scholarly journals OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES RELATED TO THE DEPLOYMENT OF SMALL MODULAR REACTORS IN MINES IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES OF CANADA

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-153
Author(s):  
Horatio Sam-Aggrey
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Social Acceptance ◽  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Small Modular Reactors ◽  
Economic Barriers ◽  
Northern Territories ◽  
The Cost

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are being touted as safer, more cost effective, and more flexible than traditional nuclear power plants. Consequently, it has been argued that SMR technology is pivotal to the revitalization of the nuclear industry at the national and global levels. Drawing mainly on previously published literature, this paper explores the opportunities and challenges related to the deployment of SMRs in the northern territories of Canada. The paper examines the potential role of SMRs in providing an opportunity for remote mines in northern Canada to reduce their vulnerability and dependence on costly, high-carbon diesel fuel. The paper also outlines and discusses some of the potential socio-economic barriers that could impede the successful introduction of SMRs in the territories. These issues include: economic factors (such as the price of primary minerals and economics of mineral exploration, and the cost of SMR deployment), the lack of infrastructure in the territories to support mining developments, and the issues pertaining to the social acceptance of nuclear power generation.

Inservice Testing Program Improvements for New Reactors Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald C. Lippy
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Small Modular Reactors ◽  
American Society ◽  
Construction Permit ◽  
Regulatory Commission

The nuclear industry is preparing for the licensing and construction of new nuclear power plants in the United States. Several new designs have been developed and approved, including the “traditional” reactor designs, the passive safe shutdown designs and the small modular reactors (SMRs). The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) provides specific Codes used to perform preservice inspection/testing and inservice inspection/testing for many of the components used in the new reactor designs. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews information provided by applicants related to inservice testing (IST) programs for Design Certifications and Combined Licenses (COLs) under Part 52, “Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,” in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 52) (Reference 1). The 2012 Edition of the ASME OM Code defines a post-2000 plant as a nuclear power plant that was issued (or will be issued) its construction permit, or combined license for construction and operation, by the applicable regulatory authority on or following January 1, 2000. The New Reactors OM Code (NROMC) Task Group (TG) of the ASME Code for Operation and Maintenance of Nuclear Power Plants (NROMC TG) is assigned the task of ensuring that the preservice testing (PST) and IST provisions in the ASME OM Code to address pumps, valves, and dynamic restraints (snubbers) in post-2000 nuclear power plants are adequate to provide reasonable assurance that the components will operate as needed when called upon. Currently, the NROMC TG is preparing proposed guidance for the treatment of active pumps, valves, and dynamic restraints with high safety significance in non-safety systems in passive post-2000 reactors including SMRs.

EDF Decommissioning Programme: A Global Commitment to a Sustainable Development

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Jacques Grenouillet
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Early Closure

Nowadays, decommissioning of nuclear power plants has become a key issue for nuclear industry in Europe. The phasing out of nuclear energy in Germany, Belgium and Sweden, as well as the early closure of nuclear units in applicant countries in the frame of EU enlargement, has largely contributed to consider decommissioning as the next challenge to face. The situation is slightly different in France where nuclear energy is still considered as a safe, cost-effective and environment friendly energy source. Electricite´ de France (EDF) is working on the development of a new generation of reactor to replace the existing one and erection of a new nuclear power plant could start in the next few years. Nevertheless, to achieve this objective, it will be necessary to get the support of political decision-makers and the acceptance of public opinion. Due to the growing concern of these stakeholders for environmental issues, their support can only be obtained if it is possible to demonstrate that nuclear energy industry will not leave behind unsolved issues that will be a burden to the next generations. In this context decommissioning of the first generation of EDF NPPs constitutes a prerequisite for the erection of a new type of nuclear power plant. This paper will present the programme defined by EDF for the decommissioning of its nine already shutdown reactors (Fig. 1). The reasons of the recent evolution of EDF decommissioning strategy will be explained and the key issues that will contribute to the successful implementation of this programme will be addressed. Finally, what has been achieved on sites so far and major planned activities will be described.

scholarly journals Inservice Testing Program Improvements for New Reactors: Small Modular Reactors

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Lippy
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Small Modular Reactors ◽  
American Society ◽  
Construction Permit ◽  
Regulatory Commission

