

so, the chemical used for anion resin regeneration

– sodium hydroxide – is used

to neutralize the acidic wastewater resulting

from the cation resin regeneration.

Besides the large chemical demand

and wastewater generation and processing

costs, H-OH form operation of the

condensate polishers places a ceiling

on the allowable concentration of the

secondary cycle pH-controlling agent

and, ultimately, on a utility’s ability to

minimize the generation and transport

40 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

of balance-of-plant corrosion products.

This ceiling results from the logistical

limitations of maintaining hundreds of

cubic feet of ion exchange resins with a

fi xed total exchange capacity, deployed in

numerous polisher vessels, in the requisite

H-OH chemical form.

Millstone Chemistry determined that

the problem could only be addressed by

resolving the competing goals of high

secondary pH and H-OH form condensate

polisher operations. Millstone conducted

bench top testing to determine if operating

the condensate polishers in the amine

(ETA) form might be a viable option. A

mixed bed test column was set up for the

purpose of evaluating the performance

of DOW 650C cation resin that had been

converted to the amine form, along with

550A anion resin in the conventional OHform,

during a simulated seawater leak.

Implementation of this experiment

required questioning the standard industry

practice that selectivity is the dominant

ion exchange mechanism between the

liquid phase (condensate) and the solid

phase (resin). Successful completion of

this test would require displacement to

Confi dent to...

Continued from page 27

• Implementing low Cobalt 316 LN

for the Primary Loop Piping, thus

mitigating potential (IGSCC and

TGSCC) issues as well as reducing

Man Rem exposures during maintenance

outages

• Implementing single piece forging

technology for the hot leg with side

nozzles to eliminate welds and inservice

inspections

• Implementing chrome- moly- and

copper-containing steel grades in

the Main Steam Piping, mitigating

potential Flow Assisted Corrosion in

the steam piping

The AP1000 component design,

material selection, fabrication processes

factor in lessons learned from operating

experience, best practices and knowledge

from industry materials research programs.

Because of these factors, Westinghouse

has confi dence that the AP1000

will deliver reliable performance of com-

be considered the dominant exchange

mechanism, not selectivity.

The bench top test was successful in

proving that amine form resin would provide

the same level of protection to the

steam generators from seawater ingress

as the conventional H+ OH form resins.

This successful testing shattered all

previous beliefs and paved the way for

this innovation in condensate polishing

operations.

Productivity/Effi ciency:

The advantages of amine operations

go well beyond cost savings, safety improvements

and less environmental impact,

as it also allows for greater operational

fl exibility.

While traditional H-OH charges required

a cation regeneration approximately

every forty million gallons and an anion

regeneration approximately every fi ve

hundred million gallons, amine charges

merely require a mechanical cleaning every

two to three billion gallons. Imagine

the operational fl exibility associated with

decreasing the need to perform work on

a resin charge from approximately ev-

ponents in the next generation of nuclear

power plants.

9. What are recommended practices

for reactor pressure vessel in-service

inspection to ensure that:

a. Entire thickness of the reactor

pressure vessel is inspected from different

angles.

The regulatory requirements for reactor

pressure vessel in-service inspection

mandate that only the welds and a defi ned

amount of adjacent base metal be examined.

Such examinations are volumetric

(ultrasonic testing) and include the entire

thickness. The examinations are conducted

from the inner diameter surface

of the reactor vessel and are designed to

examine the full thickness in thickness

zones. Different angles and techniques

are defi ned for each zone.

b. Nozzles and their associated

welds are checked

Nozzle-to-shell welds, nozzle innerradius

regions and nozzle-to-pipe welds

are examined in accordance with regulatory

requirements.

ery ten days to approximately every two

years. Using all H-OH demineralizers

Millstone was regenerating each charge

on a ten day rotation; this meant one regeneration

needed to be performed every

thirty six hours. With the advent of amine

operations we now have the luxury of not

working certain resin charges for almost a

two year period. This allows for the fl exibility

to perform almost all corrective

and preventative maintenance on-line,

thereby reducing the impact and need for

valuable resources to be used during outage

periods.

In addition, this reduction in regenerations

reduces the operator time spent in

the condensate polishing facility (CPF).

