Validity and reliability of a home environment inventory for physical activity and media equipment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pereira Mark A

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Little is known about how the home environmental supports physical activity and screen media usage. The purpose of this study was to develop and test the reliability and validity of a self-report instrument to comprehensively reflect the availability and accessibility of physical activity and screen media equipment in the home environment. Methods Ten families participated in the initial field testing to provide feedback for instrument development. Thirty one adult participants, each of whom had at least one child 10–17 years old, completed two Physical Activity and Media Inventory (PAMI instruments. The first PAMI was completed simultaneously, but independently, with a research assistant to assess validity. A second PAMI was completed by the participant one week later to assess reliability. Results The adult participants were mostly mothers/female guardians, mean age 38 ± 7.2 years, mostly Caucasian (52%, college educated (65%, living in single family homes (74%. Test-retest reliability was acceptable to strong for all summary variables (physical activity equipment, ICC = 0.76 to 0.99; media equipment, ICC = 0.72 to 0.96. For validation, reports from participants and research assistants were strongly correlated (physical activity, 0.67 – 0.98; media, 0.79 – 0.96. Compared to participants, research assistants reported a greater percentage of physical activity equipment as "in plain view and easy to get to" and a smaller percentage of items as "put away and difficult to get to". Conclusion Our results indicate strong evidence for the reliability and validity of the variables calculated from the PAMI. This self report inventory may be useful in assessing the availability of physical activity and screen media equipment in the home environment and could be used in conjunction with other home assessment tools (food availability, parenting styles and feeding practices to identify obesogenic home environments.

Equipment reliability process improvement and preventive maintenance optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darragi, M.; Georges, A.; Vaillancourt, R.; Komljenovic, D.; Croteau, M.

2004-01-01

The Gentilly-2 Nuclear Power Plant wants to optimize its preventive maintenance program through an Integrated Equipment Reliability Process. All equipment reliability related activities should be reviewed and optimized in a systematic approach especially for aging plants such as G2. This new approach has to be founded on best practices methods with the purpose of the rationalization of the preventive maintenance program and the performance monitoring of on-site systems, structures and components (SSC). A rational preventive maintenance strategy is based on optimized task scopes and frequencies depending on their applicability, critical effects on system safety and plant availability as well as cost-effectiveness. Preventive maintenance strategy efficiency is systematically monitored through degradation indicators. (author)

Assessment of Equipment Capability to Perform Reliably under Severe Accident Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-07-01

The experience from the last 40 years has shown that severe accidents can subject electrical and instrumentation and control (I&C) equipment to environmental conditions exceeding the equipment’s original design basis assumptions. Severe accident conditions can then cause rapid degradation or damage to various degrees up to complete failure of such equipment. This publication provides the technical basis to consider when assessing the capability of electrical and I&C equipment to perform reliably during a severe accident. It provides examples of calculation tools to determine the environmental parameters as well as examples and methods that Member States can apply to assess equipment reliability.

A study on the real-time reliability of on-board equipment of train control system

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yong; Li, Shiwei

2018-05-01

Real-time reliability evaluation is conducive to establishing a condition based maintenance system for the purpose of guaranteeing continuous train operation. According to the inherent characteristics of the on-board equipment, the connotation of reliability evaluation of on-board equipment is defined and the evaluation index of real-time reliability is provided in this paper. From the perspective of methodology and practical application, the real-time reliability of the on-board equipment is discussed in detail, and the method of evaluating the realtime reliability of on-board equipment at component level based on Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is proposed. In this method the performance degradation data is used directly to realize the accurate perception of the hidden state transition process of on-board equipment, which can achieve a better description of the real-time reliability of the equipment.

On reliability and maintenance modelling of ageing equipment in electric power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindquist, Tommie

2008-04-01

Maintenance optimisation is essential to achieve cost-efficiency, availability and reliability of supply in electric power systems. The process of maintenance optimisation requires information about the costs of preventive and corrective maintenance, as well as the costs of failures borne by both electricity suppliers and customers. To calculate expected costs, information is needed about equipment reliability characteristics and the way in which maintenance affects equipment reliability. The aim of this Ph.D. work has been to develop equipment reliability models taking the effect of maintenance into account. The research has focussed on the interrelated areas of condition estimation, reliability modelling and maintenance modelling, which have been investigated in a number of case studies. In the area of condition estimation two methods to quantitatively estimate the condition of disconnector contacts have been developed, which utilise results from infrared thermography inspections and contact resistance measurements. The accuracy of these methods were investigated in two case studies. Reliability models have been developed and implemented for SF6 circuit-breakers, disconnector contacts and XLPE cables in three separate case studies. These models were formulated using both empirical and physical modelling approaches. To improve confidence in such models a Bayesian statistical method incorporating information from the equipment design process was also developed. This method was illustrated in a case study of SF6 circuit-breaker operating rods. Methods for quantifying the effect of maintenance on equipment condition and reliability have been investigated in case studies on disconnector contacts and SF6 circuit-breakers. The input required by these methods are condition measurements and historical failure and maintenance data, respectively. This research has demonstrated that the effect of maintenance on power system equipment may be quantified using available data

The evaluation of equipment and Instrumentation Reliability Factors on Power Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Supriatna, Piping; Karlina, Itjeu; Widagdo, Suharyo; Santosa, Kussigit; Darlis; Sudiyono, Bambang; Yuniyanta, Sasongko; Sudarmin

1999-01-01

Equipment and instrumentation reliability on type power reactor control room was determined by its pattern and design. the principle of ergonomy applied on equipment and instrumentation layout in this ABWR type reactor are geometric pattern appropriate with economic body motion, average anthropometry data of operator especially operator hand-reach, range of vision, angle of vision, lighting, color arrangement and harmony as will as operator case in operating the equipment system. Limitation criteria of the parameter mentioned above are based on EPRI NP-3659, NURG 0700, and NUREG/CR-3331 documents. Besides that, the (working) physical environment parameter factor of the control room must be designed in order to fulfil the standard criteria of ergonomic condition based on NUREG-0800. The reliability evaluation of equipment and instrumentation system also occurs observed from man machine interaction side which happen between operator and equipment and instrumentation in the ABWR type power reactor control room. From the MMI analysis can be known the working failure possibility which is caused by the operator. The evaluation result of equipment and instrumentation reliability on ABWR type power reactor control room showed that the design of this ABWR control room is good and fulfils the ergonomy standard criteria have been determined

Failure mode and effect analysis experimental reliability determination for the CANDU reactor equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vieru, G.

1996-01-01

This paper describes the experimental tests performed in order to prove the reliability parameters for certain equipment manufactured in INR Pitesti, for NPP Cernavoda. The tests were provided by Technical Specifications and test procedures. A comparison, referring to the reliability parameters, between Canadian equipment and INR manufactured equipment ones is also given. The results of tests and conclusions are shown. (author)

Implementation of the project of equipment reliability in the nuclear power plant of Laguna Verde

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rios O, J. E.; Martinez L, A. G.

2008-01-01

A equipment is reliable if it fulfills the function for which was designed and when it is required. To implement a project of reliability in a nuclear power plant this associate to a process of continuous analysis of the operation, of the conditions and faults of the equipment. The analysis of the operation of a system, of the equipment of the same faults and the parts that integrate to equipment take to identify the potential causes of faults. The predictive analysis on components and equipment allow to rectify and to establish guides to optimize the maintenance and to guarantee the reliability and function of the same ones. The reliability in the equipment is without place to doubts a wide project that embraces from the more small component of the equipment going by the proof of the parts of reserve, the operation conditions until the operative techniques of analysis. Without place of doubt for a nuclear power plant the taking of decisions based on the reliability of their systems and equipment will be the appropriate for to assure the operation and reliability of the same one. In this work would appear the project of reliability its processes, criteria, indicators action of improvement and the interaction of the different disciplines from the Nuclear Power Plant of Laguna Verde like a fundamental point for it put in operation. (Author)

A comparative study on the HW reliability assessment methods for digital I and C equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Hoan Sung; Sung, T. Y.; Eom, H. S.; Park, J. K.; Kang, H. G.; Lee, G. Y. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea); Kim, M. C. [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejeon (Korea); Jun, S. T. [KHNP, Taejeon (Korea)

