World Association Of Nuclear Operators Research Articles

Study on Performance of New Flexible Shielding Materials and First Demonstration Application in Chinese Pressurized Water Reactor Nuclear Power Plant

Abstract Excessive gamma rays will be emitted when a nuclear power plant is under overhaul, leading to a certain number of hotspots. To meet the shielding requirements of these hotspots, a new type of flexible shielding material with a “sandwich structure” has been developed. The new flexible shielding materials consist of two parts: one is silicone rubber with excellent physical and chemical properties by adding reasonable multicomponent additives as a matrix, and the other is lead powder as a shielding body. This kind of material, with lead powder dispersed uniformly in silicone rubber, was prepared through a mixing process. Based on this, the article has carried on the discussion with the performance of the functional layer of the new flexible shielding materials. The problem of the process stability of ultrafine powder distributed uniformly in a matrix with various densities among different regions has been solved as well. Furthermore, this kind of material has been adopted at the Chinese pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant as the first demonstration project. The site shielding effect has been recognized by the World Association of Nuclear Operators. As a result of this research, it is possible that the design of a radiation shield for a short or long time can be made quickly when a nuclear power plant is running or being overhauled. Meanwhile, this study is of great significance for the popularization and application of shielding materials.

Flow-accelerated corrosion 2016 international conference

The paper discusses materials and results of the most representative world forum on the problems of flow-accelerated metal corrosion in power engineering—Flow-Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) 2016, the international conference, which was held in Lille (France) from May 23 through May 27, 2016, sponsored by EdF-DTG with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). The information on major themes of reports and materials of the exhibition arranged within the framework of the congress is presented. The statistics on operation time and intensity of FAC wall thinning of NPP pipelines and equipment in the world is set out. The paper describes typical examples of flow-accelerated corrosion damage of condensate-feed and wet-steam pipeline components of nuclear and thermal power plants that caused forced shutdowns or accidents. The importance of research projects on the problem of flow-accelerated metal corrosion of nuclear power units coordinated by the IAEA with the participation of leading experts in this field from around the world is considered. The reports presented at the conference considered issues of implementation of an FAC mechanism in single- and two-phase flows, the impact of hydrodynamic and water-chemical factors, the chemical composition of the metal, and other parameters on the intensity and location of FAC wall thinning localized areas in pipeline components and power equipment. Features and patterns of local and general FAC leading to local metal thinning and contamination of the working environment with ferriferous compounds are considered. Main trends of modern practices preventing FAC wear of NPP pipelines and equipment are defined. An increasing role of computer codes for the assessment and prediction of FAC rate, as well as software systems of support of the NPP personnel for the inspection planning and prevention of FAC wall thinning of equipment operating in singleand two-phase flows, is accepted. Different lines of attack on the problem of FAC of pipelines and equipment components of existing and future nuclear power units are reviewed. Promising methods of nondestructive inspection of pipelines and equipment are presented.

The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists' FOCUS Initiative: Locating Errors Through Networked Surveillance (LENS) Project Vision

The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists' FOCUS Initiative: Locating Errors Through Networked Surveillance (LENS) Project Vision

The World Institute for Nuclear Security: Filling a Gap in the Global Nuclear Security Regime

for Nuclear Security (WINS). Mohammed ElBaradei, then the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that “WINS fills an urgent gap in our need to strengthen the nuclear security system.” But the key question is, what is that gap? Cast your mind back to April 26, 1986, and the accident at Chernobyl that shocked the world and all but stopped further expansion of and investment in nuclear power. After that accident, “nuclear operators world-wide realized that the consequences had an effect on every nuclear power plant and international cooperation was needed to ensure that such an accident can never happen again.” That statement is from the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), which was formed in May 1989 by nuclear operators worldwide to exchange operating experience and peer review so members could learn from one another’s experiences, challenges, and best practices, the ultimate goal being to improve plant safety, reliability, and performance. But WANO only handles nuclear safety. WINS was established to pursue similar objectives in improving nuclear security. In a world facing a global terrorist threat, we cannot afford to wait for a “security Chernobyl” before we take collaborative action to improve security. WINS is designed to complement, not compete with, existing efforts to improve nuclear security around the world.

