Demonstration of reliability-centered maintenance: Volume 1, Project description

Reliability centered maintenance (RCM) is an approach to preventive maintenance planning and evaluation that has been used successfully by other industries, most notably airlines and the military. Now EPRI is demonstrating RCM in the commercial nuclear power industry. Currently underway are large-scale, two-year demonstrations at Rochester Gas and Electric (Ginna nuclear power station) and Southern California Edison (San Onofre generating station). Both demonstrations were begun in the spring of 1988. At each plant, RCM will be performed on 12 to 20 major systems. The purpose of both demonstrations is to determine whether RCM is an appropriate means to improve nuclear plant preventive maintenance on a large scale. Such favorable results had been suggested by three earlier EPRI pilot studies at Florida Light and Power Company, Duke Power Company, and Southern California Edison. However, it still needs to be proven that RCM, when applied to major plant systems at an operating plant, is both cost effective and compatible with other plant operations and organization. EPRI selected the Ginna and San Onofre sites because, together, they represent a broad range of utility and plant size, plant organization, plant age, and histories of availability and reliability. Significant steps in each demonstration include: selecting and prioritizing plant systems for RCM evaluation; performing the RCM evaluation steps on selected systems; evaluating the RCM recommendations by a multidisciplinary task force; implementing the RCM recommendations; establishing a system to track and verify the RCM benefits; and establishing procedures to update the RCM bases and recommendations with time. Thus far, RCM appears to be a promising adjunct to a plant's preventive maintenance program. The two large-scale demonstrations will answer further questions and perhaps bring the nuclear industry closer to widespread application of RCM. 13 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs