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Nuclear Power Engineering
Power Uprating in Nuclear Power Plants
An uprating project normally requires a systematic review of the safety analysis, nuclear fuel and plant, structures, systems and components (SCC). Understanding the implications of the new power level on plant operation, plant design margins and licensing basis issues is critical to a successful programme. A good feasibility study can be an essential support to a successful project. From a programmatic point of view, well known project management practices, application of appropriate resources, communication among participating organizations and use of an integrated project schedule/software are important tools for project planning and execution.
From experience, the secondary plant structures, systems and components are more challenging considering that design information may be incomplete, or just not available. For older plants, what is considered necessary documentation for today's environment might not have been required in the past.
The whole power uprate project can be considered also as an opportunity to address equipment aging and obsolescence issues, improve understanding of plant margins, incorporate plant efficiency improvements, create better interaction with license renewal and improve knowledge leveling of design and operations.
The largest part of the power uprate project is composed of an engineering effort that provides analyses demonstrating that all other SSCs are adequate for the proposed level of power uprate.
In summary, a power uprate, exclusive of the modification packages and start-up testing planning, consists primarily of a large engineering effort. By its nature, this engineering effort must be carefully coordinated with other stakeholders such as Operations, Maintenance, Training and Licensing.
Activities in 2010
| Date | Meeting | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 8-10 Sep | Workshop on experiences and practices on power uprates | Shanghai, China |
| 27-30 Sep | Regional workshop on side effects and lessons learned for power uprate in WWER NPPs | Podolsk, Russia |
Publications
IAEA Nuclear Energy Series No. NP-T-3.9 Power Uprate in Nuclear Power Plants: Guidelines and Experience