2002-03-01

It is necessary to predict or to evaluate the reliability of electronic equipment for the probabilistic safety analysis of digital instrument and control equipment. But most databases for the reliability prediction have no data for the up-to-date equipment and the failure modes are not classified. The prediction results for the specific component show different values according to the methods and databases. For boards and systems each method shows different values than others also. This study is for reliability prediction of PDC system for Wolsong NPP1 as a digital I and C equipment. Various reliability prediction methods and failure databases are used in calculation of the reliability to compare the effects of sensitivity and accuracy of each model and database. Many considerations for the reliability assessment of digital systems are derived with the results of this study. 14 refs., 19 figs., 15 tabs. (Author)

On the reliability evaluation of communication equipment for SMART using FMEA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, D. H.; Suh, Y. S.; Koo, I. S.; Song, Ki Sang; Han, Byung Rae

2000-07-01

This report describes the reliability analysis method for communication equipment using FMEA and FTA. The major equipments to be applicable for SMART communication networks are repeater, bridge, router and gateway and we can apply the FMEA or FTA technique. In the FMEA process, analysis of tagged system, decision of the level of analysis of the target system, drawing reliability block diagram according to the function, decision of failure mode, writing the fault reasons, writing on the FMEA sheet and FMEA level decision are included. Also, the FTA, it is possible to figure out top event reasons and system reliability. We have considered these in mind and we did the FMEA and FTA for NIC, hub, client server and router. Also, we suggested and integrated network model for nuclear power plant and we have shown the reliability analysis procedure according to FTA. If any proprietary communication device is developed, the reliability can be easily determined with proposed procedures

On the reliability evaluation of communication equipment for SMART using FMEA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, D. H.; Suh, Y. S.; Koo, I. S.; Song, Ki Sang; Han, Byung Rae

2000-07-01

This report describes the reliability analysis method for communication equipment using FMEA and FTA. The major equipments to be applicable for SMART communication networks are repeater, bridge, router and gateway and we can apply the FMEA or FTA technique. In the FMEA process, analysis of tagged system, decision of the level of analysis of the target system, drawing reliability block diagram according to the function, decision of failure mode, writing the fault reasons, writing on the FMEA sheet and FMEA level decision are included. Also, the FTA, it is possible to figure out top event reasons and system reliability. We have considered these in mind and we did the FMEA and FTA for NIC, hub, client server and router. Also, we suggested and integrated network model for nuclear power plant and we have shown the reliability analysis procedure according to FTA. If any proprietary communication device is developed, the reliability can be easily determined with proposed procedures.

Analysis of performance reliability of electrical and electronic equipment of car-tractor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kravchenko О.Р.

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The analysis of the operational reliability of electrical and electronic equipment of vehicles, trucks Mercedes-Benz Actros 1844 LS and Volvo FH 1242, conducting international cargo transportation is performed. It is established that the equipment is reliable, which meets modern requirements, but where there is a violation of the resolution. The reason for repair work is constructive and operational factors. Distribution of efficiency and overall performance of operational reliability is retrieved. Items with more bounce are found. Common factors of violation of efficiency cars, trucks in operation, are largely different stages in warranty runs are obtained.

Predicting Cost/Reliability/Maintainability of Advanced General Aviation Avionics Equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, M. R.; Kamins, M.; Mooz, W. E.

1978-01-01

A methodology is provided for assisting NASA in estimating the cost, reliability, and maintenance (CRM) requirements for general avionics equipment operating in the 1980's. Practical problems of predicting these factors are examined. The usefulness and short comings of different approaches for modeling coast and reliability estimates are discussed together with special problems caused by the lack of historical data on the cost of maintaining general aviation avionics. Suggestions are offered on how NASA might proceed in assessing cost reliability CRM implications in the absence of reliable generalized predictive models.

Enhancing reliability of ultrasonic testing of welds of nuclear power plant equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shcherbinskij, V.G.

1981-01-01

Results of investigation of factors influencing the reliability of manual ultrasonic testing of welded joints and weld deposited metal power-generating equipment are presented. Recommendations on the enhancing of reliability are given [ru

Research on reliability measures of the main transformer and GIS equipment manufacturing process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Honglong

2014-01-01

Based on the accidents of the main transformer GIS equipment and the accidents of the high voltage switch equipment, combined with the main transformer switch equipment maintenance experience and electrical theory, the reliability measures of the main transformer GIS equipment during manufacturing stage are studied and improved. Six successful reliability measures are identified: 1) design properly and check the ability of transformer for anti short circuit; 2) choose mature and reliable main transformer HV bushing; 3) choose GIS switch operation mechanism of high quality and reliability; 4) ensure that the insulation margin through tests piece by piece on withstand voltage and partial discharge of the GIS equipment insulation; 5) take test measures such as GIS conductor, shell polishing witness process and full form lightning impulse, to find out and eliminate the defects of abnormal electric field distribution; 6) Anti VFTO design for the main transformer connected with GIS with the voltage of 500 kV should be considered, and its anti VFTO ability to meet the safe operation under VFTO requirements should be checked. This paper proposed 2 new measures: 1) the main transformer insulation material quality standard is determined not only by its high dielectric strength, but more importantly by the homogeneous dielectric electric strength. Insulating Materials with a high and also uniform dielectric strength should be chosen. 2) During the silver-coating stage of the GIS equipment conductor, QC group activities should be organized to ensure that the plating layer quality, and the current lap surface DC resistance measurements should be supervised and witnessed to ensure the quality of the conductor contact surface. These measures are verified in Fuqing project of GIS main transformer equipment manufacturing process, and their effectiveness is proven. (author)

A New Method of Reliability Evaluation Based on Wavelet Information Entropy for Equipment Condition Identification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Z J; Zhang, X L; Chen, X F

2012-01-01

Aiming at reliability evaluation of condition identification of mechanical equipment, it is necessary to analyze condition monitoring information. A new method of reliability evaluation based on wavelet information entropy extracted from vibration signals of mechanical equipment is proposed. The method is quite different from traditional reliability evaluation models that are dependent on probability statistics analysis of large number sample data. The vibration signals of mechanical equipment were analyzed by means of second generation wavelet package (SGWP). We take relative energy in each frequency band of decomposed signal that equals a percentage of the whole signal energy as probability. Normalized information entropy (IE) is obtained based on the relative energy to describe uncertainty of a system instead of probability. The reliability degree is transformed by the normalized wavelet information entropy. A successful application has been achieved to evaluate the assembled quality reliability for a kind of dismountable disk-drum aero-engine. The reliability degree indicates the assembled quality satisfactorily.

Efficiency evaluation of an electronic equipment: availability,reliability and maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guyot, C.

1966-01-01

This concept of efficiency often called ''system effectiveness'', is presented and analyzed in terms of reliability and maintenance. It allows to define the availability factor of an electronic equipment. A procedure of evaluation is proposed. (A.L.B.)

Study on highly reliable digital communication technology of reactor nuclear measuring equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu Pengfei; Huang Xiaojin

2007-01-01

To meet the need of highly reliable of reactor nuclear measuring equipment, in allusion to the idiographic request of nuclear measuring equipment, the actual technical development and the application in industrial field, we design a kind of redundancy communication net based on PROFIBUS, and a kind of communication interface module based on redundancy PROFIBUS communication, which link the nuclear measuring equipment and PROFIBUS communication net, and also lay a foundation for advanced research. (authors)

Providing reliable equipment to IAEA through a low risk transition plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, L.; Weinstock, E.V.; Karlin, E.W.

1988-01-01

The development and production of safeguards equipment is a complex process containing many potential pitfalls between the conceptual design and its implementation in the field. The conditions for equipment use are especially demanding. At the same time, the consequences of failure may be serious. Repeated failure may result in the loss of credibility of safeguards. Expensive back up measures such as re-verification of inventories may be required. Inspectors may come to distrust the equipment. Finally, the expense of maintaining the equipment may be excessive. It is therefore essential that the process for bringing equipment for the conceptual stage to actual routine use minimizes the risk of producing equipment that is unsuitable for the job. Fortunately, approaches for accomplishing this have already been developed in both the industrial and commercial sectors. One such approach, the Low Risk Transition Plan (LRTP) is described to show it can be applied to the production of reliable safeguards equipment

Reliability of nondestructive testing of metal strength properties for power equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bugaj, N.V.; Lebedev, A.A.; Sharko, A.V.

