PITTSBURGH, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company
recently set a site record for completing an integrated team refueling
outage in just 25 days at the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station (Unit 2) near
Syracuse, N.Y. The outage team also achieved better-than-estimated dose
results and no OSHA-recordable incidents.
The scope of the Nine Mile Point project included refueling floor
activities, under- and in-vessel inspections, fuel sipping, TENSOR
(tensioning equipment) upgrades, and crane/refuel bridge maintenance. The
outage crew used the Double-Up Inspection Tool(TM) (DUIT(TM)) to inspect
178 welds, saving 60 hours of critical path schedule. The DUIT allows for
In-Vessel Visual Inspection (IVVI) to be conducted in parallel with
refueling and in-vessel maintenance. The team also used a Multi-Lift Tool
(MLT) for control rod exchange, the only tool that will disassemble and
reassemble a control cell in one step by lifting the control rod, fuel
support piece and double blade guide simultaneously. The MLT tool allows
for work to be completed more quickly and with less radiation dose to
workers. The project team overall was able to cut dose to workers nearly in
half from the previous outage by limiting access to the refuel floor and
optimizing Westinghouse tools, experience, and training.
Additionally, project fuel movers completed the reload of fuel in 99
hours, under the scheduled 118 hours. The under-vessel team completed its
work two days ahead of schedule and 2 rem under the dose goal without any
personnel contamination.
"Beyond the work that was performed on site, the success of the project
can largely be attributed to preparation," said Duane Snyder, Westinghouse
project director for Nine Mile Point. "We worked closely with the Nine Mile
Point site team four months prior to the outage and teamed with them on the
outage schedule, pre-outage refuel floor maintenance activities, and
specific task training."
Using lessons learned from the spring 2006 outage, Westinghouse expects
to surpass the Nine Mile Point Unit 2 record when it services Unit 1 in
March 2007.
The integrated Westinghouse team at Nine Mile Point included
Westinghouse subsidiaries WesDyne International and PaR Nuclear, as well as
TENSOR AB (Sweden), Sonic Systems International, and Master-Lee Energy
Services Corporation.
Westinghouse Electric Company is the world's pioneering nuclear power
company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and
technologies to utilities throughout the world. Today, Westinghouse
technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating
nuclear plants.
SOURCE Westinghouse Electric Company
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Related links:
http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/127481.html/
CONTACT:
Vaughn Gilbert of Westinghouse Electric
Company, +1-412-374-3896, or gilberhv@Westinghouse.com
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