The World Nuclear University Summer Institute – a forum for nuclear knowledge transfer and leadership

The World Nuclear University (WNU) is a global partnership of nuclear learning institutions, founded in 2003 by the World Nuclear Association (WNA), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). The mission of this new university is to enhance global nuclear education, foster communication and build leadership in nuclear science and technology. The annual Summer Institute, the most advanced of a series of programmes being developed by the WNU Coordinating Centre, is a global academy to build knowledge and perspectives for a new generation of nuclear leaders. It covers a wide range of technical, political, environmental and social issues surrounding a broad expansion of peaceful applications of nuclear technology. There are now 367 fellows from 58 countries who have completed this WNU initiative. An outstanding group of speakers from all around the world share their knowledge on a wide range of topics, demonstrating a personal commitment to professional expertise and a strong sense of purpose to transfer valuable knowledge to the younger generation. This article provides an overview of the WNU and its Summer Institute programme, including the role of the latter in knowledge preservation and building future leadership for the nuclear industry.

Nuclear power challenges and alternatives

The comment by Walter Scheider that Three Mile Island “remains an icon of a profit-driven industry cutting corners” echoes one by Anatoly Alexandrov, president of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and a strong supporter of the “RBMK” reactor, a particular type built only in Russia and used in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Alexandrov said that “such an accident [as TMI] can only happen in America where they put profits ahead of safety.” Lecturing in Dubna, Moscow, and Gatchina just after TMI, I told listeners that if they believed Alexandrov, they were condemned to have a serious accident in the country within a decade. Alas, I was right. The centrally planned economy of the Soviet Union did far worse in ensuring safety than the US, and the Chernobyl accident occurred.The profit motive, if suitably guided by good analysis tools, can enhance safety. Fortunately, we now have “risk-informed regulation.”Much of the improvement in safety since TMI has been profit driven. It was the industry that set up the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the World Association of Nuclear Operators. Those organizations set safety targets and guidelines and put pressure on members to follow them. Analysis by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and university groups strongly suggests that if the safety targets and procedures, guided by a rigorous analysis, are met, the reactor will be safer. Other than closing it, the safest way to operate a power plant is to have it running smoothly and continuously. That is also the most profitable, so the requirements of safety and profitability tend to coincide; the analysis spotlights those areas where they do not. Industry efforts have increased plant availability from 60% in the 1970s to 92% today.The cost of nuclear power to the consumer depends very much on public acceptance, and it is the antinuclear movement that has set up the expensive, often unscientific roadblocks to that acceptance. There are signs that improved plant performance in the past 20 years has increased public acceptance and therefore profitability. 1 1. R. Wilson, Int. J. Global Energy Issues (in press). However, few utility company presidents would order a new nuclear power plant today without some assurance that past roadblocks will not be reinstituted.Although disposal of the waste from nuclear fission is a problem, it is a much smaller one than the disposal of carbon dioxide from burning coal. That waste can produce the climate change that is Alan Robock’s professional concern. But his stated opinion that “the waste disposal problem is not solvable in the near future” can only apply to the political problem rather than to the scientific one. Independent committees agree that a technical solution is possible. Political maneuvers in late 2005 delayed or prevented the temporary storage of nuclear waste on the Goshute Indian Reservation in Utah. It is but one example of the political impasses that delay the storage of nuclear waste material. The funding cut in December 2006 for the US Department of Energy’s presentation of the case for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository is another.Scheider and the authors of the references he quoted incorrectly blame the power company for the confusion at TMI. However, neither the Associated Press nor any major newspaper accurately quoted the press releases from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. From noon on the day of the accident, I was involved in explaining events to the public, and I could say with assurance that the expressed fears were vastly overstated. I recommended that the press quote NRC press releases verbatim and then comment as they wished, but that recommendation was ignored.A study by the European Commission (http://externe.jrc.es/index.html) states unequivocally that if coal plants were forced to pay their full external costs, they would not be built. But Scheider is right in one important respect. The lay public is not stupid, and the details of nuclear power can be explained to them. For such an explanation I recommend David Bodansky’s excellent book. 2 2. D. Bodansky, Nuclear Energy: Principles, Practices, and Prospects, 2nd ed., Springer, New York (2004). REFERENCESSection:ChooseTop of pageREFERENCES <<1. R. Wilson, Int. J. Global Energy Issues (in press). Google Scholar2. D. Bodansky, Nuclear Energy: Principles, Practices, and Prospects, 2nd ed., Springer, New York (2004). Google Scholar© 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Operational experience feedback in the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO)

Operators in high-risk industries need to be learning organisations, learning from themselves and from the others. This presentation will describe how the nuclear industry is dealing in an integrated manner with the feedback of operating experience (OE), both internal and external, to increase the safety and reliability of power plants; it will describe how it • investigates events • reports events and analyses trends • shares information to prevent recurrence • performs corrective action and training • performs assessments to verify effectiveness The plants have achieved great improvements in performance overall, and to improve further, the industry is evolving. Instead of just learning from past events (reactive) it is now focusing on lower level indications of problems (precursors) through low level events reporting, trending and analysis. A hallmark of the industry is its desire to be self-critical. Emphasis is placed on improving the bottom quartile performing plants.

Nuclear safety. Nuclear power plants and their fuel as terrorist targets.

D. M. Chapin, Principal Officer, I. H. Mandil, and T. Rockwell, Founders and Board Members, MPR Associates, Inc., Alexandria, VA 22314-3230, USA. K. P. Cohen, Chief Scientist, Nuclear Energy Group, General Electric Co., Retired. W. K. Davis, Vice President, Bechtel Corporation, Retired. E. E. Kintner, Executive Vice President, GPU Nuclear Corporation, Retired. L. J. Koch, Vice President, Illinois Power Company, Retired. J. W. Landis, Chairman, Public Safety Standards Group, Weston, MA 02493, USA. M. Levenson, Vice President, Bechtel International, Retired. Z. T. Pate, Chairman Emeritus, World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), Atlanta, GA 30339, USA. A. Schriesheim, Director Emeritus, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA. J. W. Simpson, Executive Vice President, Westinghouse Electric Corp. and Westinghouse Power Systems, Retired. A. Squire, Consultant, Durham, NC 27704, USA. C. Starr, President Emeritus, Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. H. E. Stone, Vice President and Chief Engineer--Nuclear Energy, General Electric Company, Retired. J. J. Taylor, Vice President, Nuclear Power, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA 94303, USA, Retired. N. E. Todreas, Professor of Nuclear and Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Bertram Wolfe, Vice President and General Manager, General Electric Co., Retired. E. L. Zebroski, Consultant, Los Altos, CA 94024, USA.

UK Nuclear power plants?aspiring to world-class performance

This paper describes an approach to achieving world(-lass operation of the UK nuclear power stations. Although focused on the activities of British Energy, it is important to appreciate that in nuclear safety issues British Energy works closely with BNFL Magnox Generation (both were part of the original nationalised CEGB) and many of the initiatives described are similar to those adopted by that company. Initially, British Energy adopted a definition of world-class nuclear performance' based on the upper decile of a subset of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) performance indicators which are measured on all plants. Working closely with BNFL Magnox Generation and WANO Paris Centre, the peer review programme and the optimum use of operating experience have been identified as the key high-level enablers which, if adopted, will ensure that the detailed attributes and behaviours necessary to achieve world-class performance will be deployed.

Eastern European nuclear power plant standards

The nuclear power plants designed and constructed under the regime of the former Soviet Union are an essential source of power within both the Russian Federation and the emergent democratic countries of central and eastern Europe. The beginning of `glasnost&apos; opened up pathways to allow practical measures to be taken to enhance the safety standards of Soviet designed reactors. Ensuring that these reactors are operated or dismantled to meet accepted safety standards for nuclear technology is both a challenging task for these countries and for the expert assistance being made available from western countries. In this context the author discusses the work of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) is a utility organisation solely concerned with the operational safety of nuclear power plants (NPP) throughout the world. WANOs sole aim is to bring about technical assistance to allow the enhancement of an NPP by providing a mechanism for the comprehensive exchange of information and `knowhow&apos;, a vital commodity for many power suppliers in the East.