NuScale Power Module Instrumentation
- Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation (AMS), Knoxville, TN (United States)
- NuScale Power, Tigard, OR (United States)
The safe and efficient operation of any nuclear power plant (NPP) depends on accurate and timely measurement of the primary system temperature, pressure, level, flow, and neutron flux. Integral pressurized water reactor (iPWR) or small modular reactors (SMRs) present unique challenges to instrumentation and control (I&C) sensors and their maintenance strategies. More specifically, the calibration and response time of these sensors may have to be verified periodically to ensure that they maintain their required degree of accuracy and speed of response. A review of technical reports and safety analysis documentation of the NuScale Power Module (NPM) by Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation (AMS), together with NuScale engineers, confirms that the I&C sensors within the NPM will need to be testable as installed to verify their static and dynamic performance at plant operating conditions. Sensor placement and installation as well as the process conditions expected in natural circulation integral SMRs like the NPM are very different from those in large scale NPPs with conventional primary system loop piping. In particular, reactor coolant system (RCS) flows are more complex and flow rates much lower, the average containment temperature is higher, nuclear radiation levels in some areas are greater, and the accessibility of sensors for hands-on maintenance is very limited. These challenges among others related to I&C sensors can be overcome by adapting existing I&C sensor test methods, developing new techniques for non-conventional I&C sensors, and incorporating online monitoring (OLM) technologies into the I&C architecture of the plant to verify the calibration and response time of sensors within the NPM prior to startup, during operation, and during subsequent refueling outages. These methods and technologies will be demonstrated and validated through a research and development (R&D) grant recently awarded to AMS by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to facilitate timely deployment of the first NuScale SMR in the United States and to enable efficient I&C maintenance strategies during the life of the plant. Lastly, this paper presents the R&D plan for the DOE project with a focus on temperature measurement needs of NuScale.
- Research Organization:
- Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation (AMS), Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0011859
- OSTI ID:
- 1488575
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Plant Journal (Online), Vol. 36, Issue 4; ISSN 2162-6413
- Publisher:
- EQES, Inc.Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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