The nuclear industry is preparing for the licensing and construction of new nuclear power plants in the United States. Several new designs have been developed, including more traditional evolutionary designs, passive reactor designs, and small modular reactors (SMRs). ASME (formerly the American Society of Mechanical Engineers) provides specific codes used to perform inspections and testing, both preservice and inservice, for many of the components used in the new reactor designs. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews information provided by applicants related to inservice testing (IST) programs for design certification (DC) and combined license (COL) applications under Part 52, “Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,” of Title 10, “Energy,” of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 52) (Reference 1). The 2012 Edition of the ASME OM Code, Operation and Maintenance of Nuclear Power Plants, defines a post-2000 plant as a nuclear power plant that was issued (or will be issued) its construction permit, or combined license for construction and operation, by the applicable regulatory authority on or after January 1, 2000. The ASME New Reactors OM Code (NROMC) Task Group (TG) is assigned the task of ensuring that the preservice testing (PST) and inservice testing (IST) provisions in the ASME OM Code are adequate to provide reasonable assurance that pumps, valves, and dynamic restraints (snubbers) for post-2000 plants will operate when needed. Currently, the NROMC TG is preparing proposed guidance for the treatment of active pumps, valves, and dynamic restraints with high safety significance in nonsafety systems for passive post-2000 plants, including SMRs. (Note: For purposes of this paper, “post-2000 plant” and “new reactor” are used interchangeably throughout.) Paper published with permission.

Robotics in the Nuclear Environment: Inspection and Repairs Inside the Primary Coolant System

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Tortolano ◽  
Jacques Guillet
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Primary Coolant ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Nuclear Plants ◽  
Plant Operations ◽  
On Line ◽  
The Cost

EDF is the French national power generating utility. It has built and operates 58 pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plants on 19 sites. Of these, thirty-four are 900 megawatt units (the first of which, the Fessenheim NPP, came on line in 1977), twenty are 1300 MW units, and four are 1450 MW units, the latest of which, at the Civaux plant, came on line in 1998. The average age of these nuclear power plants is thus 20 years. They produce close to 85% of the power EDF generates in France. Renewal of the nuclear plants is under study, as are other means of power generation. For the moment, EDF is requesting approval to run its nuclear plants for up to 40 years. Moreover, it has started a major project on the lifetime of PWR reactors, the main objective of which is to extend the authorized lifetime to 60 years. Major requirements for maintaining the current performance of the French nuclear generating facility and reducing the cost per kWh generated include optimization of expenses and reduction of fuel costs. These factors enabled the cost per kWh to be reduced by 13% in 2001. One way to reduce costs involves optimization of maintenance programs and methods. However, increasing the operating lifetime of plants, and the concomitant ageing of equipment and materials, is likely to result in increasing maintenance requirements. For this reason it is important to establish new, more cost-effective maintenance methods in order to keep costs down. Some of these methods make use of robotics. They make it possible for work to be carried out from the inside of circuits, for inspections and even for repair if defects are detected. The results presented here are those of work carried out by the EDF R&D division on behalf of the Nuclear Power Plant Operations (NPPO) division.

Integrating Safety, Operations, Security, and Safeguards Into the Design of Small Modular Reactors

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bobby D. Middleton ◽  
Carmen Mendez
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Regulatory Structure ◽  
Operational Costs ◽  
Small Modular Reactors

The existing regulatory structure for nuclear power plants impacts both the design and the operation of the facility [1]. The current structure has been known to be overly conservative in several instances. This overly conservative approach results in operational costs to the facility that decrease the profit margin for nuclear power companies. The current design and build process also results in expensive retrofitting and contributes excess costs to the operations of the facility [1]. The current fleet of nuclear reactors is composed mainly of large light water reactors (LWRs) that can, to some extent, counteract these operational costs by the sheer volume of energy produced. However, the deliberately small size of small modular reactors (SMRs) prevents them from benefitting from this economy of scale. In order to be built and operated economically, SMR vendors must find ways to bring the life cycle costs in line with the economic requirements of nuclear power companies. Sandia National Laboratories has developed a framework that allows vendors and operators to address many of the operational costs during the design and manufacture stages of the SMR life cycle. The framework allows certain operational costs to be addressed in the design stages, thereby decreasing the operational costs, especially those costs associated with staffing and retrofitting. The framework pulls together best practices that have been applied successfully in other industries. Concurrent Engineering (CE) frames the procedural stages, from defining the expectations of the facility deployment, through the identification of regulatory requirements, to the pre-conceptual, conceptual and detailed design stages. A Project Management Organization is critical to the time management and success of implementing CE. The use of Integrated Safety, Operations, Security, and Safeguards (ISOSS) will lead to achieve a more efficient, cost-effective, and reliable plant. The Balance Model is introduced as a tool to document conflicts between functional areas and identify balancing strategies for conflict resolution in the requirements. Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) is proposed as a variable for decision making. Facility Lifecycle Management with Building Information Modeling (BIM) is encouraged to support the Build, Activation, Continued Operations and Decommissioning of the facility [1]. To ensure that the deployment of SMR is effective and cost efficient, the ideal time to implement the framework is now, before SMR designs reach the detailed stage. SMRs hold a lot of potential and this framework can help the nuclear industry realize that potential.

