2003 Feb 12 Actual: 2002 Dec 31 Days Ahead of Schedule - IAEA

IAEA Workshop on Construction Technologies for Nuclear 

Power Plants: A Comprehensive Approach 

Paris, France 

12 – 16 December, 2011 

Challenges & Successes of Candu Energy (former AECL) 

in Nuclear Construction: Case Study of China and 

Romania 

Official Use Only | À Usage Exclusif 

Azhar Khan 

Manager, Design & Layout 

Candu Energy 

Canada

• Qinshan CANDU Nuclear Power Plant 

Scope of Presentation 

– Salient contract details and construction responsibilities 

– Site Quality Assurance (QA) 

– Major construction contracts 

– Challenges 

– Important construction decisions 

– Major issues during construction 

– Localization 

– Major achievements 

– Reasons for success of project 

– Future CANDU Projects in China 

1 Official Use Only | À Usage Exclusif

• Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant 

– Unit 1 and 2 

Scope of Presentation (Cont’d) 

– Salient contract details and construction responsibilities 

– Challenges 

– Important construction decisions 

– Localization 

– Major achievements 

– Reasons for success of project 

– Future CANDU projects in Romania 


3 Official Use Only | À Usage Exclusif 

Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant


Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant

5 

Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant 

�Qinshan III CANDU NPP: 2 Unit 728 MWe by AECL and TQNPC 

�International Project with financing from China, Canada, Japan and USA 

�Qinshan, Zhejiang Province, PR of China 

�Contract effective: 1997 Feb 12 

�First Concrete: 1998 June 8 

�In Service: 

Unit 1 

Planned: 2003 Feb 12 

Actual: 2002 Dec 31 

Days Ahead of 

Schedule: 43 


Unit 2 

Planned: 2003 Nov 12 

Actual: 2003 Jul 24 

Days Ahead of 

Schedule: 112

6 


Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant 

Major Participants

7 

Salient Contract Details and Construction 

Responsibilities 

�In-Service Unit 1: 72 months from start of excavation (February 12, 1997- 

February 12, 2003): Unit 2: 9 months later 

�Contract was between Third Qinshan Nuclear Power Company(TQNPC)-AECL 

� TQNPC Responsibilities: 

� Site Preparation 

� Prepare Permanent Site Facilities 

� Manage Balance of Plant (BOP) construction 

�AECL as General Contractor and was completely responsible for: 

� Overall Project Management 

� Manage Nuclear Steam Plant (NSP) Construction at Site 

� Site Quality Assurance 

Official Use Only | À Usage Exclusif

8 

Salient Contract Details and Construction 

Responsibilities 

�Bechtel was responsible for BOP Engineering and provided technical assistance at site for 

BOP construction 

�Hitachi was responsible for T/G Contract and Accessories 

�Construction contractors were responsible for: 

� NSP construction 

� BOP construction 

� Responsible for preparing Level 3 Schedules 

� Quality Control of all construction activities 

�Major Contractors: 

� CNI-23 Construction Company 

� Huaxing (HXCC) Construction Company 

� CNI-22 Construction Company 

� Zhejiang Thermal Power Company (ZTPC) 

�TQNPC was responsible for all payments 


9 

� AECL - Quality a priority 

Site Quality Assurance (QA) 

� AECL set QA requirements for all construction 

� AECL initiated non-conformance reporting culture: 

� Non-Conformance Report (NCR) process to control work, including Stop Work Orders 

for major NCRs 

� Field Change Request Process to control design changes at site 

� TQNPC had own Quality Surveillance Team 

� AECL had own Quality Surveillance Branch 

� Construction Contractors responsible for Quality Control 


10 

Major Construction Contracts 

� Site Excavation (HXCC) 

� NSP Civil Construction (HXCC) 

� NSP Mechanical/Electrical Installation (CNI-23) 

� BOP Civil Construction (CNI-22) 

� BOP Mechanical/Electrical Installation (ZTPC) (Zhejiang Thermal Power Co.) 

