Upgrading Emergency Diesel Generators at Nuclear Power Plants
Many nuclear power plants around the world have or will receive extensions to their 40-year licenses in order to operate beyond their original design lives. Important plant safety systems are aging and in need of upgrades or replacement to support continued operation for 20 or more years. Emergency diesel generators (EDGs) in nuclear power plants are critical systems necessary to mitigate the consequences of accidents. The EDGs in nuclear power plants spend most of their time in standby conditions, ready to start and power the emergency equipment necessary to safety shut down the plant. These EDGs typically have operated for fewer than 4,000 hours in those 40 years of service and are often considered to be barely ’broken in.’ In some cases, there is very little margin between the rated capacity of the EDGs and the connected emergency loads, as the plants have increased their emergency safe shut down loads. The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of many EDGs are out of business, and as a result, there are limited technical assistance and spare parts support available. All EDGs in nuclear power plants must meet very stringent quality assurance, design and performance requirements defined by industry and regulatory codes and standards (References 1-4). This paper addresses the technical and regulatory issues associated with the replacement of the two existing EDGs at a nuclear power plant in South Korea with a new EDG design that had not previously been qualified for service in nuclear power plants. It describes the approach used throughout the EDG replacement project, including : (1) evaluating the feasibility of replacement of the EDGs, (2) developing the new EDG design requirements, (3) preparing an EDG procurement specification, (4) working with the EDG vendor to qualify the new EDG (if not already qualified), (5) specifying and performing factory testing of the assembled EDGs, (6) developing plant modification design package for the EDG replacement, (7) completing the removal of the old EDGs and installation of the new EDGs and (8) completing the EDG site testing.
Arthur G. Killinger Mark J. OConnell
MPR Associates,Inc.,USA MPR Associate,Inc.,USA
国际会议
上海
英文
1-8
2013-05-13（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）