Using experience to improve performance of nuclear power plants

By the end of 1986, there were 397 nuclear power reactors with a total net capacity of 273,700 MW(e) operating in 26 countries. The cumulative operating experience was 4210 reactor-years. Many lessons, some of them painful, have been learned, and the results have been constantly incorporated into the design, construction and operation of the power plants. By 1998, more than 10,000 reactor-years of operating experience will have been accumulated. Analysis of the worldwide operating experience data for nuclear power plants shows a clear trend towards improved performance. Average availability has increased from 61.8% (energy availability factor) in 1979 to 70.4% in 1986, according to data contained in the IAEA's Power Reactor Information System (PRIS). There are many countries, utilities and plants with consistently good or excellent performance records, and others have achieved remarkable improvements in recent years. There are, however, also many others which have not performed so well, and where improvements can and should be achieved. Today, more than ever, nuclear power must aim for and achieve uniform excellence in operating performance in order to remain a viable energy option. This is a challenge for the 1990s. Feedback from experience is possibly the most important factor that can help to face this challenge successfully, and all relevant experience as well as every available means should be used to the full extent. No doubt, the experience obtained in each individual power plant constitutes the most relevant source for improving its own performance, but experience on the level of the utility, country and worldwide is also extremely valuable. Learning from the experience of others is admittedly difficult, but it can provide large benefits at low cost. The IAEA constitutes a channel through which international co-operation and exchange of information has been promoted and effectively implemented during three decades. This channel is open and will continue to remain so. (author). 7 figs, 2 tabs