vgbe energy journal 5 (2022) - International Journal for Generation and Storage of Electricity and Heat

Abstracts | Kurzfassungen
How the digital project twin changes
plant engineering in power industry
Peter Schluppkothen and
Mats-Milan L. Müller
Europe’s energy industry has been in a state of
flux for some time now. But what the current
events in Ukraine will mean for the European
energy market can only be vaguely estimated
so far. However, experts agree that the cuts will
be severe and that a rethink of German climate
policy is taking place. For investors, owners,
operators and EPCs in the energy industry, this
means above all that pretty much every plant
will have to be reviewed in more than one aspect
and adapted to the changing market situation.
However, the number of measures, even
for conventional power plants and facilities, will
not decline, as many experts have assumed, but
rather remain constant or even increase in the
medium term. The Digital Project Twin is the
avant-garde model for digitalization in project
management and smooth project control
in the construction and conversion of plants,
overhaul, daily maintenance and also in fullscale
turnarounds or dismantling projects. The
potential savings are enormous and show that
digitalization has too often been thought of in
the wrong direction.
Cyberwar in the energy industry:
The current status
Stefan Loubichi
The number of attacks on operators of critical
infrastructures or manufacturers of critical
components in Germany has reached such great
dimensions since 24.2.2022 that we must speak
of a cyber war, even if politicians do not like to
use this term. This article shows that it has been
known since 2013(!) which methods (still valid
today) can be used to wage a cyber war against
critical infrastructures, although this is still only
rudimentarily acknowledged. While we in Germany
are currently ill-prepared for a cyber war,
the opposing side obviously lacks co-ordination.
Therefore, this (world’s first major) cyber war
serves “only” to see and assess what is technically
feasible and what is not. Unfortunately,
neither politics nor the BSI are big helpers at
the moment. Some of the BSI’s decisions are
more politically than technologically driven,
and politicians fail to set an adequate framework
through clear thresholds and regulations.
In all likelihood, this cyber war will not lead to a
blackout, but the foundations are being laid for
the next cyber war. Hopefully, we all will learn
from our mistakes.
Operating experience from
ageing events occurred
at nuclear power plants
Antonio Ballesteros Avila and
Miguel Peinador Veira
Nuclear safety of the operating nuclear power
plants (NPP) has to be in the core of their life
management. NPPs have to be operated safely
and reliably. European countries involved in
nuclear energy are spending their efforts in improving
the safety of the operating plants and
of those under construction, in accordance with
the Euratom Treaty obligations. In this respect,
the IAEA requirements for the safe operation of
nuclear power plants identify, among others priorities,
maintenance, testing, surveillance and
inspection programmes and ageing management
of safety related components. The final
objective of this work is to draw case-specific
and generic lessons learned from ageing related
events occurred at NPPs during a period of
approximately 10 years. Namely, events reported
between 01/01/2008 and 30/06/2018 in the
IAEA IRS database. The IRS is an international
database jointly operated by the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the OECD/
NEA. The IRS was established as a simple and
efficient system to exchange important lessons
learned from operating experience gained
in nuclear power plants of the IAEA and NEA
Member States. The IRS database contains
more than 4500 event reports with detailed
descriptions and analyses of the event’s causes
that may be relevant to other plants.
Assessment of loss of shutdown
cooling system accident during midloop
operation in LSTF experiment
using SPACE Code
Minhee Kim, Junkyu Song and
Kyungho Nam
During a plant outage, while the fuel remains
in the core, the core is cooled by the Residual
Heat Removal (RHR) system. The loss of the
RHR can lead to loss of heat removal from the
core and is a safety concern. During certain
stage of maintenance, such as installation of
steam generator nozzle dams, the RCS coolant
level is lower to centerline of hot leg and cold
leg pipes. This is called mid-loop operation
and the coolant level is lowest while the fuel
remains in the core. Therefore, the loss of RHR
during mid-loop operation represents the most
limiting condition for loss of RHR incidents. The
present paper is focused on the assessment of
SPACE 3.0 in predicting the system primary and
secondary behavior following the loss-of-RHR
accident during the mid-loop operation of LSTF
experiment in reference to NUREG/IA-0143 report.
The calculated results are compared with
RELAP5 results and experimental data in terms
of steady-state and transient behavior.
TRIPLE C waste container for
increased long-term safety of HHGW
disposal in salt, clay and crystalline
Jürgen Knorr and Albert Kerber
Nuclear facilities for the utilization and handling
of nuclear materials have to fulfill general
safety goals. With varying importance and priorities
the same five main safety goals apply for
safety considerations of all nuclear facilities:
Isolation, Shielding, Control, Protection and
Heat removal. Depending on the facility type
and intended use a tailored set of appropriate
safety measures has to be fore-seen to guarantee
the fulfillment of safety goals in all phases
of operation and over the whole lifecycle of the
facility. New developments in high-tech ceramics
provide a sound scientific-technical basis for
the industrial production of ceramic leakproof
waste container. The central part of a TRIPLE
C waste container is a silicon carbide (SiC) container.
For several reasons the special type SSiC
(pressure less sintered silicon carbide) has been
chosen.
Nuclear power plants worldwide:
Compact statistic 2021
At the end of 2021, 438 nuclear power plants
were in operation in 33 countries worldwide.
The number has decreased by 4 units compared
to the previous year’s reporting date. Six nuclear
power plant units have started operation, 10
units have been decommissioned. The installed
nuclear power capacity remains at a very high
level with 414 GWe gross and 391 GWe net. 10
new nuclear power plant projects were initiated
with the start of construction. 54 plants with
a total capacity of 60 GWe gross and 55 GWe
net in 19 countries were under construction. In
addition, around 200 nuclear power plant units
are in the project planning phase in 25 countries
worldwide.
Operating experience with nuclear
power plants 2021
vgbe energy
vgbe energy committees have been exchanging
operating experience about nuclear power
plants for more than 30 years. Plant operators
from several European countries are participating
in the exchange. A report is given on the operating
results of the six German nuclear power
plants achieved in 2021, events important to
plant safety, special and relevant repair, and
retrofit measures.
Power and coal prospects in
developing Africa
Paul Baruya
As calls grow louder for an energy transition that
prioritises the rapid decarbonisation of energy
systems worldwide, many countries in Africa
have a more complicated set of priorities. Economic
and energy poverty is high in Africa, with
per capita energy use just a third of the world
average, and millions living on 2 US$/d. Africa
is therefore under further pressure to provide
modern energy to a growing population which
is expected to almost double by 2050, while simultaneously
bringing millions out of energy
poverty. However, the region faces economic
hardships and an increasing number of financial
institutions are reducing their exposure to
coal-related investments. The 2021 UN Climate
Change Conference (COP26) has prompted developed
nations to financially assist developing
nations in their efforts to tackle climate change
mitigation and adaptation, but despite Africa
being resourcerich with coal and hydrocarbons,
international aid is likely to focus on wind and
solar. Current and future trends are discussed
for population, key energy and economic indicators,
and CO 2 emissions. The energy challenges
specific to Africa are examined.
6 | vgbe energy journal 5 · 2022