Millstone has seen an almost 40% reduction

in operator time required to support

daily CPF operations.

Contact: Lewis Crone, Millstone

Power Station, Chemistry Department

465/5, Rope Ferry Road, Waterford,

CT 03685; telephone: (860) 444-5722,

email: Lewis.E.Crone@dom.com. �

c. Detecting fl aws in the welds in the

reactor pressure vessel.

Due to the safety importance of reactor

pressure vessel welds, requirements

dictate that the examination methods provide

a high degree of reliability. To ensure

this reliability, the examination procedures

are required to undergo blind performance

demonstration tests proctored

by a third-party organization. Such tests

involve representative component mockups

containing implanted defects that are

representative of postulated defects. The

procedures must be demonstrated to detect

100 percent of the critical defects. Once

the procedure is demonstrated, then ultrasonic

test personnel who are responsible

for the examination must also undergo

blind testing using the same set of mockups.

Blind testing means that the defect

population within the mock-ups remains

unknown to the participants. This performance

demonstration protocol ensures a

higher integrity of examinations.

Contact: Scott Shaw, Westinghouse

Nuclear, 4350 Northern Pike, Monroeville,

PA 15146, telephone: (412) 374-6737,

email: shawsa@westinghouse.com. �

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 41

Reducing Deposits in Steam

Generators

By Electric Power Research Institute.

A Costly Performance-

Robbing Problem

Corrosion products entering the

secondary side of pressurized water

reactors (PWRs) via feedwater can

deposit on steam generator tubes and

other internal surfaces. These tenacious

deposits inhibit heat transfer, block tube

supports, and create crevices where

corrosive impurities can accumulate. If

not corrected, these deposits may lead

to stress corrosion cracking and tube

failure.

To combat the problem, nuclear

utilities have tried reducing the amount

of corrosion products in the feedwater or

removing deposits by chemical cleaning

or mechanical sludge lancing using highpressure

water jets. These approaches

are often effective, but can be costly and

carry risks related to extended outages

or incomplete cleaning. An alternative

approach is to inject dispersants,

which prevent corrosion products from

depositing on steam generator surfaces so

they can be removed via blowdown.

Duke Energy performed a fullscale

long-term trial of a high-purity

polyacrylic acid (PAA) dispersant at its

McGuire Unit 2 PWR. Findings show

that dispersant application resulted in a

signifi cant reduction in the rate of steam

generator fouling.

Collaborative R&D

The McGuire trial caps more than

a decade of collaborative research and

development involving EPRI, utilities,

vendors, and consultants. The longterm

trial also corroborates results from

previous proof-of-concept studies and

short-term fi eld tests.

In the 1990s, Commonwealth Edison

(now Exelon) conducted corrosion

tests to qualify a high-purity version of

Source: Electric Power Research

Institute's Success Story number

1018533, January 2009.

PAA dispersant and transferred details

of the PAA program to industry through

EPRI. EPRI subsequently collaborated

with Entergy on a short-term fi eld trial at

Arkansas Nuclear One Unit 2 (ANO-2).

The three-month trial took place during

the fi rst half of 2000 just prior to steam

generator replacement, demonstrating

that PAA can increase the blowdown iron

removal effi ciency by an order of magnitude.

Details of the trial are documented

in two EPRI reports, Dispersants for Tube

Fouling Control, Volume 1: Qualifi cations

for a Short-Term Trial at ANO-2

(1001422) and Dispersants for Tube

Fouling Control, Volume 2: Short-Term

Trial at ANO-2 (1003144).

Following the ANO-2 trial, researchers

completed additional qualifi cation

work to technically justify a longer-term

trial of 6-9 months at a plant with replacement

steam generators tubed with Alloy

690. Qualifi cation efforts focused on

two main areas: materials/chemistry and

steam generator thermal performance.

The materials/ chemistry evaluations indicated

that a long-term trial would not

result in any adverse conditions in balance-of-plant

or steam generator materials.

The thermal performance analyses

indicated that all candidate steam generator

designs had suffi cient thermal margin

to accommodate a slight decrease in heattransfer

effi ciency that could occur during

a long-term trial. This work, which

was documented in the EPRI report,

Dispersants for Tube Fouling Control,

Volume 3: Qualifi cation for a Long-Term

Trial in a Replacement Steam Generator

Tubed with Alloy 690 TT (1002774), led

to technical concurrence with a long-term

trial by Westinghouse and Babcock &

Wilcox Canada.

