Optimization planning for the construction of the U.S. EPR

As utilities and project developers in the United States embark on a new nuclear plant construction endeavor, the industry must have the confidence and support of all stakeholders. To gain this confidence and support, cost and schedule certainty must be established. Therein lies the challenge. The owner will insist that constructors and suppliers deliver new plants on time and within project budgets. This will be a significant effort given the limited number of qualified equipment and commodity suppliers, and a shortage of experienced craft and supervision. In an effort to manage construction risk and ensure cost and schedule certainty, the AREVA Construction Management Team has lead the development of a construction strategy that includes advanced construction methods and technologies such as 3-D modeling, detailed planning and scheduling, open-top construction, state-of-the-art fabrication practices, specialty transportation and lifting methods, and pre-assembly and modularization, otherwise referred to as construction optimization. Unlike off-shore platforms, industrial process plants, and ships where piping and components can be integrated into the steel building structure, optimized construction of nuclear plants must consider reinforced concrete walls and slabs that serve as the building structure, and provide radiation shielding and containment of nuclear systems. These differences in design and construction require a significantly different analysis approach that is focused on rooms of a building rather than the whole building or plant. This paper will focus on the process developed and currently being implemented by the U.S. EPR (Evolutionary Power Reactor) Construction Team to identify opportunities for optimization and then to evaluate and select the rooms or areas of the plant where pre-assembly or modularization will provide the greatest benefit to construction cost and schedule certainty. Key measures for comparison and selection are critical path schedule reduction, on-site craft redaction, personnel safety risk reduction, and project cost. (authors)