Advanced Nuclear Power - AREVA

Nuclear FuelNuclear FuelSIPPING16 Shortens BWRInspection Time DramaticallyJapan and Taiwan:Growing Demand for Nuclear FuelReliability and cost effectiveness aretwo factors of paramount importancefor any nuclear power plant operator.Framatome ANP has been workingwith plant operators to further optimizeits equipment for inspections offuel assemblies and core componentscarried out at the plant to meet thisrequirement. One result of this collaborationis SIPPING16, a system thatallows all fuel assemblies in the core ofa 1300-MWe BWR plant to be testedin just 16 hours - instead of the 45hours or more needed in the past.Successful on First Deploymentat GundremmingenIn February 2001, Framatome ANPdelivered the first SIPPING16 system• 60 to 70% reduction in inspectiontime• High degree of inspectionreliability• Minimum number of fuelmovements requiredto the German twin-unitGundremmingen BWRplant. It was deployed forthe very first time duringthe refueling outage atUnit B, and passed the testwith flying colors.SIPPING16 - A Productof Experience andInnovationSIPPING16 is a direct successorto Framatome ANP'ssipping hood for eight fuelassemblies that has beensuccessfully used at variousBWR plants since 1992. InSIPPING16, the hood technique hasbeen combined with the serviceproven,on-line scanning systemalready familiar fromFramatome ANP's MAST SIPPINGsystem. The result is a state-of-the-art,on-line in-core sipping technique thatdetects leaking fuel quickly andreliably.The system allows up to 16 fuelassemblies at a time to be tested simultaneouslyfor leak-tightness. It alsoprovides on-the-spot information onfuel integrity. Thus appropriateactions, if necessary, can be taken forfuel assemblies that will remain in thecore for further cycles. Sipping withthis system does not normally requiremovement of the fuel assemblies, thusminimizing the risk of fuel handlingaccidents.SIPPING16: View of the entire systemKey Featuresof New Sipping SystemSIPPING16 consists of the sippinghood for 16 fuel assemblies, a pneumatic/hydrauliccontrol cabinet, anelectronic control cabinet and detectorsinside a shielding enclosure. Anair cushion under the sipping hoodinterrupts natural convection at the(up to 16) fuel assemblies, allowingdecay heat to produce a rise in temperatureand, with it, an increase in pressureinside the fuel rods. This, in turn,drives gaseous and water-soluble fissionproducts out of any leakers. Thegases, obtained from water samplesextracted from the individual fuelassemblies, are scanned for Krypton-85 and xenon-133, the results beingimmediately available on-line.When SIPPING16 is used inconjunction with otherFramatome ANP innovative inspectionsystems, the overall time neededduring a refueling outage for fuelassembly testing and inspection can besubstantially reduced. Depending ontheir specific needs, plant operatorscan either purchase the entireSIPPING16 system or rent it as andwhen they need it. In either case, ateam of highly qualifiedFramatome ANP service specialists isavailable to provide assistance duringthe inspections. @Nuclear power programs in Asia areexpanding as Asian utilitiesincreasingly rely on nuclear powerplants to meet rapidly growing energydemand. Taiwan, Japan and Koreahave each developed world-classnuclear programs that are makingmajor contributions to their nationalenergy supplies. Similarly, mainlandChina's nuclear utilities have benefitedfrom a large technology and expertisetransfer by Framatome ANP.Through the supply of productsand services as well as technologyexchange agreements, US andEuropean nuclear suppliers have aidedthe development of Asia’s nuclear programs.For example, Framatome ANPhas developed mutually beneficialbusiness relationships with Taiwaneseand Japanese utilities to supplyadvanced nuclear fuel products.TaiwanTaiwan currently relies on nuclearpower for about 25 percent of its electricity.Taiwan Power Company, theutility of Taiwan, currently operates sixnuclear plants, four BWRs and twoPWRs, totaling over 5 GWe of capacity.Lungmen 1&2, two boiling waterreactors, each with a capacity of1,356 MWe, are under constructionand, when completed, will increaseTaiwan's installed nuclear capacity to7.8 GWe.Having no indigenous nuclearfuel fabrication industry, Taiwan relieson foreign fabricators for fuel supplyto its reactors. Framatome ANP (asthe former Siemens PowerCorporation in the US) has suppliednuclear fuel to Taiwan Power's fourBWR nuclear plants since the early1980s. As BWR fuel technologyadvanced over time, fuel designs werecontinuously upgraded to ensure thatTaiwan Power Company received themaximum operating benefits from itsnuclear units.The Chinshan 1&2 plants beganpurchasing Framatome ANP fuelreloads in 1982, continuing through1991. These initial deliveries were an8x8 fuel design. The Kuosheng 1&2plants have continuously purchasedfuel assemblies from Framatome ANPsince 1983, beginning with 8x8 fuelManually inspecting fuel assemblies to assure qualityand then transitioning to 9x9 fuelin1991. Last year, Framatome ANPagain was awarded contracts for reloadsupply to Chinshan 1&2 andKuosheng 1&2 - three firm and threeoptional reloads at each unit coveringapproximately ten years of supply. Thenew fuel reloads for Taiwan Power willbe the ATRIUM 10 fuel,Framatome ANP's most advanceddesign for BWR reactors.In addition to fuel reloads,Framatome ANP supplied fuel managementand reload licensing servicesfor nearly all of the reloads toTaiwan Power and, through efficientloading patterns and improvedlicensed operating limits, was able tosignificantly improve the fuel efficiency.Fuel inspection and repair servicesare supplied, as requested, to ensurethat any damaged or failed fuelachieved warranted burnup, therebydelivering maximum energy for thefuels."Taiwan Power has selectedFramatome ANP's ATRIUM 10 fuelfor Chinshan Units 1 and 2and Kuosheng Units 1 and 2 for thenext decade," said Edward K. M.Chen, Director, Fuel Department,Taiwan Power Company. He continued,"This successful procurementextends a 20+ year nuclear fuel supplyrelationship between Taiwan PowerCompany and Framatome ANP. TheATRIUM 10 fuel design was evaluatedagainst the competing designs and wasfound to be the most economic.Taiwan Power expects theATRIUM 10 to be a high quality,28 Advanced Nuclear Power 08/200108/2001 Advanced Nuclear Power 29