The application of Novel Technologies to Nuclear Service Issues

Rolls-Royce has launched a Civil Nuclear business unit providing nuclear components and services. Rolls-Royce is already a well known name in other industrial sectors, providing high technology solutions to challenging engineering problems. Two early Civil Nuclear service contracts have presented the opportunity to apply technology solutions from other sectors to the nuclear industry. The first was a heat shield design where cutting edge Computational Fluid Dynamics and Transient Heat Transfer Coefficient rig testing were deployed to optimize the design. The second was the removal of failed components from a nuclear pressure vessel, where Rolls-Royce developed a solution combining submersible vehicle and low force, high speed cutting technologies. These contracts demonstrated the benefit of applying unusual technologies to resolve nuclear issues and the potential for leveraging previous high value work in preference to developing new solutions from scratch. (authors)