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Technical Meetings and Conferences
Power Uprate and Side Effects in Nuclear Power Plants, February 2007, Oskarshamn, Sweden
The process of increasing the licensed power level of a commercial NPP is called a "power up-rate". Power up-rates are categorized based on the magnitude of the power increase and the methods used to achieve the increase. Currently the majority of the NPPs have plans for power uprate by larger or smaller amounts. In most cases this is an economic way of producing more electricity in a NPP, and which has attracted interest due to increased electricity prices; a situation that is expected to remain.
The increase in the electricity produced in a NPP can be achieved in two ways:
- One way is to increase the thermal power in the reactor, and
- The other way is to improve the thermal conversion efficiency in the power plant by refurbishing or replacing the high-pressure or low-pressure turbine units - or a combination of these actions.
The increased core power is achieved in boiling water reactors by increasing the core feed water flows and steam flows. The degrees of re-circulation can be retained, with larger steam voids in the cores, or the steam volumes can be held constant by increasing the re-circulation flows. A combination of these measures can also be applied. In the pressurized water reactors the increased power outputs call for an increase either in the core coolant flows or in the mean coolant temperature rise across the cores, or both. In all cases the secondary steam production increases with increased electricity outputs being achieved by the turbo generators.
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The technical meeting (TM) on Power Uprate and Side Effects in Nuclear Power Plants was held at Oskarshamn in Sweden on 12-15 February 2007. A total of 76 participants from 18 countries participated in the meeting and 28 papers were presented. The purpose of the TM is to provide an international forum to share recent technical knowledge and experience relating to the good practices for the management of power uprate and to share lessons learned related to side effects on power uprate issues in nuclear power plants. The TM consists of four technical sessions besides opening and closing sessions.
Those are:
- Session 1: Overview & guidance for power uprate;
- Session 2: Technical issues;
- Session 3: Management issues;
- Session 4: Regulatory aspects.
References:
- Implications of Power Uprates on Safety Margins of Nuclear Power Plants, IAEA-TECDOC-1418, IAEA, Vienna (2004)
- Technical proceedings on Power Uprate and Side Effects