NUCLEAR POWER
OUTAGE COMPLETED AHEAD OF SCHEDULE DESPITE PANDEMIC
generator outage at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, Romania, with no safety incident – during the Covid-19 pandemic. Originally scheduled for April, the outage was postponed until September as Covid-19 spread across the region. However, at Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica’s (SNN) request, the project was
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re-accelerated to begin in June. The work at Cernavoda was
completed in just 30 days as part of a multi-year service agreement with SNN. The lone nuclear plant in Romania plays a critical role in the country’s power structure, fulfilling about 20% of its overall electricity needs with reliable and CO2
-free baseload power. “Cernavoda is among the most
important sources of power in Romania,” said Cosmin Ghita, CEO of SNN. “Keeping
E Steam Power has completed a major steam turbine and
the site operational to deliver CO2 -free
power is critical to both our country’s energy supply and environmental commitments. We recognise that completing this outage on an accelerated schedule during a pandemic took professionalism and creativity.” One of the biggest challenges
during the project involved getting all needed field personnel to the Cernavoda site from outside Europe. Although GE largely draws on local resources to support its European
customers, this outage required several field specialists from the USA to perform the work, including generator and field materials exclusion maintenance. With flight restrictions and unexpected cancellations due to the pandemic, GE took the unusual step of hiring a charter flight to transport the specialists. GE also brought in two Environmental, Health and Safety experts to oversee safety
protocols throughout the project while SNN tested the onsite workers daily. “Sometimes extraordinary times
require extraordinary measures,” says Paul Wise, General Manager, GE Steam Power Europe. “In close collaboration with SNN, we were able to make possible what felt in May like the impossible.”
For more information visit
www.ge.com
NEW TYPE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR TO BE DEVELOPED IN UK
acobs has been selected by Moltex Energy to support its development of a new type of nuclear power plant – the Stable Salt Reactor. Jacobs will build a bespoke experimental facility for thermal transfer
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testing at its R&D facility in the UK. Based on breakthrough science,
Moltex Energy’s Stable Salt Reactor
is designed to generate low-cost electricity by burning processed spent fuel pellets which would otherwise have to be stored as radioactive waste. To assist with validation of thermal
transfer modelling, Jacobs’ chemistry, materials, engineering, instrumentation and modelling teams will collaborate to create a technically complex simulation to replicate the heat output of a fuel channel and to validate computational fluid dynamics modelling of the thermal transfer across the fuel assemblies into the coolant.
Moltex already uses Jacobs’ Answers
software for radiation transport modelling and simulation of reactor performance. “We’re looking forward to continuing our support for Moltex into this new phase of development,” said Clive White from Jacobs. “The Stable Salt Reactor design is significant because of its potential to recycle waste in a clean, safe and economical way, generating electricity that will power communities while reducing carbon emissions.” Moltex has been awarded more than US$6 million in funding from Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy to help develop the reactor.
For more information visit
www.jacobs.com
www.engineerlive.com 49
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