Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC

Theodore A Meyer

Leonard R Golick

David E Boyle

Joel Woodcock

Stephan L Abbott

Robert K Perdue

G Gary Elder

Kimchinh Tran

Warren H Bamford

Robert L Turner

Edward Terek

An improved method of selecting and planning the performance of various maintenance activities on a facility such as a nuclear power plant includes determining the net present value of a number of future net savings that are expected to result from performance of the maintenance activity at a given time, and selecting and planning the maintenance activities in a fashion that maximizes net present value. The method includes, for each of a number of components and a number of time periods, determining a change in the probability that a component will fail within a time period, with the change resulting from an assumption that a maintenance activity is performed. The change in probability is multiplied with the losses associated with a failure in order to determine a gross savings from which costs are subtracted to determine net savings. The probabilities of failure may be determined from a probability failure model that has been derived from multiple sets of failure data that are characterized by Weibull distributions and are mathematically combined according to Bayes' Theorem. The maintenance activities may also be optimized according to a number of budget figures. An apparatus for performing the method is also disclosed.

Facility life management method

A shield panel for use in a nuclear reactor including a reactor vessel susceptible to embrittlement when bombarded with high energy neutrons and a nuclear reactor core mounted within the reactor vessel, the reactor vessel having a longitudinal axis and an inner surface surrounding the longitudinal axis, and the nuclear core emitting high energy neutrons which impinge on the inner surface of the reactor vessel. The shield panel includes a canister which contains a completely enclosed interior space and which is mountable between the inner surface of the reactor vessel and the nuclear core in a region wherein the reactor vessel is susceptible to a higher rate of embrittlement than the remaining portion of the vessel when bombarded with high energy neutrons emitted from the nuclear core, and a substance consisting essentially of a heavy metal and hydrogen filling the interior space of the canister.

Neutron shield panel arrangement for a nuclear reactor pressure vessel

Growing community of inventors

Harrison City, PA, United States of America

Theodore A Meyer