The Programme

Program Day One Day, Tuesday 29 September 2009

Registration

Opening remarks from the Chair

Planning for future economic uncertainties

Long term operation:  the challenge to sustain high performance operation of existing nuclear plants to 2050 and beyond

• Underlining clear societal benefits as well as financial benefits to owners and operators of the nuclear plants: it is imperative that the current fleet of reactors continues to operate at high performance levels
• Analyzing the performance of today’s plants
• Modernizing plants to enhance performance and safety
• Maintaining this performance and securing license renewal beyond 60 years
• Supporting plant license renewal and long term operations decisions in the 2013 – 2019 timeframe by using R&D and technical assessments
• Identifying and prioritizing technical issues: engaging in R&D for high priority issues and collaborating with other stakeholders to assure timely results that will have a consensus for action
• Clarifying the key issues including:
• Predicting primary metals aging
• Understanding concrete aging concerns
• Modernizing I&C and information systems
• Planning refurbishments and power up-rates to prevent outages or safety events enhancing analysis and monitoring of safety margins
• Investigating innovative fuel concepts that improve operations
• Achieving license renewals and high performance operations

Plant life and aging management in Germany’s nuclear power plants

• An overview of E.ON nuclear power plants in Germany
• Determining plant safety and performance
• Evaluating maintenance and aging management
• Experiences from operations and modifications over the last 10 years
• Regulatory aspects and specific events
• The outlook on the future

•  Using information technology to build stakeholder confidence at this time of economic instability
  
• Focusing on reducing risks, increasing efficiency, managing costs and improving interoperability between systems and data sources from design to decommissioning
  
• Where is the industry at and where is it headed regards lifecycle data management?
  
• Leveraging existing information assets and legacy systems, and future proofing these assets
  
• Role and importance of standards, like ISO 15926, going into the future for this industry
  
• Referencing case study examples from Eastern Europe & Russia, Japan & Korea and the Americas
   
  

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Life beyond 60: the greenest power
The licensing of nuclear plants for longer than 60 years is
allowed by 10 CFR 54: Requirements For Renewal Of Operating
Licenses For Nuclear Power Plants. However, an application
to extend a plant beyond 60 years of operation has not been submitted and there is considerable uncertainty concerning the issues such an application would have to address. This keynote presentation will provide the case for taking the US nuclear fleet beyond 60 years of operation and will discuss the issues surrounding the submittal and review of an application to do so. It will address the technical, environmental, and regulatory hurdles that will have to be surmounted.
● Developing the ultimate green power
–– CO2 abatement
–– Avoidance of new construction
● Understanding the regulatory landscape
–– Streamlined review process applications
● Highlighting the environmental concerns
–– Spent fuel storage
–– Low level waste
–– Resources for new plant siting
–– Emergency preparedness and population projections
● Overcoming the technical issues to advance into the future
–– Large part replacement
–– Viability of replacing reactors, RCS piping and pressurizers
–– Aging of concrete
–– Buried piping
●Forecasting economics for the future
–– Cost of renewing a second time
–– Cost of replacing power with a new source

Increasing station reliability and availability

• Industry performance review
• The business case and approaches taken to improve
• Leveraging industry experience
• Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) obsolescence initiatives
• The importance of long range planning
• Performance and reliability assessments
• Customer project review: scope, results and recommendations
• Conclusions: creating the vision and management commitment

• Status of Constellation Energy license renewal program
  
• Steps taken to be ready for NRC Post-Approval Inspections (NRC IP71003)
  - Aging management program (AMP) owner involvement and ownership
  - Generation of fleet procedures for aging management
  - Compliance with 10 CFR 54.37(b)
  - Aging management inspections
  - LR commitment binders
  
• Site processes upgraded or created to incorporate ongoing 10 CFR 54 committed aging management
  -  Master equipment list database
  -  Work management
  - Corrective action program
  - Ongoing training on material aging fundamentals
  - AMP owner qualification
  

Lunch

Licensing licensing licensing

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Lessons learned on license renewal applications with great public interest
On April 8 2009, Exelon’s Oyster Creek nuclear power plant was granted a license extension to operate until 2029. This case study from a leading nuclear power plant operator in the United States will provide inside knowledge into:

• The Exelon’s license renewal status
• The Oyster Creek application background
• The Oyster Creek application lessons learned
• Applying the lessons learned
• Results from a key industry player

U.S. license renewal process and lessons learned: in 2009, the U.S. has 4 plants entering their 41st year of operation

• The United States (US) Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license renewal process: establishing the technical and administrative requirements for the renewal of operating power plant licenses
• The review process for License Renewal Applications (LRA): providing continued assurance that the level of safety provided by an applicant’s current licensing basis is maintained for the period of extended operation
• Focusing on passive, long-lived structures and components of the plant that are subject to the effects of aging 
• What the applicant must demonstrate including programs in place to manage the aging effects 
• Discussing some of the issues identified during License Renewal Reviews
• Working with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on research related to light water reactor sustainability

Afternoon refreshments

Entergy's fleet approach to license renewal

• Status of license renewal in the U.S.
• Status of Entergy's license renewal program
• Prerequisites for license renewal
• Entergy's license renewal project template
• Status of industry guidance on aging management for long term operation
• Opportunities for additional license renewals: operation beyond 60 years

Outline of the operator license renewal process

• Analyzing the rules of license renewal
• Going through the license renewal process step by step
• Updates on recent license renewal developments
• Highlighting the significance of 10 CFR Part 54
• Above all, safety matters!
• Is there any additional guidance on the matter?

Closing remarks from the Chair and close of Day One

Program Day Two Wednesday 30 September

Registration

Opening remarks from the Chair

Proactive obsolescence management at D.C. Cook Nuclear

• Developing an obsolescence program
• Integrating obsolescence information into plant processes
• Using industry databases to proactively identify obsolete components
• Prioritizing obsolescence issues
• Interface with design changes and replacement activities
• Challenges to implementing a proactive obsolescence program

Morning refreshments

Materials long-term aging issues and their resolution

• Westinghouse Hot Cells: providing a unique capability for understanding materials aging issues and potential methods of mitigation and/or replacement
• Radiation effects on the reactor pressure vessil (RPV)
• and internals
• Innovative surveillance capsule testing involving master
• curve and assessing high-fluence data
• Fuel technology and advancements
• Mechanical wear
• Piping fatigue and failures
• Stress corrosion cracking
• NDE inspection methods improvements
• Conflict between resolution of aging effects in other components
• Temperature can be your friend and/or your enemy
• Proper decision making for long term operation
• Long term operation with minimal materials problems can be achieved
• Requiring a longer term vision in the industry than
• has been required before
• Maintaining expertise bringing new resources into
• the industry
• Employing mechanistically-backed monitoring and inspection approache

Focusing on medium voltage cables

• Overcoming the inaccessibility of the cables
• Operating experiences of water problems
• Methods used to test the levels of wetness
• The aging effects caused by water
• Resolving these issues: replacing the cables or using other techniques

Radiation damage in light water reactors (LWRs)
Gain insight into:

• Choosing materials for LWRs and why radiation damage is unique
• An overview of PWR designs
• Radiation induced swelling and creep
• Radiation induced segregation and precipitation
• Radiation induced embrittlement

Lunch

Radiation damage under extended reactor operation: potential limitations and opportunities for relief
Overview of structures and components where radiation damage is a concern for extended service

• RPV radiation embrittlement: late blooming phases and embrittlement in base and weld metals
• Radiation damage in core internals: high fluence phase transformation and swelling
• Impact of high fluence irradiation on corrosion processes:  irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking

Potential for reducing impact and uncertainty in irradiation-damage mechanisms

• Mitigation strategies: application of post-irradiation annealing to RPV steels as well as internals
• Monitoring strategies: need and concepts for better NDE and monitoring techniques
• Modelling strategies: the need and concepts for life-time predictions

Environment materials interaction in LWRs

• Corrosion issues in cladding and structural components
• Stress corrosion cracking in stainless steels and nickel base alloys
• Corrosion fatigue
• Irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking
• Environmental degradation issues for life extension

Afternoon refreshments

INPO perspectives on equipment reliability over the long term

• Maintenance of critical components
• Equipment performance trends
• Transformer and switchyard performance
• Thoughts on life cycle management
• Industry initiative on improving fuel performance: a model for the future

Closing remarks from the Chair and close of Day One