1985-01-01

Ultrasonic control which is a constituent part of a complex control system which includes specimen-free (by hardness) tests, random breaking tests and acoustic measurements is stUdied for its reliability with respect to strength properties of power-equipment metal. Quantitative and alternative criteria are developed to estimate quality of elements for power-equipment according to results of metal strength properties. Acoustic control results are presented for ultimate strength in 12Kh1MF-steel

Study on the Management for the Nuclear Power Plant Maintenance and Equipment Reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Kyeongseop; Lee, Sangheon; Kim, Myungjin; Lee, Unjang

2015-01-01

In our country, many studies on the regulatory policy of the plant maintenance have ever been performed since 1998, but the relevant regulatory requirements were not established yet. These background mentioned above request us to study on the regulation policy and maintenance plan to improve the safety, reliability and efficiency of NPP. To solve these problems, in this study, we deduct the management methodology for the improvement of NPP maintenance and equipment reliability that is essential to secure the safety and efficiency of the commercial NPP. For analysis the maintenance and equipment reliability management methodology in overseas NPP. We studied maintenance and equipment reliability of USA, Canada and Europe(France, England, German). We also studied status and application condition of Korean NPP maintenance management technical development. We deducted an effective maintenance methodology that is needed to Korean NPP, as a result of comparison on the technical trend of the maintenance management between overseas and Korean, such like following. - Regulation form ·Specific provision of regulation requirement and application of form that is clarifying application standard - Maintenance management methodology, Maintenance management program. This results of study could be applied for regulation policy, law and guideline establishment of NPP maintenance, operation, supervision and a system establishment for maintenance management, education data about maintenance for NPP employees

Increasing reliability of nuclear energy equipment and at nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ochrana, L.

1997-01-01

The Institute of Nuclear Energy at the Technical University in Brno cooperates with nuclear power plants in increasing their reliability. The teaching programme is briefly described. The scientific research programme of the Department of Heat and Nuclear Power Energy Equipment in the field of reliability is based on a complex systematic concept securing a high level of reliability. In 1996 the Department prepared a study dealing with the evaluation of the maintenance system in a nuclear power plant. The proposed techniques make it possible to evaluate the reliability and maintenance characteristics of any individual component in a nuclear power plant, and to monitor, record and evaluate data at any given time intervals. (M.D.)

Considerations concerning the reliability of reactor safety equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furet, J.; Guyot, Ch.

1967-01-01

A review is made of the circumstances which favor a good collection of maintenance data at the C.E.A. The large amount of data to be treated has made necessary the use of a computer for analyzing automatically the results collected. Here, only particular aspects of the reliability from the point of view of the electronics used for nuclear reactor control will be dealt with: sale and unsafe failures; probability of survival (in the case of reactor safety); availability. The general diagrams of the safety assemblies which have been drawn up for two types of reactor (power reactor and low power experimental reactor) are given. Results are presented of reliability analysis which could be applied to the use of functional modular elements, developed industrially in France. Improvement of this reliability appears to be fairly limited by an increase in the redundancy; on the other hand it is shown how it may be very markedly improved by the use of automatic tests with different frequencies for detecting unsafe failures rates of measurements for the sub-assemblies and for the logic sub-assemblies. Finally examples are given to show the incidence of the complexity and of the use of different technologies in reactor safety equipment on the reliability. (authors) [fr

System design and equipment reliability for wide web working at Hem Heath Colliery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hall, L

1982-02-01

This paper outlines the challenge to mining engineers on system design and reliability of equipment and how Hem Heath Colliery in the UK, is meeting this challenge, by describing current systems of work and equipment on the faces, summarising experience gained with succeeding faces, the results achieved, and posing considerations for the future.

Safety systems I/C equipment reliability analyses of the Kozloduy NPP units 3 and 4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Halev, G; Christov, N [Risk Engineering Ltd., Sofia (Bulgaria)

1996-12-31

The purpose of the analysis is to assess the safety systems I/C equipment reliability. The assessment includes: quantification of the safety systems unavailability due to component failures; definition of the minimal cut sets leading to the analysed safety systems failure; quantification of the I/C equipment importance measures of the dominant contribution components. The safety systems I/C equipment reliability has been analysed using PSAPACK (a code for probabilistic safety assessment). Fault trees for the following safety systems of the Kozloduy-3 and Kozloduy-4 reactors have been constructed: neutron flow control equipment, reactor protection system, main coolant pumps, pressurizer safety valves `Sempell`, steam dump systems, spray system, low pressure injection system, emergency feeding water system, essential service water system. THree separate reports have been issued containing the performed analyses and results. 1 ref.

Developing Predictive Maintenance Expertise to Improve Plant Equipment Reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wurzbach, Richard N.

2002-01-01

On-line equipment condition monitoring is a critical component of the world-class production and safety histories of many successful nuclear plant operators. From addressing availability and operability concerns of nuclear safety-related equipment to increasing profitability through support system reliability and reduced maintenance costs, Predictive Maintenance programs have increasingly become a vital contribution to the maintenance and operation decisions of nuclear facilities. In recent years, significant advancements have been made in the quality and portability of many of the instruments being used, and software improvements have been made as well. However, the single most influential component of the success of these programs is the impact of a trained and experienced team of personnel putting this technology to work. Changes in the nature of the power generation industry brought on by competition, mergers, and acquisitions, has taken the historically stable personnel environment of power generation and created a very dynamic situation. As a result, many facilities have seen a significant turnover in personnel in key positions, including predictive maintenance personnel. It has become the challenge for many nuclear operators to maintain the consistent contribution of quality data and information from predictive maintenance that has become important in the overall equipment decision process. These challenges can be met through the implementation of quality training to predictive maintenance personnel and regular updating and re-certification of key technology holders. The use of data management tools and services aid in the sharing of information across sites within an operating company, and with experts who can contribute value-added data management and analysis. The overall effectiveness of predictive maintenance programs can be improved through the incorporation of newly developed comprehensive technology training courses. These courses address the use of

Equipment design for reliability testing of protection system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Situmorang, Johnny; Tjahjono, H.; Santosa, A. Z.; Tjahjani, S.DT.; Ismu, P.H; Haryanto, D.; Mulyanto, D.; Kusmono, S

1999-01-01

The equipment for reliability testing of cable of protection system has been designed as a a furnace with the electric heater have a 4 kW power, and need time 10 minute to reach the designed maximum temperature 3000C. The dimension of furnace is 800 mm diameter and 2000 mm length is isolated use rockwool isolator and coated by aluminium. For the designed maximum temperature the surface temperature is 78 0c. Assemble of specimens is arranged horizontally in the furnace. The failure criteria will be defined based on the behaviour of the load circuit in each line of cable specimens

Initial acceptance test experience with FFTF plant equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, R.K.; Coleman, K.A.; Mahaffey, M.K.; McCargar, C.G.; Young, M.W.

1978-09-01

The purpose of this paper is to examine the initial acceptance test experience of certain pieces of auxiliary equipment of the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF). The scope focuses on the DHX blowers and drive train, inert gas blowers, H and V containment isolation valves, and the Surveillance and In-service Inspection (SISI) transporter and trolley. For each type of equipment, the discussion includes a summary of the design and system function, installation history, preoperational acceptance testing procedures and results, and unusual events and resolutions

Domestic manufacturing and reliability improvement of reactor water recirculation equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Hidekazu; Oi, Masao; Shida, Toichi; Yokomori, Takashi

1982-01-01

The reactor coolant recirculation system is one of the important systems to control the reactor output in BWR nuclear power plants. Its components require high reliability and maintainability as well as controllability. For many Japanese nuclear power plants, recirculation pumps, fluid couplings and others have been imported so far. Hitachi Ltd. has established a domestic manufacturing organization through the development and test of these equipment. The fundamental design conditions for these equipment are the improvement of the rate of utilization of plant facility, the capability to follow load, and output power stability. In this paper, the specifications, the investigation of moment of inertia and the design features of recirculation pumps, driving motors and variable frequency power supply systems are described. The paper also reports on the combination test implemented to evaluate the recirculation system. The combination test includes the test using water rheostat for the power source facility and the loading test for a recirculation pump. The application of those system equipment to an actual plant was analyzed and evaluated on a basis of the test data obtained. The result showed that the equipment can achieve the rate of change of reactor power of 30%/min. Those equipment have been employed for No. 2 reactor plant of the Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Station, the Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (Wakatsuki, Y.)

[A reliability growth assessment method and its application in the development of equipment in space cabin].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, J D; Sun, H L

1999-04-01

Objective. To assess and predict reliability of an equipment dynamically by making full use of various test informations in the development of products. Method. A new reliability growth assessment method based on army material system analysis activity (AMSAA) model was developed. The method is composed of the AMSAA model and test data conversion technology. Result. The assessment and prediction results of a space-borne equipment conform to its expectations. Conclusion. It is suggested that this method should be further researched and popularized.