scholarly journals An Approach to Analyze Diagnosis Errors in Advanced Main Control Room Operations Using the Cause-Based Decision Tree Method

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3832
Author(s):  
Awwal Mohammed Arigi ◽  
Gayoung Park ◽  
Jonghyun Kim
Keyword(s):  
Decision Tree ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Human Error ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Emergency Operation ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Control Rooms ◽  
Diagnosis Errors

Advancements in the nuclear industry have led to the development of fully digitized main control rooms (MCRs)—often termed advanced MCRs—for newly built nuclear power plants (NPPs). Diagnosis is a major part of the cognitive activity in NPP MCRs. Advanced MCRs are expected to improve the working environment and reduce human error, especially during the diagnosis of unexpected scenarios. However, with the introduction of new types of tasks and errors by digital MCRs, a new method to analyze the diagnosis errors in these new types of MCRs is required. Task analysis for operator diagnosis in an advanced MCR based on emergency operation was performed to determine the error modes. The cause-based decision tree (CBDT) method—originally developed for analog control rooms—was then revised to a modified CBDT (MCBDT) based on the error mode categorizations. This work examines the possible adoption of the MCBDT method for the evaluation of diagnosis errors in advanced MCRs. We have also provided examples of the application of the proposed method to some common human failure events in emergency operations. The results show that with some modifications of the CBDT method, the human reliability in advanced MCRs can be reasonably estimated.

Architecting “Maintenance Program” for Piping and Pipe Support

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koichi Tsumori ◽  
Yoshizumi Fukuhara ◽  
Hiroyuki Terunuma ◽  
Koji Yamamoto ◽  
Satoshi Momiyama
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Maintenance Management ◽  
3D Cad ◽  
Cad System ◽  
Nuclear Disaster ◽  
Safety Regulations ◽  
Maintenance Program

A new inspection standard that enhanced quality of operating /maintenance management of the nuclear power plant was introduced in 2009. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (Mar. 11th 2011), the situation surrounding the nuclear industry has dramatically changed, and the requirement for maintenance management of nuclear power plants is pushed for more stringent nuclear safety regulations. The new inspection standard requires enhancing equipment maintenance. It is necessary to enhance maintenance of not only equipment but also piping and pipe support. In this paper, we built the methodology for enhancing maintenance plan by rationalizing and visualizing of piping and pipe support based on the “Maintenance Program” in cooperating with 3D-CAD system.

Research Progress on Radiation Shielding Concrete

2012 ◽  
Vol 253-255 ◽  
pp. 303-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yang ◽  
Zhen Fu Chen ◽  
Yuan Chu Gan ◽  
Qiu Wang Tao
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Waste ◽  
Material Properties ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Radiation Shielding ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
Concrete Durability ◽  
Technology Research ◽  
Shielding Material

Radiation shielding concrete is widely used in nuclear power plants, accelerators, hospitals, etc. With the development of nuclear industry technology, research on radiation shielding material properties is of great importance. Research on properties of radiation shielding concrete with different aggregates or admixtures and the effect of high temperature on the performance of shielding concrete are introduced. Along with the nuclear waste increase, shielding concrete durability and nuclear waste disposal are getting paramount.

Solar Concentrating Systems Using Small Mirror Arrays

2009 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Göttsche ◽  
Bernhard Hoffschmidt ◽  
Stefan Schmitz ◽  
Markus Sauerborn ◽  
Reiner Buck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Steel Structure ◽  
Steel Structures ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Wind Loads ◽  
Drive Systems ◽  
Mirror Area ◽  
The Cost

The cost of solar tower power plants is dominated by the heliostat field making up roughly 50% of investment costs. Classical heliostat design is dominated by mirrors brought into position by steel structures and drives that guarantee high accuracies under wind loads and thermal stress situations. A large fraction of costs is caused by the stiffness requirements of the steel structure, typically resulting in ∼20 kg/m2 steel per mirror area. The typical cost figure of heliostats (figure mentioned by Solucar at Solar Paces Conference, Seville, 2006) is currently in the area of 150 €/m2 caused by the increasing price of the necessary raw materials. An interesting option to reduce costs lies in a heliostat design where all moving parts are protected from wind loads. In this way, drives and mechanical layout may be kept less robust, thereby reducing material input and costs. In order to keep the heliostat at an appropriate size, small mirrors (around 10×10 cm2) have to be used, which are placed in a box with a transparent cover. Innovative drive systems are developed in order to obtain a cost-effective design. A 0.5×0.5 m2 demonstration unit will be constructed. Tests of the unit are carried out with a high-precision artificial sun unit that imitates the sun’s path with an accuracy of less than 0.5 mrad and creates a beam of parallel light with a divergence of less than 4 mrad.

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