Continuing the R&D momentum,

Duke Energy committed to a full-scale

long-term trial at McGuire Unit 2 in 2004.

Starting in 2005, plant personnel injected

PAA into the feedwater piping upstream of

the individual loop lines. Concentrations

of PAA ranged from 0.25 ppb to 4 ppb.

McGuire personnel devoted considerable

time and effort to ensure that the trial

would be implemented safely. Despite

several challenges over the course of

the trial from August 2005 to September

2006 (such as injection pump issues and

plant transients unrelated to PAA), the

plant staff made signifi cant contributions

that were invaluable in making the trial a

success.

Results and Benefi ts

• PAA dispersant injection at 2–4 parts

per billion increased the corrosion

product removal effi ciency from

about 5% to 45–50%.

• McGuire Unit 2 exhibited a slight

benefi cial increase in thermal performance

level during the trial.

• Secondary chemistry parameters

•

were not adversely affected.

Demineralizer performance was not

compromised.

Results of the McGuire trial are providing

the basis for steam generator vendor

technical concurrence with industrywide

long-term dispersant use. Findings

have also contributed to the development

of EPRI’s recently published Dispersant

Applications Sourcebook (1015020).

This publication provides guidance and

comprehensive information for utilities

planning to use PAA dispersant. Duke

personnel were an invaluable resource on

the Sourcebook development committee,

providing signifi cant input to the reference.

Going Forward

Several utilities are planning longterm

dispersant applications. For example,

Exelon is planning to begin PAA injection

at Byron Unit 1 in January 2009,

and plans on adding dispersant at Byron

Unit 2 and Braidwood Units 1 and 2

starting later in 2009.

(Continued on page 44)

42 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

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Reducing Deposits...

Continued from page 42

Further EPRI work includes evaluating

the use of dispersant for cleanup

of the feedwater system prior to operation.

Corrosion products carried from

the secondary system to the steam generators

during startup after outages can

contribute up to 20% of the total corrosion

product ingress during a fuel

cycle. Dispersant use during this time

could accelerate or enhance the cleanup

process and increase the amount of corrosion

product removed. This project

would determine the effi cacy of dispersant

technology for this application and

support qualifi cation for a subsequent

plant trial.

EPRI also plans to begin evaluating

dispersant application during steam

generator wet layup in 2009. This work

addresses a high-priority need to assess

how chemistry enhancements could

enhance deposit removal from steam

generators during plant outages.

Contact: Keith Fruzzetti, Electric

Power Research Institute, 3420 Hillview

Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304; telephone:

(650) 855-2211, email: kfruzzet@epri.

com. �

Nuclear Plant Journal’s New Website

www.nuclearplantjournal.com

Annual

Editorial

Schedule

January-February

International Trade &

Waste & Fuel Management Issue

March-April

Plant Maintenance & Plant Life Extension

Issue

May-June

Outage Mgmt. & Health

Physics Issue

July-August

New Plants & Vendor Advertorial

Issue

September-October

Plant Maintenance &

Advanced Reactors Issue

November-December

Annual Product &

Service Directory Issue

44 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

Minimizing Radiological Effl uent

Releases

By Electric Power Research Institute.

Lessons Learned

Decades of operating experience

and advances in technology have helped

nuclear plants make dramatic improvements

in radioactive waste processing.

These improvements have increased effi

ciency, fl exibility and cost-effectiveness

while minimizing solid waste volume and

radiation exposure.

To ensure that lessons learned and

new radwaste technologies are applied

in new nuclear plants, EPRI formed a

team of utility and industry experts to

review radwaste processing designs and

make recommendations regarding best

practices. GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy

Source: Electric Power Research

Institute's Success Story number

1018450, December, 2008.

turned to the EPRI team for assistance in

designing the radwaste system for the nextgeneration

Economic Simplifi ed Boiling

Water Reactor (ESBWR). GE Hitachi

implemented EPRI’s recommendations

for an advanced design that would support

effi cient, cost-effective waste processing

over the 60-plus year life of the plant.