� Piping Fabrication (CNI-23) 

� Supply of Concrete (CNI-22) 


11 

Challenges 

� Site: 

� Very restricted site; small peninsula on which plant was placed 

� Required considerable reclamation from sea to locate full plant 

� Required considerable detailed planning in early stages of construction 

� Very high silt content in water, divers of no use 

� Cultural differences/sensitivities: AECL, Chinese, Bechtel, Hitachi 

� Experience: 

� Young Chinese commissioning staff with first time on CANDU station 

� Construction contractors had no previous CANDU construction experience, but had 

significant experience of nuclear power plant construction 

� Work to Canadian quality standards not previously performed in China 


12 Official Use Only | À Usage Exclusif 

Challenges (Cont’d)

13 

� Complex execution model: 

Challenges (Cont’d) 

� Owner manages BOP construction 

� AECL manages NSP contractors - Owner pays 

� First time use of open top construction and modularization on a CANDU 6 

� Maximization of localization 


14 

Important Construction Decisions 

� Dedicated Concrete Batch Plant and concrete testing laboratory at Site 

� Confirmation of major concrete design mixes completed months prior to First Concrete 

� Establishing Welding Procedures and Welder Training Program very early in Construction 

Phase 

� AECL Sole Source for Procurement of NSP Material 

� Localization of HVAC, Electrical Conduits, Cable Trays 

� Open Top Method of Construction 

� Upgrading of Very Heavy Lift (VHL) Crane for Open Top Method of Construction 

� Maximize parallel works between Civil / Mechanical / Electrical Construction 


15 

Major Issues during Construction 

� Coordination between Construction Contractors 

� Hot Weather Concreting 

� Structural Steel, Unavailability of Heavier Sections 

� Lack of Structural Steel Shop Drawing Detailers in China 


16 

Localization 

• General 

– Upgrading of Very Heavy Lift Crane with crane with manufactories supervision 

• Civil 

– Execution-100% localized 

– Structural steel with fabrication and erection with expatriate supervision 

– Concrete with expatriate supervision 

– Architectural works -100% localized 

• Mechanical/Piping 

– Installation of piping with expatriate supervision 

– Welding 

– Installation of heavy equipment with expatriate supervision 

– Piping fabrication 

– Very heavy lifts with 100% local effort 

– All HVAC materials and fabrications 

– Fabrication of steel tanks/vessels in BOP 

• Electrical 

– Cable tray fabrication 

– Conduit fabrication 

• Fuel Fabrication 

– 100 % localized due to use of natural uranium fuel 


17 

Major Achievements 

� Shortest construction of any NPP in China from 1 st concrete to In-Service (54 months) 

� Shortest duration to construct perimeter wall (14 days) 

� Best integrated leak rate of all CANDU 6 nuclear power plants 

� 70 heavy lifts of equipment with the VHL crane 

� Steam generator installed in 8 hours 

� Fuel channels installed in 64 days 

� Excellent performance of Chinese contractors with experience (50% less NCRs for Unit 2 in 

comparison with Unit 1) 


18 

• Unit 1 Declared in service 43 days early. 

Qinshan Success 

• Unit 1 Criticality Sept. 20th, 2002, ahead of schedule 

• Open Top and on site modularization methods resulted in effective execution. 

• Large Civil Modules Fabrication/Installation near work face 

• Unit 2 Criticality April 29th, 2003, 52 days ahead of schedule 

• Great success with 3D CADDS as a production tool and use of electronic data 

management system 

• Training of Contractor to Western Construction Methods 

• Buy in by contractors of Quality philosophy of doing it right the first time. (It made 

economic sense) 

• Aggressive QA & QS programs praised by Chinese Regulator 


19 

Reasons for Success of the Project 

� Client/Owner was fully 100% behind completion of project and gave full support to AECL 

and its sub-contractors 

� Excellent teamwork between all participants 

� AECL had available manpower resources with extensive experience of construction 

management and engineering expertise on overseas projects 

� Use of Open Top Method of Construction 

� Use of Modularization 


Future CANDU Projects in China 

• China in the last 10 years has matured as a developer of nuclear power plants and can easily 

achieve 90% localization on future CANDU nuclear power plants in both supply of equipment and 

construction. 








