Long term operation of Gen II and Gen III plants: NULIFE as an example Jean-Pierre Hutin EdF R&D, Power Generation Sector Chairman of the NULIFE Governing Board 2nd General Assembly of the Sustainable Nucelar Energy Technology Platform Brussels, 14 September 2010
Nuclear plant life prediction NoE NULIFE Create a single organisation structure, capable of providing harmonised R&D at European level to the nuclear power industry and to safety authorities in the area of lifetime evaluation methods for structural components. Vision is to create a Virtual Institute with Integrated R&D platform Embracing all European stakeholders Completely new structure with improved and efficient use of public and private RTD funding Sustainable forum for realizing harmonized technical methodologies Impact for Nuclear energy industry, National regulators and European Regulatory Working Groups Service provider Sustainable source of qualified expertise for all nuclear stakeholders Innovator and executor of R&D projects Time schedule 10.2006-9.2011, 5 years Total budget 8 million euro EC funding 5 million euro VTT coordinator 11 Core contract members and 26 other members representing National research institutes Industrial research centres Vendors, plant providers Service providers Power companies More information: http//nulife.vtt.fi 2
Member groups NULIFE NoE Coordinator VTT, Finland SCK CEN Belgium NRI Czech Republic CEA France JRC The Netherlands Serco Ltd United Kingdom Core Group (Contractors) Electricité de France France AREVA NP GmbH Germany British Energy Group Plc United Kingdom E.ON Kernkraft GmbH Germany Forsmark Kraftgrupp AB Sweden 26 Associate Contributors (representing all nuclear stakeholders) Collaborators: Fortum, Paks, Tractebel, Inspecta, INRNE, Scanscot, Skoda, CEZ, RWE, TVO, TUD, Westinghouse Belgium, EnBW, VUJE 3
Decision making bodies NULIFE NoE NULIFE Governing Board Chair J-P. Hutin EdF Management Executive Group Chair R. Rintamaa VTT Contractors, Associate Contributors, Collaborators Regulators National and international networks/projects/ organisations Expert Groups Materials O. Raquet CEA Integrity E. Keim ANP-G Lifetime D. Lidbury SERCO Safety&Risk G. Hultqvist FKA Infra Group R-W. Bosch SCK CEN R&D infra End User Group V. Prunier EDF R&D strategy R&D projects 4
Working model NULIFE NoE Strategy Governing Board Executive Group End User Group R&D projects Proposal evaluation and planning Umbrella R&D projects EC funding or NULIFE partners funding Resources Pilot projects SCC, TF, I&C, DMW (completed) VERLIFE LBB SERCO R&D Infrastructure Advanced LTO/PLIM methodologies Harmonisation Links to ETSON and regulators Expert Groups Materials performance Ageing management Integrity assessment Safety and reliability NULIFE provided input to the SRA in the field of LTO 5
Status of NULIFE Association Statutes already available Aim to found Association in January 2011 First General Assembly meeting linked with the last Network meeting of NULIFE NoE in September 2011
Purpose and Mission The purpose of NULIFE Association is scientific and technical argumentation for long term operation of nuclear power plants including harmonization and standardization of methodologies The mission of NULIFE Association is to advance the safe and economic long term operation of nuclear power plants by facilitating the co-operation for applied R&D by being as a motor of applied R&D and technological innovation by initiating and supporting R&D projects by maintaining the basis for the capabilities by identifying open issues as a source for problem solving R&D proposals by promoting co-operation and interactive exchange of information with international organisations by facilitating implementation and dissemination of R&D results by executing and performing everything that is related to the mentioned purposes. 7
NULIFE approach for road map SNETP SRA DS NULIFE Governing Board Top down and bottom up prioritizations for the road map TOP DOWN Road map BOTTOM UP NULIFE members 8
Top priority research targets defined by the NULIFE utilities 1. European harmonised plant design and safety justification methodology 2. Integrity assessment 3. Ageing mechanisms of Structures-Systems-Components 4. Ageing monitoring 5. Prevention and mitigation of ageing 6. Pre-normative research, codes and standards 7. Safety issues in instrumentation & control and electrical systems 9
Road map and implementation The road map integrates the research areas and targets defined in the strategic research agenda (SRA) of the sustainable nuclear energy technology platform, and prioritized by NULIFE The implementation of the SRA and launching of the necessary research projects is made using the NULIFE project creation process. The NULIFE project portfolio consists of on-going NULIFE projects, under negotiation and of new proposals with the total volume over 50 million euros. It is estimated that the annual research volume could be on the level of 40 million in 2015. The NULIFE road map and its implementation is based on the strong co-operation of utilities, vendors, suppliers, other industrial organisations and research organizations. 10
NULIFE Project Portfolio In the NULIFE project portfolio, there are projects accepted in the Framework Programme of the European Commission and projects funded by the NULIFE Members. 2006... 2009 2010 2011 2012 NESC VII: Application of WPS in RPV assessment including biaxial loading SCC: Stress corrosion cracking, TF Thermal fatigue assessment (finished) I&C: Instrumentation & Control, DMW Dissimilar metal welds (feasibility studies) (finished) VERLIFE: Unified procedure for WWER components LBB: Probabilistic approach of leak-before-break MMOTION: Man-machine-organization through innovative orientations for nuclear PERFORM60: Prediction of the effects of radiation for RPV and in-core materials using MSM-60 years foreseen plant life time LONGLIFE: Treatment of long term irradiation embrittlement effects in RPV safety assessments STYLE: Structural integrity for lifetime management Under negotiation: ADVANCE: Ageing diagnostics and prognostics of low voltage I&C cables HARMONICS:Harmonized assessment of reliability of modern nuclear I&C software MOTHER: Modelling T-junction Heat Transfer CABINET: Constraint and biaxial loading effects and their interaction considering thermal transients (WPS) ACCEPPT: Ageing of concrete and civil structures in nuclear power plants Several topics are under preparation 11
Position of NULIFE PLIM/PLEX/LTO: what are our views? EC representative at NULIFE Network Meeting 8.9.2010 NULIFE is the Ageing/PLIM cluster under TWG Gen II & III of the SNETP. The End Users Group of NULIFE should be the channel to drive LTO-Ageing research and innovation at EU level. NULIFE should be the channel to translate to concrete R&D actions as well as the implementation mechanism View of NULIFE GB chair : relationship between NULIFE Association (once it is "independant") and European organisations (SNE-TP, ) will have to be defined 12
Conclusions and Summary NULIFE has a proven structure and operating model to manage the LTO/PLIM/PLEX research and development work in Europe. NULIFE has process for project identification, evaluation, planning, contracting and running. Present project portfolio consists of around 15 projects under planning, launching and running phase. NULIFE organisisation is prepared and committed to implement LTO as a part of the Gen II&III work of the SNETP. NULIFE is proceeding from NULIFE NoE towards NULIFE Association in January 2011. All nuclar stakeholders can be members of the NULIFE End Users will form the crucial part and base for the NULIFE Association together with research institutes. 13