Power, Vol.151, No.11, 60-60, 2007
Upgrade your BWR recirc pumps with adjustable-speed drives
The U.S. is home to more than 30 boiling water reactors of BWR-3 through -6 vintage. At one time or another, all have experienced obsolescence, reliability, or control problems with their reactor recirculation flow control systems and components. Temporary down-powers are often required for corrective maintenance. Exelon Nuclear plans to begin upgrading the recirculation pump motor drives at its BWRs in the spring of 2009. The upgrade project's technical design and business case were developed in great detail before the project was approved. This article presents the results of all key internal analyses.