CANDU Construction in China 

Ahead of Schedule – Under Budget 



CANDU Construction in China 

Ahead of Schedule – Under Budget

Conventional Construction of 

CANDU 6 Stations 

Conventional Construction Method


Open Top Construction Method 

Strategically-placed Openings with Sliding Cover on the 

Temporary Roof for Heavy Lifting




Skew Truss

Dousing Steel and Lower Dome Formwork Assembly Area at Site (Unit 2) 



Qinshan Dousing System Module 

on Mobile Crane


Qinshan - Dousing System Modules 




Lower Dome Formwork Being Lifted from Assembly Yard

Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant 

• Situated off the River Danube in south east Romania 

• Units 1 and 2 completed 

• Unit 1 in service 1976 

• Unit 2 in service 2007 

• Unit 3 and 4 partially completed and presently being reviewed for completion 



Cernavoda - Site


Cernavoda - Site

Unit 1 & Unit 2 Salient Contract Details and 

Construction Responsibilities 

• NSP Engineering & Procurement was AECL responsibility 

• BOP engineering/procurement was ANSALDO responsibility 

• Unit 1 owner was RENEL now called SNN 

• Unit 1 Construction management was responsibility of AECL and ANSALDO 

• Unit 2 Owner is SNN 

• Unit 2 Construction Management was responsibility of SNN, AECL and ANSALDO 

• All construction was performed by Romanian contractors 


Maximization of Localization 

Challenges 

• Civil 

– Works had been suspended for some time and exposed to natural conditions 

– Very limited structural steel industry. Large sections produced in Romania with welded plates 

• Mechanical 

– Equipment had been installed for long time 

• Electrical 

– Unit 1-some electrical equipment installed for some time 

• Human Resources 

– Extensive turn over of staff 

43 


• Civil 

Important Construction Decisions 

– Thorough inspections performed, all deficiencies identified, repair methods evaluated 

– Performed preliminary pressure test of reactor building to find leaks in the building 

• Mechanical/piping 

– Setting up of welding training program prior to start of mechanical construction process 


45 

Localization 

• All construction performed by Romanian contractors with only some specialty foreign 

contractors 

• Structural steel sections fabricated with plates welded to form required sections 

• All civil materials with the exception of epoxy finishes fabricated by Romanian contractors 

• Site engineering performed by Romanian with supervision by expatriate staff 

• Large number of BOP equipment (tanks, pumps, motors, water treatment plant) provided by 

Romanian industry 

• Fuel Fabrication; 100% localized due to use of natural uranium fuel 

• Heavy Water Supply: 100% localized 


• Unit 1 completed on Schedule 

• Unit 2 completed on schedule 

Major Achievements 

• Extensive construction experiences gained by Romanian contractors 

• Extensive analysis and design experience gained by Romanian engineers 

• Extensive management experience gained by Romanian service staff 


Reasons for Success of Project 

• Both Owner and Project managers determined to bring project to successful closure 

• Extensive Romanian experience that began project in the 1980s was available during project 

completion phase in 1990s and 2000s 


Future CANDU Projects in Romania 

• In civil engineering, extensive localization is feasible both with respect to construction and 

domestic industry 

• In Mechanical/Piping engineering, extensive localization is feasible for construction but a review 

is required to estimate extent of domestic industry participation 

• In Electrical, Control and Instrumentation engineering, extensive localization is feasible with 

respect to construction but a review is required to determine the extent of domestic industry 

participation 

• In engineering, procurement and construction, extensive localization can be maintained and 

further expanded 


• New e-mail address: 

• azhar.khan@candu.com 


THANK YOU

Thank You

2003 Feb 12 Actual: 2002 Dec 31 Days Ahead of Schedule - IAEA

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