Suncor maintenance and reliability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Little, S. [Suncor Energy, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2006-07-01

Fleet maintenance and reliability at Suncor Energy was discussed in this presentation, with reference to Suncor Energy's primary and support equipment fleets. This paper also discussed Suncor Energy's maintenance and reliability standard involving people, processes and technology. An organizational maturity chart that graphed organizational learning against organizational performance was illustrated. The presentation also reviewed the maintenance and reliability framework; maintenance reliability model; the process overview of the maintenance and reliability standard; a process flow chart of maintenance strategies and programs; and an asset reliability improvement process flow chart. An example of an improvement initiative was included, with reference to a shovel reliability review; a dipper trip reliability investigation; bucket related failures by type and frequency; root cause analysis of the reliability process; and additional actions taken. Last, the presentation provided a graph of the results of the improvement initiative and presented the key lessons learned. tabs., figs.

Reliability analysis of mining equipment: A case study of a crushing plant at Jajarm Bauxite Mine in Iran

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barabady, Javad; Kumar, Uday

2008-01-01

The performance of mining machines depends on the reliability of the equipment used, the operating environment, the maintenance efficiency, the operation process, the technical expertise of the miners, etc. As the size and complexity of mining equipments continue to increase, the implications of equipment failure become ever more critical. Therefore, reliability analysis is required to identify the bottlenecks in the system and to find the components or subsystems with low reliability for a given designed performance. It is important to select a suitable method for data collection as well as for reliability analysis. This paper presents a case study describing reliability and availability analysis of the crushing plant number 3 at Jajarm Bauxite Mine in Iran. In this study, the crushing plant number 3 is divided into six subsystems. The parameters of some probability distributions, such as Weibull, Exponential, and Lognormal distributions have been estimated by using ReliaSoft's Weibull++6 software. The results of the analysis show that the conveyer subsystem and secondary screen subsystem are critical from a reliability point of view, and the secondary crusher subsystem and conveyer subsystem are critical from an availability point of view. The study also shows that the reliability analysis is very useful for deciding maintenance intervals

Efficiency evaluation of an electronic equipment: availability,reliability and maintenance; Notion d'efficacite d'un equipement electronique: disponibilite, fiabilite et maintenabilite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guyot, C

1966-07-01

This concept of efficiency often called ''system effectiveness'', is presented and analyzed in terms of reliability and maintenance. It allows to define the availability factor of an electronic equipment. A procedure of evaluation is proposed. (A.L.B.)

Reliability data of fire protection equipment and features in German nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roewekamp, M.; Riekert, T.; Sehrbrock, W.

1997-01-01

In order to perform probabilistic fire safety analyses, a comprehensive data base is needed including physical characteristics of fire compartments and their inventory, fire occurrence frequencies, technical reliability data for all fire-related equipment, human actions and human error probabilities, etc. In order to provide updated and realistic reliability data, the operational behaviour of different fire protection features in two German nuclear power plants was analysed in the framework of the study presented here. The analyses are based on the examination of reported results of the regular inspection and maintenance programs for nuclear power plants. Besides a plant specific assessment of the reliability data a generic assessment for an application as input data for fault tree analyses in the framework of probabilistic risk studies for other German plants was carried out. The analyses of failures and unavailabilities gave the impression that most of them are single failures without relevance for the plant safety. The data gained from NPPs were compared to reliability data of the German insurance companies for the same protection features installed in non-nuclear installations and to older nuclear specific reliability data. This comparison showed up a higher reliability. (orig.) [de

A summary of methods of predicting reliability life of nuclear equipment with small samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liao Weixian

2000-03-01

Some of nuclear equipment are manufactured in small batch, e.g., 1-3 sets. Their service life may be very difficult to determine experimentally in view of economy and technology. The method combining theoretical analysis with material tests to predict the life of equipment is put forward, based on that equipment consists of parts or elements which are made of different materials. The whole life of an equipment part consists of the crack forming life (i.e., the fatigue life or the damage accumulation life) and the crack extension life. Methods of predicting machine life has systematically summarized with the emphasis on those which use theoretical analysis to substitute large scale prototype experiments. Meanwhile, methods and steps of predicting reliability life have been described by taking into consideration of randomness of various variables and parameters in engineering. Finally, the latest advance and trends of machine life prediction are discussed

The concepts of leak before break and absolute reliability of NPP equipment and piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Getman, A.F.; Komarov, O.V.; Sokov, L.M.

1997-01-01

This paper describes the absolute reliability (AR) concept for ensuring safe operation of nuclear plant equipment and piping. The AR of a pipeline or component is defined as the level of reliability when the probability of an instantaneous double-ended break is near zero. AR analysis has been applied to Russian RBMK and VVER type reactors. It is proposed that analyses required for application of the leak before break concept should be included in AR implementation. The basic principles, methods, and approaches that provide the basis for implementing the AR concept are described

The concepts of leak before break and absolute reliability of NPP equipment and piping

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Getman, A.F.; Komarov, O.V.; Sokov, L.M. [and others

1997-04-01

This paper describes the absolute reliability (AR) concept for ensuring safe operation of nuclear plant equipment and piping. The AR of a pipeline or component is defined as the level of reliability when the probability of an instantaneous double-ended break is near zero. AR analysis has been applied to Russian RBMK and VVER type reactors. It is proposed that analyses required for application of the leak before break concept should be included in AR implementation. The basic principles, methods, and approaches that provide the basis for implementing the AR concept are described.

Seismic proving tests on the reliability for large components and equipment of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohno, Tokue; Tanaka, Nagatoshi

1988-01-01

Since Japan has destructive earthquakes frequently, the structural reliability for large components and equipment of nuclear power plants are rigorously required. They are designed using sophisticated seismic analyses and have not yet encountered a destructive earthquake. When nuclear power plants are planned, it is very important that the general public understand the structural reliability during and after an earthquake. Seismic Proving Tests have been planned by Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) to comply with public requirement in Japan. A large-scale high-performance vibration table was constructed at Tasted Engineering Laboratory of Nuclear Power Engineering Test Center (NU PEC), in order to prove the structural reliability by vibrating the test model (of full scale or close to the actual size) in the condition of a destructive earthquake. As for the test models, the following four items were selected out of large components and equipment important to the safety: Reactor Containment Vessel; Primary Coolant Loop or Primary Loop Recirculation System; Reactor Pressure Vessel; and Reactor Core Internals. Here is described a brief of the vibration table, the test method and the results of the tests on PWR Reactor Containment Vessel and BWR Primary Loop Recirculation System (author)

Learning reliable manipulation strategies without initial physical models

Science.gov (United States)

Christiansen, Alan D.; Mason, Matthew T.; Mitchell, Tom M.

1990-01-01

A description is given of a robot, possessing limited sensory and effectory capabilities but no initial model of the effects of its actions on the world, that acquires such a model through exploration, practice, and observation. By acquiring an increasingly correct model of its actions, it generates increasingly successful plans to achieve its goals. In an apparently nondeterministic world, achieving reliability requires the identification of reliable actions and a preference for using such actions. Furthermore, by selecting its training actions carefully, the robot can significantly improve its learning rate.

Cycle chemistry monitoring system as means of improving the reliability of the equipment at the power plants

Science.gov (United States)

Yegoshina, O. V.; Voronov, V. N.; Yarovoy, V. O.; Bolshakova, N. A.

2017-11-01

There are many problems in domestic energy at the present that require urgent solutions in the near future. One of these problems - the aging of the main and auxiliary equipment. Wear of equipment is the cause of decrease reliability and efficiency of power plants. Reliability of the equipment are associated with the introduction of cycle chemistry monitoring system. The most damageable equipment’s are boilers (52.2 %), turbines (12.6 %) and heating systems (12.3 %) according to the review of failure rate on the power plants. The most part of the damageability of the boiler is heated surfaces (73.2 %). According to the Russian technical requirements, the monitoring systems are responsible to reduce damageability the boiler heating surfaces and to increase the reliability of the equipment. All power units capacity of over 50 MW are equipped with cycle chemistry monitoring systems in order to maintain water chemistry within operating limits. The main idea of cycle chemistry monitoring systems is to improve water chemistry at power plants. According to the guidelines, cycle chemistry monitoring systems of a single unit depends on its type (drum or once-through boiler) and consists of: 20…50 parameters of on-line chemical analyzers; 20…30 «grab» sample analyses (daily) and about 15…20 on-line monitored operating parameters. The operator of modern power plant uses with many data at different points of steam/water cycle. Operators do not can estimate quality of the cycle chemistry due to the large volume of daily and every shift information and dispersion of data, lack of systematization. In this paper, an algorithm for calculating the quality index developed for improving control the water chemistry of the condensate, feed water and prevent scaling and corrosion in the steam/water cycle.

