With the combination of increased demand for electric power and advancing age of operating equipment in nuclear power plants, is more important than ever to monitor the condition of plant operation. There are many factors to monitor in nuclear power plant equipment condition. However, one that is frequently overlooked is thermal performance. Often this is an area where plant personnel can find “low hanging fruit” with great return on investment. Often thermal performance analysis can discover better methods to maintain critical plant equipment resulting in more efficient outage activities. Plants also benefit from increasing their operators’ awareness of the importance of thermal performance monitoring to find lost power generation. This paper will discuss proven methods to track, trend, and prioritize thermal performance issues in order to reduce the time from the occurrence of a loss to recovery.
Aging Evaluation for the Extension of Qualified Life of Nuclear Power Plant Equipment
