U1.01/97 on site assistance Rovno NPP

Continuation of TACIS OSA (On-Site Assistance) at Rovno NPP.

The TACIS nuclear programme is dedicated to the enhancement of the safety of NPPs in CIS (Commonwealth of Independent states) countries. The execution of this TACIS nuclear programme is based, among others, on the creation of close partnership between a NPP from the CIS and a nuclear Utility from EU (“On-Site-Assistance”).

The general objective of the project was to improve operational and design safety at Rovno NPP.
For that, it was requested to provide general on-site assistance in operation and maintenance activities containing:

• overall coordination of the interfaces in the project;
• permanent exchange of operational experience;
• common identification and definition of issue topics;
• improvement of safety culture;
• training activities.

As well as carrying out specific TACIS 1997 supply projects through assistance in:

• preparation and revision of equipment TS (Technical Specification);
• support in tendering process;
• evaluations of the tenders during tender evaluations;
• follow up of contracting, manufacturing, acceptance tests and delivery of equipment;
• project follow up, mainly for operational procedures package, training programme, documentation supply, commissioning activities and warranty;
• supply projects to be considered are the following:
  • • U1.01/97A, protection of containment sumps from clogging: this project deals with the design and installation of new containment sump filters in order to prevent clogging risk by primary circuit thermal insulation in case of LOCA and induced common cause failure of emergency core cooling and spray systems. This project deals with Rovno NPP units 1& 2 (VVER 440/213), and is thus a continuation of PHARE project PH2.05/95. The activity to be performed by OSA utility in the frame of service contract U1.01/97 is to write and finalise TS, to support tendering and contracting processes, and to ensure follow-up of implementation phase with selected supplier.
  • • U1.01/97B, handling of hydrogen in the containment during normal operation and accidents: this project deals with 1 unit of Rovno NPP, out of units 1 & 2 (VVER 440/213). It includes the following activities:
    • analysis of accumulation of hydrogen during normal operation, design basis and beyond design basis accidents;
    • evaluation of necessary equipment and operating procedures to preclude concentration of hydrogen and induced risk of explosion challenging containment integrity;
    • improvement of hydrogen control system of the plant;
    • selection of the most appropriate solution for Rovno NPP;
    • implementation of selected solution.

The activity to be performed by OSA utility in the frame of service contract U1.01/97 is to perform preliminary studies, to write and finalise TS, to support tendering and contracting processes, and to ensure follow-up of implementation phase with selected supplier.

U1.01/97C, primary coolant saturation temperature margin measuring system: this project deals with the design and installation of an upgraded measuring system of ΔTSAT in primary circuit. The activity to be performed by OSA utility in the frame of service contract U1.01/97 is to perform preliminary studies, to write and finalise TS, to support tendering and contracting processes, and to ensure follow-up of implementation phase with selected supplier.

Achievements
Several meetings were held for progress monitoring of OSA at Rovno NPP, and for necessary induced decisions.

Operational assistance (so called “soft OSA”):

A number of topics have been worked in the frame of soft OSA, in agreement between Rovno NPP, Energoatom, OSA utility and EC:

Inspection and incident analysis: the scope of his topic is to provide assistance to Rovno NPP in the filed of incident analysis for the improvement of Rovno NPP in organisation and efficiency of its internal inspection service. Activities for this topic were the following:

• elaboration of the methodology adapted to Rovno NPP: data collection and organisation, effective determination of root causes and deviations, determination and analysis of real and potential aftermath, analysis of stakes and inappropriate actions, treatment and corrective measures;
• preparation of support documents for explanation of French approach and relevant concepts;
• analysis of real events occurred at Rovno NPP and elaboration of a “significant analysis report”, according to the new method;
• cooperative approach during meetings of methodology transfer.

The work of this topic was performed in 12 months, from August 1999 to July 2000.
Operational documentation organisation: this topic aims at defining an operational documentation structure in the field of maintenance for Rovno NPP, learning from OSA utility experience. Activities for this topic were the following:

• elaboration of the methodology adapted for Rovno NPP;
• explanation of the documentation structure in force in French NPPs and presentation of relevant concepts, supported by especially prepared documents;
• presentation of real document supports applied in French NPPs for maintenance activities: main principles for design and for use of these documents;
• interactive approach and methodology transfer meetings (questions and answers).

The work of this topic was performed in 12 months, from August 1999 to July 2000.

Specific projects (so called “hard OSA”):

• U1.01/97A, protection of containment sumps from clogging (units 1-2): this project was previously referenced 96/STO-1. TS has been prepared prior to present service contract U1.01/97, and final version of TS was issued and approved in May 2000. Then tendering and contracting process was launched, and supply contract has been signed with French-German-Finnish consortium Framatome ANP/Fortum in January 2002 for an expected duration of 30 months. Project has been fully implemented beyond the end of this service contract U1.01/97.
• U1.01/97B, handling of hydrogen in the containment during normal operation and accidents: this project was previously referenced 96/STO-2. TS has been prepared prior to present service contract U1.01/97, and final version of TS was issued and approved in August 2000. Then tendering and contracting process was launched, and supply contract has been signed with French-German company Framatome ANP in May 2002 for an expected duration of 10 months. Project has been fully implemented beyond the end of this service contract U1.01/97.
• U1.01/97D, amelioration of operating conditions and testing of SG tubes at Rovno NPP units 1, 2 & 3: this project replaced initially planned U1.01/97 supply project “primary coolant saturation temperature margin measuring system”. This replacement was agreed between Rovno NPP, Energoatom, OSA utility and EC in March 2000. The new U1.01/97D project was split into 6 groups (2 of them have been cancelled in the meantime):
  • Group 1: supply of equipment for periodic maintenance and verifications of eddy current instrumentation
  • Group 2: update acquisition, analysis and data management software. This group has been finally cancelled
  • Group 3: supply of equipment to improve interface between eddy current instruments and NPP computer network
  • Group 4.1: metallurgical investigations and correlation studies for determination of adequate plugging criteria
  • Group 4.2: elaboration of a technical specification for a data base for steam generator tubes
  • Group 5: elaboration of a technical specification for supply of eddy current axial bobbin probes. This group has been finally cancelled.

OSA utility’s duty was to prepare TS for groups 1 and 3, to assist the finalisation of contract with company NDEF for groups 4.1 and 4.2, and to ensure follow-up of implementation phase of all groups.
Status of each group at the end of the present U1.01/97 service contract is the following:
Groups 1 and 3: initial version of TS has been issued, and approval process by all counterparts was still pending in February 2002.

Groups 4.1 and 4.2: initial versions of a draft contract have been issued, and approval process by all counterparts was still pending in February 2002.
Project has been fully implemented beyond the end of this service contract U1.01/97.

Comments

This summary may be incomplete. Other activities not reported here could have been done in the frame of this project, especially for soft OSA.

Specific projects had many difficulties. The main ones are the following:

• Duration of updating and approval of TS by all counterparts.
• Duration of supply contract negotiation and signature.

In comparison, soft OSA projects proceeded well, and delays were neglectible.

Further information

Further information on the project results could be sought from Energoatom and Rovno NPP.

The Project Final report is available at the JRC-IE archive.