Scram reduction at the Brunswick nuclear project

Achieving the Nuclear Management and Resources Council goal of no more than 1.5 scrams per plant year by 1990 promises to be a formidable challenge for domestic utilities. However, after experiencing a less-than-desirable scram frequency in its early years of operation, the two-unit Brunswick plant began a scram reduction program that has contributed to early accomplishment of that goal. To accomplish this significant reduction in scram frequency, Brunswick found that three steps are essential: (1) determine root cause(s) of events, learn from past plant experiences, and (3) learn from other plant's experiences. In 1988, the Boiling Water Reactor Owners' Group's Scram Frequency Reduction Committee (SFRC) developed its own data-base software for BWR scrams. The data base is updated following the quarterly operations activity meetings and is distributed to each participating member of the SFRC. Thus, each plant has the ability to perform its own studies using a complete BWR scram data base. Each of the above actions has aided the Brunswick plant in significantly reducing its number of scrams