Nuclear Power in the United States

Joseph Naser Electric Power Research Institute IAEA Technical Working Group on Nuclear Power Plant Control and Instrumentation (TWG-NPPCI) May 20-22, 2009 Vienna, Austria

Nuclear Power Plants in the United States

• Operating plants: – 104 with a total net installed capacity of ~100 GW(e) – 51 plants have approved license extensions from 40 to 60 years – 18 license extension applications under NRC review – 21 license extension applications announced so far • New plants: – 1 currently under construction – 4 new plant certified designs and 3 more designs under review – 17 COL license applications submitted for 26 new units – All based on digital I&C and HSI technology © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Interest in Extending License to 80 Years

• Survey of executives in 2007 • Significant thought given to long-term operation • 87% believe license renewal past 60 years is likely • Driven by economics and expected carbon constraints © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Benefit of Extending License to 80 Years

Nuclear Electricity Generating Capacity

500 400 300 200 100 2005 2015 2025 Current Reactors, 40 years 2035 New Capacity Being Considered 8 Builds per year starting 2049 2045 2055 Current Reactors, 60 Years 2065 4 Builds per year starting 2021 Generating Capacity with 80-year life 2075 4

EPRI Long-Term Operation Program

• Addresses actions needed from today until end of 80-year or longer operating life • Additional or accelerated projects to facilitate decisions in 2015 time frame • Projects address capacity factor, reliability, cost and/or safety • Project areas identified: – Instrumentation and control – Materials aging – Nuclear fuel – Safety analysis • Coordinate with DOE LWR Sustainability Program © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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DOE LWR Sustainability Program

• Vision “Existing nuclear power plants will continue to safely provide clean and affordable electricity beyond their first license extension periods…” • Goals – Develop fundamental scientific basis – Apply knowledge in collaborative public-private partnerships – Apply new technologies to address obsolescence • Program – 11-year program (2009 to 2020) – Coordinated by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) – EPRI working with INL and others to define R&D Pathways © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Issues to Address for Viable and Robust I&C and HSI for LTO

• Several critical issues need to be addressed to allow operating plants to have long term operation up to 80 years or even more, examples are: – Aging and obsolescence – Need for new staff and bringing up their level of expertise quickly – Maintain high levels of safety and meet new regulatory and environmental requirements – Reduce the likelihood of human error, equipment damage, forced outages, exposure to radiation and other harsh environmental conditions (e.g., heat, cold, chemical) and challenges to safety © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Issues to Address for Viable and Robust I&C and HSI for LTO

(continued)

– Maintain economic viability (improve efficiency and reliability and reduce time to perform jobs, time on critical path during outages, need for rework) – Leverage scarce resources – Supplemental workers need to be trained and brought to acceptable performance levels as quickly as possible – Technologies expected by younger generation needed to attract them into the industry • New tools and capabilities needed to address the issues to enable extended plant operation © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Operation of Nuclear Power Plants Beyond 60 Years

• Extended lifetimes – Will necessitate I&C and HSI modernization – and more than once, need to “design for replacement” – Provide the opportunities to gain substantial benefits from digital I&C and HSI © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Sensors and Data Collection and Transmission

• Provide more and better information – Harsh environment tolerant • Smart transmitters/sensors • Fiber optics – Wireless sensors and sensor networks – Self-testing, self-diagnostic, error tolerant, self-correcting – I&C, HSI, information and communications architectures – Micro and nano technologies © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Monitoring, Diagnostics and Prognostics

Tech Exam Database OLM / FWM / TPM Analysis Tools Enhanced EAM Tool Risk Informed Maintenance Tool Diagnostic Advisor SME Plant Process Data AFS Database Design Experience PM / FMEA Database

• Support equipment reliability and predictive maintenance to reduce likelihood of equipment damage, unplanned outages and safety challenges as well as maintenance costs and likelihood of human maintenance errors: – On-line monitoring, early fault detection, and diagnostics including the use of wireless – Prognostic capabilities – Integration of static information with active monitoring – Estimation techniques for accuracy of diagnostics and prognostics – Centralized monitoring for best access to experts – Automation of monitoring and analysis to help centralized staff – General reduction in staffing needs for subject matter experts (SMEs) – General reduction in development time for SMEs that are needed

Plant Staff

© 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Simulation & Visualization

• Simulation capabilities, enhanced visualization and interactive interfaces – Revolutionize training (operations, maintenance, security, …) improving quality and reducing time consumption – Improve planning and decision-making (including faster-than-real time simulation) – Improve design, reduce errors and facilitate early input from users – Link design, procurement, planning, installation, and plant acceptance into a seamless information process – Support development, tuning, dynamic performance testing, man in-the-loop operability testing and human factors evaluation – Support rapid evaluation of proposed changes – Reduce likelihood of human errors – Provide visualization of key documents showing interrelationships and linking references © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Automation & Intelligent Agents

• Aids to reduce workload and likelihood of human errors – Automate procedures and activities more timely, accurately, and easily done by a system – Automate repetitive, time-consuming and error-prone activities – Use intelligent agents for information access with minimum human effort and time consumption – Incorporate automatic checks for human and system activities – Reduce time demands and stress levels allowing humans to better focus on essential activities – Enable humans to do what they do best and systems to do what they do best © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Human-System Interfaces

• Facilitate well-informed situation awareness and decision-making – Emphasis on user-friendly design for the user to accomplish job – Apply human factors engineering principles – Information presented in a manner that it is quickly and easily understood – Present preconditioned decision quality information © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Technology Transfer & Training

• Knowledge capture and presentation • Computer-based training • Interactive technical reports • Workshops and training classes • Collection of industry (including other industries) operating experience – Lessons learned – Best practices – Avoid learning curve mishaps • Integrate knowledge captured into the design information, training content, procedure content structure for life time retention and use © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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New Plants

• Increase benefits through implementation of digital I&C and HSI, information and communications technologies for the first wave of plants and pursue even greater benefits for future waves; e.g., – Increased functionality and automation – Improved technical specifications – New support systems – … • Take advantage of what is being done in other countries’ nuclear plants and in other industries © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Challenges Still Remain

• Business cases needed to get approval for new systems • Technologies and systems must support safe and economic operation and reduce likelihood of human error • Design, technical, implementation, and regulatory challenges must be overcome • The proof of concept, pilot testing, and field implementation cycle must be shortened • Training on new technologies • Nuclear industry global, need as much common agreement on technical and regulatory requirements as possible • Regulatory issues and guidance need to be addressed generically to reduce costs, risks and time required to license new plants and to modernize operating plants © 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Questions?

© 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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