Implementation of the project of equipment reliability in the nuclear power plant of Laguna Verde; Implementacion del proyecto de confiabilidad de equipo en la Central Nucleoelectrica Laguna Verde

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rios O, J. E.; Martinez L, A. G. [CFE, Central Laguna Verde, Subgerencia General de Operacion, Veracruz (Mexico)]. e-mail: jrios@cfe.gob.mx

2008-07-01

A equipment is reliable if it fulfills the function for which was designed and when it is required. To implement a project of reliability in a nuclear power plant this associate to a process of continuous analysis of the operation, of the conditions and faults of the equipment. The analysis of the operation of a system, of the equipment of the same faults and the parts that integrate to equipment take to identify the potential causes of faults. The predictive analysis on components and equipment allow to rectify and to establish guides to optimize the maintenance and to guarantee the reliability and function of the same ones. The reliability in the equipment is without place to doubts a wide project that embraces from the more small component of the equipment going by the proof of the parts of reserve, the operation conditions until the operative techniques of analysis. Without place of doubt for a nuclear power plant the taking of decisions based on the reliability of their systems and equipment will be the appropriate for to assure the operation and reliability of the same one. In this work would appear the project of reliability its processes, criteria, indicators action of improvement and the interaction of the different disciplines from the Nuclear Power Plant of Laguna Verde like a fundamental point for it put in operation. (Author)

Life Cycle Management for Equipments in Nuclear Plants Based on Reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Dalin; Sun Jinlong

2012-01-01

Life cycle management model based on reliability includes two parts: obtaining failure rate function and founding cost-oriented model to solve. It is actually a single objective programming whose optimal solution is the most economical replacement period. Parameters of failure rate function are estimated by Weibull process fitting with the method of maximum likelihood. The objective function of the model is life-cost function where the dependent variable is replacement period T, with the constraints of failure rate or availability. After foundation of LCM model, we solve it to find the optimal replacement period for the equipments. (author)

Development of KSC program for investigating and generating field failure rates. Reliability handbook for ground support equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Bloomquist, C. E.; Kallmeyer, R. H.

1972-01-01

Field failure rates and confidence factors are presented for 88 identifiable components of the ground support equipment at the John F. Kennedy Space Center. For most of these, supplementary information regarding failure mode and cause is tabulated. Complete reliability assessments are included for three systems, eight subsystems, and nine generic piece-part classifications. Procedures for updating or augmenting the reliability results are also included.

Development of equipment reliability process using predictive technologies at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taniguchi, Yuji; Sakuragi, Futoshi; Hamada, Seiichi

2014-01-01

Development of equipment reliability(ER) process, specifically for predictive maintenance (PdM) technologies integrated condition based maintenance (CBM) process, at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station is introduced in this paper. Integration of predictive maintenance technologies such as vibration, oil analysis and thermo monitoring is more than important to establish strong maintenance strategies and to direct a specific technical development. In addition, a practical example of CBM is also presented to support the advantage of the idea. (author)

Improvement of Equipment reliability for Auxiliary Feed Water System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deok, Lee Sang; Kwan, Lee Yong [KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

2013-10-15

According to AP913 ER) of INPO, Number of the event related to equipment is higher than others like external or human performance. In the top 25 systems, Auxiliary feed water system is the seventh highest among systems. AWFS consists of many component and complex system and Main Function of AFWS is to supply feedwater to the steam generators for the removal of heat from the RCS(Reactor Coolant System) in event the main feedwater system is unavailable following a transient or accident. Reliability of component means how well operate on demands and monitoring is necessary to keep track of condition of component. If component performance is lower than the required value, corrective action for failure mode should be done. The objective of this study is focused to improve of AF pump by adding the tasks of SHR(System Health Report) into the task of system engineer walkdown of PMT(Preventive Maintenance Template). Increasing the reliability of AF pump will contribute to improvement of reliability of AFWS. Based on operating history, there was high vibration of AF pump during performance test. In that case, there were a lot of maintenance works for normal operation of AF pump. Vibration problem related pump can't be detected by tasks of SE walkdown because it's not running during normal operation except for surveillance test. CHR(Component Health Report) of AF pump in AFWS can be made from necessary part which means monitoring and functional failure because problem of Stand-by pump can be covered by conducting monitoring and analysis of functional failure. To improve reliability of AF pump, walkdown of PMT and SHR should be conducted both in accordance with surveillance test frequency. Health of AF pump based on operation history can be verified first and then can find out which parts of pump are weak. Finally, weak part can be managed intensively and failure can be reduced according to SE walkdown. But this work can be risky and burdensome because all parts of

Scyllac equipment reliability analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gutscher, W.D.; Johnson, K.J.

1975-01-01

Most of the failures in Scyllac can be related to crowbar trigger cable faults. A new cable has been designed, procured, and is currently undergoing evaluation. When the new cable has been proven, it will be worked into the system as quickly as possible without causing too much additional down time. The cable-tip problem may not be easy or even desirable to solve. A tightly fastened permanent connection that maximizes contact area would be more reliable than the plug-in type of connection in use now, but it would make system changes and repairs much more difficult. The balance of the failures have such a low occurrence rate that they do not cause much down time and no major effort is underway to eliminate them. Even though Scyllac was built as an experimental system and has many thousands of components, its reliability is very good. Because of this the experiment has been able to progress at a reasonable pace

An integrated approach to estimate storage reliability with initial failures based on E-Bayesian estimates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Yongjin; Zhao, Ming; Zhang, Shitao; Wang, Jiamei; Zhang, Yanjun

2017-01-01

Storage reliability that measures the ability of products in a dormant state to keep their required functions is studied in this paper. For certain types of products, Storage reliability may not always be 100% at the beginning of storage, unlike the operational reliability, which exist possible initial failures that are normally neglected in the models of storage reliability. In this paper, a new integrated technique, the non-parametric measure based on the E-Bayesian estimates of current failure probabilities is combined with the parametric measure based on the exponential reliability function, is proposed to estimate and predict the storage reliability of products with possible initial failures, where the non-parametric method is used to estimate the number of failed products and the reliability at each testing time, and the parameter method is used to estimate the initial reliability and the failure rate of storage product. The proposed method has taken into consideration that, the reliability test data of storage products containing the unexamined before and during the storage process, is available for providing more accurate estimates of both the initial failure probability and the storage failure probability. When storage reliability prediction that is the main concern in this field should be made, the non-parametric estimates of failure numbers can be used into the parametric models for the failure process in storage. In the case of exponential models, the assessment and prediction method for storage reliability is presented in this paper. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the method. Furthermore, a detailed comparison between the proposed and traditional method, for examining the rationality of assessment and prediction on the storage reliability, is investigated. The results should be useful for planning a storage environment, decision-making concerning the maximum length of storage, and identifying the production quality. - Highlights: �

Laser cutting equipment for dismantling irradiated PFR fuel sub-assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higginson, P.R.; Campbell, D.A.