These efforts benefi ted STP Nuclear

Operating Company, which is incorporating

the EPRI state-of-the-art radwaste

system into plans for its two new Advanced

Boiling Water Reactors (ABWRs)

at South Texas Project Units 3 and 4. The

enhanced radwaste system design offers

features that will benefi t not only STP-

NOC, but other utilities contemplating

nuclear plants. These features include:

• Mobile Processing

• Operating Flexibility

• Near-Zero Effl uent Release

• Staffi ng Optimization

Advanced Plant Designs

The radwaste design project was conducted

under EPRI’s Advanced Nuclear

Technology Program, which focuses on

cross-cutting research to build confi dence

in new nuclear plant deployment. EPRI’s

recommendations for the Advanced Nuclear

Plant radwaste design are based on

an extensive foundation of nuclear R&D.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, EPRI

developed a Utility Requirements Document

that provides a comprehensive set

of design requirements for future light

water reactors. These requirements are

grounded in 50-plus years of commercial

U.S. and international light water reactor

experience.

EPRI has periodically revised the

Utility Requirements Document to refl

ect industry operating experience and

(Continued on page 46)

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 45

Minimizing Radiological...

Continued from page 45

technology advances that may offer potential

economic, public acceptance, and

operational benefi ts. When GE Hitachi

requested EPRI’s assistance in developing

the radwaste system for the ESBWR,

the radwaste expert team defi ned key design

criteria based on the latest processing

equipment, best operating practices

and top decile industry performance. The

team recommended a range of system design

improvements that are documented

in an EPRI report, Technical Support for

GE Economic Simplifi ed Boiling Water

Reactor (ESBWR)-Radwaste System

Design (1013503). Understanding that

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BWR radwaste design refl ected current

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use the EPRI documentation in revising

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“The ABWR certifi ed design that

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concentrator system, a cement

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system,” says Milton F. Rejcek, STPNOC

Radwaste Consulting Engineer. “We

knew that we were not going to operate

radwaste in that manner, so the EPRI

technical report served as our vision for

the design we expected for an advanced

radwaste processing system. This saved

a lot of time and focused the whole

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Features and Benefi ts

The enhanced radwaste system

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Near Zero Effl uent Release. The

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of normal liquid radwaste effl uent. If

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Staff Optimization. By expanding

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46 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

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Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 47

2008-A Year of “Firsts” for

AmerenUE’s Callaway Plant

By Rick Eastman, AmerenUE.

Employees celebrated the plant’s

fi rst breaker-to-breaker run of 520 days

and the fi rst less than 30-day refueling

outage (which included no lost time or

recordable injuries).

Callaway Plant’s fi rst continuous

cycle run (Cycle 16) began in May 2007

and concluded in October 2008. Including

Callaway, only 26 of the nation’s 104

nuclear plants have achieved a record

run of more than 500 days. The previous

record for continuous operation at the

Callaway Plant was 483 days completed

in 1998.

The breaker-to-breaker run contributed

to the plant’s highest-ever capacity

factor of 99.36 percent for Cycle 16. The

plant’s previous record, 98.01 percent,

occurred during Cycle 7 which ended in

March 1995.

Prior to Refuel 16, the shortest

refueling outage for Callaway was just

under 31 days during Refuel 8 in 1996.

Safety-related HDPE

pipe Another fi rst occurred when the

plant installed the fi rst safety-related high

density polyethylene piping (HDPE) at a

nuclear power plant in the U.S. This was

done after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) authorized the use

of this plastic pipe for a safety-related

system.

The HDPE pipe was used to replace

carbon steel piping in the plant’s essential

service water (ESW) system. The ‘A’ ESW

train was put into service in December

2008. Workers installed approximately

1,800-feet of 36-inch HDPE piping and

120-feet of 30-inch stainless steel piping

in the plant’s ESW Pump House, Ultimate

Heat Sink Cooling Tower and Control

Building, as well as underground in the

yard area between these buildings.

The work required thousands of cubic

yards of dirt and rock to be removed and

replaced. Fusing of the HDPE pipe also

required specialty equipment designed

for this purpose.

Rick Eastman

Rick Eastman is the supervisor of

Business Planning and Communications

at AmerenUE’s Callaway Plant. A

24-year Union Electric/AmerenUE

employee, he currently is responsible

for the development, implementation

and performance tracking for Callaway

Plant’s Business Plan, as well as

the plant’s internal and external

communications working in conjunction

with Corporate Communications.

Eastman earned a bachelor’s degree in

Mass Communication from Northeast

Missouri State University (now Truman

State University) in Kirksville, Mo., and

an MBA from William Woods University

in Fulton, Mo.

The project was completed 78 hours

ahead of schedule with no nuclear safety

events, no personnel safety events and no

human performance events.

The ‘B’ ESW piping train will be

replaced with HDPE pipe in March

2009.

COLA fi led for Callaway

2 The Callaway team also submitted

a combined Construction and Operating

License Application (COLA) to the NRC

to preserve the option to construct a new

nuclear plant. The COLA was docketed

by the NRC in late December 2008.

Adam Hefl in

Adam Hefl in is senior vice president

and chief nuclear offi cer of AmerenUE.

In this position he is responsible for

all of AmerenUE’s nuclear operations.

Mr. Hefl in joined AmerenUE in 2005

as site vice president for the Callaway

Plant, after serving as Unit 2 plant

manager at Arkansas Nuclear One,

owned by Entergy Corporation. Hefl in

joined Entergy Corporation’s nuclear

operations in 1992. He received his

nuclear training and started his nuclear

career while serving in the U.S. Navy.

AmerenUE is partnering with

UniStar Nuclear Energy to design, and

possibly construct, a U.S. Evolutionary

Power Reactor (EPR) which will be

located adjacent to the existing Callaway

Plant near Fulton, Mo.

If AmerenUE decides to build Callaway

2, the 1,600 megawatt pressurized

water reactor would represent the largest

single construction project in Missouri’s

history.

Also, the Callaway 2 team submitted

an application for federal loan guarantees

offered through the Energy Policy Act of

2005.

48 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

Community outreach

efforts

To help inform the community about

the proposed new plant, as well as area

civic and business leaders, AmerenUE

formed a Callaway 2 speaker’s bureau in

June 2008.

Since then, the speaker’s bureau has

made nearly 70 presentations to more

than 2,000 people. This is in addition to

the 600 people who attended the NRC’s

pre-COLA public meeting for Callaway

2 in July 2008. The vast majority of those

in attendance were in favor of a second

nuclear plant at Callaway.

In addition, nearly 20 plant tours

were conducted in 2008 for legislators,

educators and college-age students who

are interested in the nuclear fi eld. The

number of tours offered in 2009 is expected

to increase signifi cantly.

2009 promises to be

another historic year

While 2008 was a year of many fi rsts

for Callaway, 2009 also is shaping up to

be another historic year for the plant.

Pay-as-you-go

legislation

AmerenUE is supporting legislation

that would allow regulated utility companies

in Missouri to recover the fi nancing

costs for construction work in progress if

the utilities are investing in non-carbon

or reduced-carbon electric generating

plants.

Without the ability to “pay-as-yougo,”

it will cost AmerenUE customers $2

billion to $3 billion more to build a new

nuclear plant due to fi nance and interest

charges.

If implemented, the new legislation

will partially overturn a 1976 law passed

by Missouri voters that prohibited utility

companies from recovering construction

costs for a new plant until it is generating

electricity.

Eleven states in the U.S. recently

have passed laws to allow companies to

recover costs for construction work in

progress or provided incentives to encourage

companies to invest in expanding

nuclear power.

Callaway 2 activities

The Callaway 2 team also will

continue to be immersed in NRC activities

related to its COLA, including a public

meeting in February 2009 for individuals

to discuss any environmental issues the

NRC should consider in reviewing the

Established 1974

(Continued on page 50)

Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009 www.nuclearplantjournal.com 49

2008-A Year...

Continued from page 49

application for Callaway 2, as well as an

NRC Environmental Review Site Audit

scheduled for the week of March 23,

2009.

New training facility to

open

The plant celebrated the opening

of a new 34,000 square-foot training

facility in February 2009 that includes

approximately 12,000 square feet of total

lab space. The building primarily will

house Electrical, Mechanical, Radiation

Protection, I&C and Chemistry training

groups.

