Refurbishment programs

As nuclear plants age, equipment becomes obsolete, outdated or just simply unreliable. This puts a lot of emphasis on replacement of the subject equipment. This can be an expensive proposition for safety related equipment due to design changes, requalification charges and the cost of the new equipment, specifically when the original component is obsolete. The presentation will explain how comprehensive refurbishment programs on many different types of equipment can alleviate this situation. The refurbishment program is a systematic refurbishment of equipment to an as new condition by replacing all of the age sensitive components within the equipment. This is carried out on all of the same type of equipment in a scheduled program. For example the plant may to decide to refurbish all of their Lambda LME-24 power supplies, or all of their Bailey modules, or all of their Agastat DSC Series relays. Independent of the item the process is the same. Refurbish each piece of equipment to an as new condition by replacing all of the age sensitive equipment. The equipment is then returned to the client as safety related, existing qualification maintained and with a new service life/warranty. This is not a simple repair. It is a planned refurbishment to an as new condition of certain equipment types throughout the plant and then carried out from equipment piece to equipment piece. The refurbishment program may even include introducing new spares into the plant. This is normally performed by upgrading (dedicating for safety related use and refurbishing to an 'as new' condition) surplus equipment and using these equipment pieces in the rotation of the plant equipment to refurbish the entire population of a selected piece of equipment at the plant. This process can be performed on many equipment types including power supplies, circuit boards, modules, relays, motors, breakers, and many more. The refurbishment program greatly increases the reliability of the equipment without the cost associated with a design change needed to replace an obsolete piece of safety related equipment. (author)