1981-01-01

Laser cutting was identified as a possible technique for dismantling irradiated Prototype Fast Reactor (P.F.R.) fuel sub-assemblies and initial trials showed that it could be used to make essentially swarf free cuts in P.F.R. wrapper material provided sufficient laser power was available to allow use of an inert cutting gas. A programme of development work has established a technique for inert gas cutting with the reliable, commercially available Ferranti MF 400 laser and equipment for laser cutting of sub-assemblies has been installed in the Irradiated Fuel Cave at P.F.R. Test cuts carried out with this equipment on un-irradiated wrapper sections have shown it to be easy to operate remotely, optically stable and reliable in operation. (author)

Use of eye tracking equipment for human reliability analysis applied to complex system operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinheiro, Andre Ricardo Mendonça; Prado, Eugenio Anselmo Pessoa do; Martins, Marcelo Ramos

2017-01-01

This article will discuss the preliminary results of an evaluation methodology for the analysis and quantification of manual character errors (human), by monitoring cognitive parameters and skill levels in the operation of a complex control system based on parameters provided by a eye monitoring equipment (Eye Tracker). The research was conducted using a simulator (game) that plays concepts of operation of a nuclear reactor with a split sample for evaluation of aspects of learning, knowledge and standard operating within the context addressed. bridge operators were monitored using the EYE TRACKING, eliminating the presence of the analyst in the evaluation of the operation, allowing the analysis of the results by means of multivariate statistical techniques within the scope of system reliability. The experiments aim to observe state change situations such as stops and scheduled departures, incidents assumptions and common operating characteristics. Preliminary results of this research object indicate that technical and cognitive aspects can contribute to improving the reliability of the available techniques in human reliability, making them more realistic both in the context of quantitative approaches to regulatory and training purposes, as well as reduced incidence of human error. (author)

Use of eye tracking equipment for human reliability analysis applied to complex system operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pinheiro, Andre Ricardo Mendonça; Prado, Eugenio Anselmo Pessoa do; Martins, Marcelo Ramos, E-mail: andrericardopinheiro@usp.br, E-mail: eugenio.prado@labrisco.usp.br, E-mail: mrmatins@usp.br [Universidade de Sao Paulo (LABRISCO/USP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Lab. de Análise, Avaliação e Gerenciamento de Risco

2017-07-01

This article will discuss the preliminary results of an evaluation methodology for the analysis and quantification of manual character errors (human), by monitoring cognitive parameters and skill levels in the operation of a complex control system based on parameters provided by a eye monitoring equipment (Eye Tracker). The research was conducted using a simulator (game) that plays concepts of operation of a nuclear reactor with a split sample for evaluation of aspects of learning, knowledge and standard operating within the context addressed. bridge operators were monitored using the EYE TRACKING, eliminating the presence of the analyst in the evaluation of the operation, allowing the analysis of the results by means of multivariate statistical techniques within the scope of system reliability. The experiments aim to observe state change situations such as stops and scheduled departures, incidents assumptions and common operating characteristics. Preliminary results of this research object indicate that technical and cognitive aspects can contribute to improving the reliability of the available techniques in human reliability, making them more realistic both in the context of quantitative approaches to regulatory and training purposes, as well as reduced incidence of human error. (author)

Delivering on Industry Equipment Reliability Goals By Leveraging an Integration Platform and Decision Support Environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coveney, Maureen K.; Bailey, W. Henry; Parkinson, William

2004-01-01

Utilities have invested in many costly enterprise systems - computerized maintenance management systems, document management systems, enterprise grade portals, to name but a few - and often very specialized systems, like data historians, high end diagnostic systems, and other focused and point solutions. From recent industry reports, we now know that the average nuclear power utilizes on average 1900 systems to perform daily work, of which 250 might facilitate the equipment reliability decision-making process. The time has come to leverage the investment in these systems by providing a common platform for integration and decision-making that will further the collective industry aim of enhancing the reliability of our nuclear generation assets to maintain high plant availability and to deliver on plant life extension goals without requiring additional large scale investment in IT infrastructure. (authors)

Zero tolerance for failure. An AREVA initiative to improve reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lippert, Hans-Joachim; Gentet, Guy; Mollard, Pierre; Garner, Norman

2010-01-01

Significant improvements in fuel reliability have been realized over the past 2 decades, but total elimination of failures has remained elusive. Driving reliability to higher levels requires a philosophy that does not accept that even infrequent and isolated failures are inevitable - it was on this foundation that Areva's Zero Tolerance for Failure (ZTF) initiative was established. This is not in itself either a program or project, but a fundamental shift in the way of thinking about work according to the following four principles: - Failures are avoidable, - Zero failures are our goal, - We will respond rapidly to any failure, - We succeed when we fix failures in a way that precludes recurrence. The shift to a ZTF philosophy is a broad change in corporate culture that expands the concept of failure far beyond cases where fuel rod cladding integrity is breached. While this paper specifically illustrates the ways in which ZTF has shaped the company's response to enhancing fuel rod reliability, ZTF extends to any failures of fuel products to deliver expected levels of performance, manufacturing processes to meet specifications and high first-pass acceptance criteria, and beyond to error-free performance of engineering analyses and cycle design and licensing services. Application of ZTF to enhancing fuel reliability deploys efforts in the areas of manufacturing, human factors, design, R and D, processes and product strategy. In order to achieve the necessary improvements, a number of important actions have been initiated across regions and facilities. In addition to these global scale projects and measures, each region contributes by adopting measures which are relevant to its particular activities and market needs. (orig.)

Process plant equipment operation, control, and reliability

CERN Document Server

Holloway, Michael D; Onyewuenyi, Oliver A

2012-01-01

"Process Plant Equipment Book is another great publication from Wiley as a reference book for final year students as well as those who will work or are working in chemical production plants and refinery…" -Associate Prof. Dr. Ramli Mat, Deputy Dean (Academic), Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia "…give[s] readers access to both fundamental information on process plant equipment and to practical ideas, best practices and experiences of highly successful engineers from around the world… The book is illustrated throughout with numerous black & white p

Resistance welding equipment manufacturing capability for exports

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sastry, V.S.; Raju, Y.S.; Somani, A.K.; Setty, D.S.; Rameswara Raw, A.; Hermantha Rao, G.V.S.; Jayaraj, R.N. [Nuclear Fuel Complex, Dept. of Atomic Energy, Hyderbad (India)

2010-07-01

Indian Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) fuel bundle is fully welded and is unique in its design. Appendage welding, end closure welding, and end plate welding is carried out using resistance welding technique. Out of many joining processes available, resistance-welding process is reliable, environment friendly and best suitable for mass production applications. Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), an industrial unit is established in Hyderabad, under the aegis of the Dept of Atomic Energy to manufacture fuel for Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors. From inception, NFC has given importance for self-reliance and indigenization with respect to manufacturing process and equipment. Sintering furnaces, centreless grinders, appendage-welding machines, end-closure welding equipment and end-plate welding equipments, which were initially imported, are either indigenized or designed and manufactured in house. NFC has designed, manufactured a new appendage-welding machine for manufacturing 37 element fuel bundles. Recently NFC has bagged an order from IAEA through international bidding for design, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of end-closure welding equipment. The paper gives in detail the salient features of these welding equipment. (author)

Life cycle management for equipments in nuclear plants based on reliability and actual conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalin, Wang; Jingquan, Liu; Peng, Liu

2010-01-01

Life cycle management model based on reliability includes two parts: obtaining failure rate function and founding cost-oriented model to solve. It is actually a single objective programming whose optimal solution is the most economical replacement period. Parameters of failure rate function are estimated by Weibull process fitting with the method of maximum likelihood. The objective function of the model is life-cost function where the dependent variable is replacement period T, with the constraints of failure rate or availability. After foundation of LCM model, we solve it to find the optimal replacement period for the equipments. (authors)

Mechanical development for reliable reactor components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ross-Ross, P.A.; Metcalfe, R.

1983-09-01

The CANDU reactor has achieved worldwide distinction because of its reliable performance. To achieve this, special attention was given to the reliability and maintainability of components in the heavy water circuits. Development programs were initiated early in the history of the CANDU reactor to improve the effectiveness of pump seals, valves, and static seals because of unacceptable performance of the commercial equipment then available. As a result, pump seals with a five year life now appear achievable, and valves and static seals are no longer a significant concern in CANDU reactors. Increasing effort is being given remotely operated tools and fabrication systems for radioactive environments

Equipment Obsolescence Management Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Redmond, J.

2014-07-01

Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Operators are challenged with securing reliable supply channels for safety related equipment due to equipment obsolescence. Many Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have terminated production of spare parts and product life-cycle support. The average component life cycles are much shorter than the NPP design life, which means that replacement components and parts for the original NPP systems are not available for the complete design life of the NPPs. The lack or scarcity of replacement parts adversely affects plant reliability and ultimately the profitability of the affected NPPs. This problem is further compounded when NPPs pursue license renewal and approval for plant-life extension. A reliable and predictable supply of replacement co components is necessary for NPPs to remain economically competitive and meet regulatory requirements and guidelines. Electrical and I and C components, in particular, have short product life cycles and obsolescence issues must be managed pro actively and not reactively in order to mitigate the risk to the NPP to ensure reliable and economic NPP operation. (Author)

Development of KSC program for investigating and generating field failure rates. Volume 2: Recommended format for reliability handbook for ground support equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Bloomquist, C. E.; Kallmeyer, R. H.

