' Re: The Grid
From:
rcowles@waterw.com (Rick Cowles)
1:57
Subject:
Re: The Grid
On Sat, 21 Nov 1998 23:30:07 GMT, me@home.net (Spam) wrote:
>Nukes in the US provide ~20% of the power generation. However the
>nukes are actually less complex and use mainly analog technology.
I agree that safe shutdown systems are almost exclusively analog. I'm not
worried for one minute about the ability to scram/trip (as the case may be)
plant in a heartbeat if the need is so indicated. Symptom based EOP's
should lead to this decision by a competent operator if, in fact, that
situation were to occur due to a loss of control room computer systems or
annunciator blackout. Safe shutdown isn't the issue.
To say that computers aren't used in the operation of a nuclear facility is
absolute puffery (I'm not accusing you of this; I'm accusing NEI and the
industry for fostering this impression). Walk into the control room of a
BWR 4/5 that's operating with a Bailey-designed control room or GE PGCC.
True, there are analog displays all over the place, but operating without
the computer enhancements is one scary thought. (As part of my systems
engineering training, I spent 8 months in an SRO certification class, then
two weeks simulator time - after the simulator time, I elected to continue
systems engineering rather than pursuing SRO licensing.) And try to
reconstruct an event without your SOE recorder.
Let's get outside of the control room for a moment. Nearly every PWR and
BWR in the country has gone to digital feedwater control over the past 8 or
so years. There are Y2k issues with digital feedwater control in many
plants. There are many other peripheral systems that need to be reviewed
and fixed. There are many administrative systems that need to be reviewed
and fixed.
The NRC knows this, but is downplaying it. The industry isn't admitting
it. One thing I can say with certainty: no one is getting all of the
details of the ongoing NRC audits from the 'summaries' that the NRC is
publishing. It is not pretty.
That is why I continue to feel that a vast majority of nuclear plants will
not be operating during the century transition. There simply ain't no way
to test the whole magilla before the actual event (rollover to 01/01/2000)
on an operating facility.
Again, it isn't a safe shutdown issue. It's a regulatory issue, and the
ability of operators to safely operate the plants within safety analyses
boundaries during normal operations. Please don't hit me with Tech Spec's
and operating licenses - LCO's don't cover this one. But TS 3.0.3
certainly does (for the layperson, that's the license clause that says
"shut the damn thing down if you don't know what's going on.")
(Note: this would have gone as email if I had an email address for Mr./Ms.
Spam. There's some technical references included within the above that
will make zero sense to many who read this.)
--
Rick Cowles (Public PGP key on request)
www.euy2k.com : Electric Utilities and Y2k
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