Callaway to pursue 20year

license extension

Offi cials at AmerenUE are seeking

to extend the Callaway Plant’s current

operating license by 20 years.

According to the Nuclear Energy

Institute, more than 50 of the 104 U.S.

nuclear plants have been granted a license

extension and another 49 applications for

a license extension are pending or have

been publicly announced.

On Nov. 18, 2008 AmerenUE submitted

a Letter of Intent to the NRC noti-

fying the agency that in 2011 AmerenUE

intends to apply for renewal of its current

40-year operating license.

Currently, Callaway Plant’s operating

license is scheduled to expire in 2024. If

the NRC approves the extension request,

the plant will be licensed to operate until

2044.

About Callaway Plant

Construction history:

• 1973--Project site announced and

site selected

• 1976—Construction permit granted

by NRC

• 1979—Application to NRC for

plant’s operating permit

• 1982—Initial fuel delivery

• 1984—“Low power” operating

license issued by NRC

• 1984—Plant fully operational Dec.

19th.

Location: Approximately 10 miles

southeast of Fulton, Mo., in Callaway

County, Mo.

Owner: AmerenUE (formerly Union

Electric Company)—a subsidiary of St.

Louis-based Ameren Corporation.

Plant design: Standardized Nuclear

Unit Power Plant System (SNUPPS),

using a Westinghouse four-loop pressurized

water reactor and a General Electric

turbine-generator.

Generating Capacity: 1,190 megawatts

(net)

Cost to build: $3 billion

Production leader: Ranks 4th highest

in lifetime generation among 104 U.S.

nuclear plants; 20th highest in lifetime

generation among 435 nuclear plants

world-wide who report data; and powers

nearly 800,000 average households annually

Design: Cooling tower is 553 feet

tall, the second tallest structure in Missouri

Upgrades:

• 2005 – Refuel 14

Replaced all four steam generators,

adding 12 MW electric output. In addition,

all four turbine rotors were replaced,

adding 49 MW electric output. This

outage was completed in 63.5 days—at

the time it was a world record.

• 2004 – Refuel 13

Replaced the Condenser tube bundles,

adding 5 MW of electric generating

capacity. These tubes were replaced prior

to installing the new steam generators as

the Condenser tubes remove copper from

the secondary system to protect the new

steam generator tubes from cracking.

Employees: More than 1,000 AmerenUE

employees and contractors work

at the plant for a total annual payroll of

approximately $100 million

Operating performance: Accounts

for 19 percent of AmerenUE’s generation

Contact: Rick Eastman, AmerenUE

Callaway Plant, Junction CC & Highway

O, P.O. Box 620, CA-40, Fulton, MO

65251; telephone: (573) 676-8932, fax:

(573) 676-4300, email: REastman@

ameren.com. �

50 www.nuclearplantjournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2009

WESTINGHOUSE HAS SOME

simple ideas,

TO ACCOMPLISH

great things.

PETE SENA

Site Vice President

Beaver Valley Power Station

FENOC

When our Alliance Partner, FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company

(FENOC), set a long-term goal to reduce outage dose at its Beaver Valley

Power Station, they asked Westinghouse to assist.

The Westinghouse team, led by Customer 1 st leader Dave Balas, worked

with Pete Sena, Jim Lash and the Beaver Valley Power Station to apply

Customer 1 st tools. As a result, the plant achieved a 39 percent dose

reduction during the fall 2007 Unit 1 outage, advancing Beaver Valley

from the industry’s fourth to second quartile in outage dose performance.

During Beaver Valley’s spring 2008 outage, results were even better as

Unit 2 advanced from fourth to first quartile in outage dose performance.

Improving outage performance and applying the benefits and industry

lessons learned are just a few ways that Westinghouse nuclear technology

is strengthening performance at the world’s leading nuclear power plants.

Check us out at www.westinghousenuclear.com

DAVE BALAS

Manager of Global Outage Support

Westinghouse

JIM LASH

Senior Vice President

FENOC – Operations

Committed to customer success.

“ Unit 1 achieved its lowest outage

dose ever. Great teamwork and

coordination were evident as

Beaver Valley performed its

best-ever durations for six

Westinghouse outage windows.”

—PETE SENA

WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY LLC

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