1972-01-01

Field failure rates and confidence factors are presented for 88 identifiable components of the ground support equipment at the John F. Kennedy Space Center. For most of these, supplementary information regarding failure mode and cause is tabulated. Complete reliability assessments are included for three systems, eight subsystems, and nine generic piece-part classifications. Procedures for updating or augmenting the reliability results presented in this handbook are also included.

Developing ''SMART'' equipment and systems through collaborative NERI research and development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harmon, Daryl L.; Chapman, Leon D.; Golay, Michael W.; Maynard, Kenneth P.; SpencerR, Joseph W.

2000-01-01

The United States Department of Energy initiated the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) to conduct research and development with the objectives of: (1) overcoming the principal technical obstacles to expanded nuclear energy use, (2) advancing the state of nuclear technology to maintain its competitive position in domestic and world markets, and (3) improving the performance, efficiency, reliability, and economics of nuclear energy. Fiscal Year 1999 program funding is $19 Million, with increased finding expected for subsequent years, emphasizing international cooperation. Among the programs selected for funding is the ''Smart Equipment and Systems to Improve Reliability and Safety in Future Nuclear Power Plant Operations''. This program is a 30 month collaborative effort bringing together the technical capabilities of ABB C-E Nuclear Power, Inc. (ABB CENP), Sandia National Laboratories, Duke Engineering and Services (DE and S), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Pennsylvania State University (PSU). The program's goal is to design, develop and evaluate an integrated set of smart equipment and predictive maintenance tools and methodologies that will significantly reduce nuclear plant construction, operation and maintenance costs. To accomplish this goal the Smart Equipment program will: (1) Identify and prioritize nuclear plant equipment that would most likely benefit from adding smart features; (2) Develop a methodology for systematically monitoring the health of individual pieces of equipment implemented with smart features (i.e. smart equipment); (3) Develop a methodology to provide plant operators with real-time information through smart equipment Man-Machine Interfaces (MMI) to support their decision making; (4) Demonstrate the methodology on a targeted component and/or system; (5) Expand the concept to system and plant levels that allow communication and integration of data among smart equipment. This paper will discuss (1) detailed subtask

Reliability of nuclear power plants and equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1985-01-01

The standard sets the general principles, a list of reliability indexes and demands on their selection. Reliability indexes of nuclear power plants include the simple indexes of fail-safe operation, life and maintainability, and of storage capability. All terms and notions are explained and methods of evaluating the indexes briefly listed - statistical, and calculation experimental. The dates when the standard comes in force in the individual CMEA countries are given. (M.D.)

The importance of reliability to the SunShot Initiative (Presentation Recording)

Science.gov (United States)

Jones-Albertus, Rebecca

2015-09-01

The U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative was launched in 2011 to make subsidy-free solar electricity cost competitive with conventional energy sources by the end of the decade. Research in reliability can play a major role in realizing the SunShot goal of 0.06/kWh. By improving photovoltaic module lifetime and reducing degradation rates, a system's lifetime energy output is increased. Increasing confidence in photovoltaic performance prediction can lower perceived investment risk and thus the cost of capital. Accordingly, in 2015, SunShot expects to award more than $40 million through its SunShot National Laboratory Multiyear Partnership (SuNLaMP) and Physics of Reliability: Evaluating Design Insights for Component Technologies in Solar (PREDICTS) 2 funding programs, for research into reliability topics such as determining acceleration factors, modeling degradation rates and failure mechanisms, improving predictive performance models, and developing new test methods and instrumentation.

Reliability research based experience with systems and events at the Kozloduy NPP units 1-4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khristova, R; Kaltchev, B; Dimitrov, B [Energoproekt, Sofia (Bulgaria); Nedyalkova, D; Sonev, A [Kombinat Atomna Energetika, Kozloduj (Bulgaria)

1996-12-31

An overview of equipment reliability based on operational data of selected safety systems at the Kozloduy NPP is presented. Conclusions are drawn on reliability of the service water system, feed water system, emergency power supply - category 2, emergency high pressure ejection system and spray system. For the units 1-4 all recorded accident protocols in the period 1974-1993 have been processed and the main initiators identified. A list with 39 most frequent initiators of accidents/incidents is compiled. The human-caused errors account for 27% of all events. The reliability characteristics and frequencies have been calculated for all initiating events. It is concluded that there have not been any accidents with consequences for fuel integrity or radioactive release. 14 refs.

Reliability research based experience with systems and events at the Kozloduy NPP units 1-4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khristova, R.; Kaltchev, B.; Dimitrov, B.; Nedyalkova, D.; Sonev, A.

1995-01-01

An overview of equipment reliability based on operational data of selected safety systems at the Kozloduy NPP is presented. Conclusions are drawn on reliability of the service water system, feed water system, emergency power supply - category 2, emergency high pressure ejection system and spray system. For the units 1-4 all recorded accident protocols in the period 1974-1993 have been processed and the main initiators identified. A list with 39 most frequent initiators of accidents/incidents is compiled. The human-caused errors account for 27% of all events. The reliability characteristics and frequencies have been calculated for all initiating events. It is concluded that there have not been any accidents with consequences for fuel integrity or radioactive release. 14 refs

Power electronics reliability analysis.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Mark A.; Atcitty, Stanley

2009-12-01

This report provides the DOE and industry with a general process for analyzing power electronics reliability. The analysis can help with understanding the main causes of failures, downtime, and cost and how to reduce them. One approach is to collect field maintenance data and use it directly to calculate reliability metrics related to each cause. Another approach is to model the functional structure of the equipment using a fault tree to derive system reliability from component reliability. Analysis of a fictitious device demonstrates the latter process. Optimization can use the resulting baseline model to decide how to improve reliability and/or lower costs. It is recommended that both electric utilities and equipment manufacturers make provisions to collect and share data in order to lay the groundwork for improving reliability into the future. Reliability analysis helps guide reliability improvements in hardware and software technology including condition monitoring and prognostics and health management.

Telehealth language assessments using consumer grade equipment in rural and urban settings: Feasible, reliable and well tolerated.

Science.gov (United States)

Sutherland, Rebecca; Trembath, David; Hodge, Antoinette; Drevensek, Suzi; Lee, Sabrena; Silove, Natalie; Roberts, Jacqueline

2017-01-01

Introduction Telehealth can be an effective way to provide speech pathology intervention to children with speech and language impairments. However, the provision of reliable and feasible standardised language assessments via telehealth to establish children's needs for intervention and to monitor progress has not yet been well established. Further, there is limited information about children's reactions to telehealth. This study aimed to examine the reliability and feasibility of conducting standardised language assessment with school-aged children with known or suspected language impairment via a telehealth application using consumer grade computer equipment within a public school setting. Method Twenty-three children (aged 8-12 years) participated. Each child was assessed using a standardised language assessment comprising six subtests. Two subtests were administered by a speech pathologist face-to-face (local clinician) and four subtests were administered via telehealth. All subtests were completed within a single visit to the clinic service, with a break between the face to face and telehealth sessions. The face-to-face clinician completed behaviour observation checklists in the telehealth and face to face conditions and provided feedback on the audio and video quality of the application from the child's point of view. Parent feedback about their child's experience was elicited via survey. Results There was strong inter-rater reliability in the telehealth and face-to-face conditions (correlation coefficients ranged from r = 0.96-1.0 across the subtests) and good agreement on all measures. Similar levels of attention, distractibility and anxiety were observed in the two conditions. Clinicians rated only one session of 23 as having poor audio quality and no sessions were rated as having poor visual quality. Parent and child reactions to the use of telehealth were largely positive and supportive of using telehealth to assess rural children. Discussion The

Beyond the glitz of new equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stolberg, H.O.; Nahmias, C.

2001-01-01

Canadian radiologists were informed by the press on Mar. 17, 2001, about an important initiative of their national organization. The CAR had commissioned a Montreal law firm to provide a legal opinion about the use of 'obsolete equipment'. The lawyer of the law firm opined that 'it is imperative that the patient be advised and understand the risks and uncertainties associated with the reliability of such an examination'. The 5-page legal opinion (available at www.car.ca) also recommended that radiologists inform patients that they should consider shopping around for a hospital or clinic with newer machines, even if it means travelling out of the country. When summarizing the legal advice for the media, the Chief Executive Officer of the CAR said radiologists should advise patients if better equipment is available in other facilities, including 'private facilities', or in other jurisdictions, such as the United States. These developments should be of great concern to Canadian radiologists who are well aware of the problems associated with aging equipment and the lack of and limited access to newer imaging modalities. The legal initiative of the CAR, however, makes it imperative for individual radiologists to provide comments and for the CAR executive to answer a number of questions and address a number of priorities, including the following. (author)

Developing ''smar'' equipment and systems through collaborative NERI research and development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harmon, Daryl L.; Chapman, Leon D.; Golay, Michael W.; Maynard, Kenneth P.; Spencer, Joseph W.

