BALANCE OF PLANT | SERVICE & MAINTENANCE
Framatome boosts blasting operations
Installing a new blast room has allowed Framatome to improve safety while cutting costs at its US pump and motor service centre
Daniela Acker, Vice President of Titan Abrasive Systems
PEOPLE OFTEN SAY THAT IN their business, there is no room for error. When talking about the operations at Framatome’s Pump & Motor Service Center in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA, that phrase has never been more accurate. Framatome, an international leader in the nuclear energy
market, prepares components for the motors used to power nuclear reactor cooling pumps. The pumps help move coolant around the primary circuit of a nuclear reactor for heat transfer and to prevent overheating of the core. And, while the motor service centre provides a range of repair services to the nuclear industry, it is the refurbishment and maintenance of coolant pump motor components that represents the lion’s share of the shop’s business. Framatome has refurbished in excess of 130 reactor coolant motors for the US nuclear fleet and countless more globally. The reactor coolant pump set is one of the most highly
radioactive components in a nuclear plant. Since the motors which drive those pumps are also located in the same vicinity, they are also subject to radiological contamination. When these pieces come into Framatome for service, workers put them through a rigorous surface cleaning process that removes all contamination and prepares the components for the next step, which is often a Service Level 1 coating.
The surface cleaning process typically uses sandblasting
or abrasive blasting with a high-pressure stream of air containing abrasive material. Once the process is complete, radiological protection tests are performed to ensure the part is within federal safety guidelines. After blasting the cleaned surface of the component also offers a strong profile necessary to ensure solid adhesion of the new Service Level 1 coating (some washing, degreasing, and even heating processes may be involved as well).
Pump motors require perfection Given the potential consequences of a coolant pump motor failure Framatome re-evaluated its cleaning room operations and determined that a first-class blast room, essential to the process, was needed. The existing room was actually a 14-year-old blast booth that had served its purpose admirably, but had reached the end of its service life. “Previously, our shop technicians moved motor sub-components by overhead crane to our truck bay where we then forklifted the motor into the blast room,” explained Jamie Campbell, General Manager of Framatome’s Pump and Motor Services. “We also had to thoroughly clean our existing blast booth anytime we were loading motors at our shop. The existing booth took
Right: Framatome relies on its blast room from Titan Abrasive systems to refurbish components used in the motors that power nuclear reactor cooling pumps
32 | December 2023 |
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