2000-01-01

The United States Department of Energy initiated the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) to conduct research and development with the objectives of : (1) overcoming the principal technical obstacles to expanded nuclear energy use, (2) advancing the state of nuclear technology to maintain its competitive position in domestic and world markets, and (3) improving the performance, efficiency, reliability, and economics of nuclear energy. Fiscal Year 1999 program funding is $19 Million, with increased funding expected for subsequent years, emphasizing international cooperation. Among the programs selected for funding is the S mart Equipment and Systems to Improve Reliability and Safety in Future Nuclear Power Plant Operations . This program is a 30 month collaborative effort bringing together the technical capabilities of ABB C-E Nuclear Power, Inc. (ABBCENP), Sandia National Laboratories, Duke Engineering and Services (DEandS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Pennsylvania State University (PSU). The program's goal is to design, develop and evaluate an integrated set of ''smart'' equipment and predicitve maintenance tools and methodologies that will significantly reduce nuclear plant construction, operation and maintenance costs. To accomplish this goal the ''smart'' quipment program will: 1. Identify the prioritize nulcear plant equipment that would most likely benefit from adding smart features, 2. Developa methodology for systematically monitoring the health of individual pieces of equipment implemented with smart features (i. e. ''smart'' equipment), 3. Developa methodology to provide plant operators with real-time information through ''smart'' equipment Man-Machine Interfaces (MMI) to support their decision making, 4. Demonstrate the methodology on a targeted component and/or system, 5. Expand the concept to system and plant levels that allow communication and integration of data among smart equipment. This paper will discuss (1) detailed

Human reliability analysis for In-Tank Precipitation alignment and startup of emergency purge ventilation equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsen, L.M.

1993-08-01

This report documents the methodology used for calculating the human error probability for establishing air based ventilation using emergency purge ventilation equipment on In-Tank Precipitation (ITP) processing tanks 48 and 49 after a failure of the nitrogen purge system following a seismic event. The analyses were performed according to THERP (Technique for Human Error Rate Prediction). The calculated human error probabilities are provided as input to the Fault Tree Analysis for the ITP Nitrogen Purge System. The analysis assumes a seismic event initiator leading to establishing air based ventilation on the ITP processing tanks 48 and 49. At the time of this analysis only the tanks and the emergency purge ventilation equipment are seismically qualified. Consequently, onsite and offsite power is assumed to be unavailable and all operator control actions are to be performed locally on the tank top. Assumptions regarding procedures, staffing, equipment locations, equipment tagging, equipment availability, and training were made and are documented in this report. The human error probability for establishing air based ventilation using the emergency purge ventilation equipment on In-Tank Precipitation processing tanks 48 and 49 after a failure of the nitrogen purge system following a seismic event is 4.2E-6 (median value on the lognormal scale). It is important to note that this result is predicated on the implementation of all of the assumptions listed in the ''Assumptions'' section of this report. This analysis was not based on the current conditions in ITP. The analysis is to be used as a tool to aid ITP operations personnel in achieving the training, procedural, and operational goals outlined in this document

Initial decontamination of the equipment decontamination room at the West Valley Demonstration Project. Topical report, September 1983-May 1985

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meigs, R.A.

1985-12-01

The purpose of this report is to document the initial decontamination of the Equipment Decontamination Room (EDR). The effort spanned a two-year period and included packaging and removal of waste; grinding away contaminated concrete floors; pump-out and spraydown of an equipment soaking pit; washing and painting of walls, equipment, and floors; refurbishment of utilities and various pieces of equipment; and load tests of EDR and Chemical Process Cell (CPC) cranes. After decontamination, the EDR was converted into a waste handling area for the decommissioning of the CPC

Reliability analysis of reactor protection systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alsan, S.

1976-07-01

A theoretical mathematical study of reliability is presented and the concepts subsequently defined applied to the study of nuclear reactor safety systems. The theory is applied to investigations of the operational reliability of the Siloe reactor from the point of view of rod drop. A statistical study conducted between 1964 and 1971 demonstrated that most rod drop incidents arose from circumstances associated with experimental equipment (new set-ups). The reliability of the most suitable safety system for some recently developed experimental equipment is discussed. Calculations indicate that if all experimental equipment were equipped with these new systems, only 1.75 rod drop accidents would be expected to occur per year on average. It is suggested that all experimental equipment should be equipped with these new safety systems and tested every 21 days. The reliability of the new safety system currently being studied for the Siloe reactor was also investigated. The following results were obtained: definite failures must be detected immediately as a result of the disturbances produced; the repair time must not exceed a few hours; the equipment must be tested every week. Under such conditions, the rate of accidental rod drops is about 0.013 on average per year. The level of nondefinite failures is less than 10 -6 per hour and the level of nonprotection 1 hour per year. (author)

Aerospace reliability applied to biomedicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Lalli, V. R.; Vargo, D. J.

1972-01-01

An analysis is presented that indicates that the reliability and quality assurance methodology selected by NASA to minimize failures in aerospace equipment can be applied directly to biomedical devices to improve hospital equipment reliability. The Space Electric Rocket Test project is used as an example of NASA application of reliability and quality assurance (R&QA) methods. By analogy a comparison is made to show how these same methods can be used in the development of transducers, instrumentation, and complex systems for use in medicine.

Human Reliability Analysis for In-Tank Precipitation Alignment and Startup of Emergency Purge Ventilation Equipment. Revision 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shapiro, B.J.; Britt, T.E.

1994-10-01

This report documents the methodology used for calculating the human error probability for establishing air based ventilation using emergency purge ventilation equipment on In-Tank Precipitation (ITP) processing tanks 48 and 49 after failure of the nitrogen purge system following a seismic event. The analyses were performed according to THERP (Technique for Human Error Rate Prediction) as described in NUREG/CR-1278-F, ''Handbook of Human Reliability Analysis with Emphasis on Nuclear Power Plant Applications.'' The calculated human error probabilities are provided as input to the Fault Tree Analysis for the ITP Nitrogen Purge System

Major factors in critical equipment reliability - Auxiliary systems; The development of an auxiliary system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsthoffer, W.E.

1992-01-01

In this article, the author details the development of an actual auxiliary system in order to fully understand the function of each major component and how it contributes to the total operation and reliability of the system. Only after the function of an auxiliary system is thoroughly understood, can one proceed to discuss specifications, design audits, testing, operation and preventive maintenance. The application selected will be to develop a pressurized lubrication and steam turbine control oil system for the critical equipment unit. This example was selected since many readers will be familiar with this type and because it provides a good foundation towards understanding fluid sealing systems. In the exercise that follow, he will define the system requirements and determine the system parameters. This information will then be used for component sizing

Reliability 'H' scheme of HV/MV substations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perić Dragoslav M.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Substations (HV/MV connect transmission and distribution systems with consumers of electric energy. The selective search method was used for calculation of substation reliability, where all arrangement elements were grouped into blocks. Subject of the analysis was H-arrangements comprising air-insulated switchgears on the high voltage side of HV/MV substations with different number of feeder and transformer bays and diverse scope of the installed switching equipment. Failure rate and duration were used as main HV/MV substation equipment reliability indices. A large number of arrangements were classified into groups, and within a group the arrangements were ranked with the use of multiple criteria. It is shown that the reliability of the electricity transit depends on the equipment of field for the transit of electricity, which favors poorly equipped field. On the other hand, the reliability of transformation of the full power depends mostly on the equipment in coupling field. It is essential that in the coupling field, there are at least two disconnectors. Installation of the switch in the coupling field is meaningful only with appropriate protection, because it further improves reliability. Conclusions are drawn for phased construction and expansion of the single pole diagram with an additional field for the transmission line.

Performance monitoring of safeguards equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sirisena, K.; Peltoranta, M.; Goussarov, V.; Vodrazka, P.

1999-01-01

SGTCS is responsible for monitoring and reporting the performance of the SG equipment. Performance monitoring (PM) has been implemented in most important safeguards equipment operating unattended in nuclear facilities. Inspectors acquire equipment performance data in facilities. After inspection, the data package is submitted to SGTCS for processing and analysis. The performance data is used for identification of systems or components, which should be changed in the field and for identification of modules which, should be diagnosed at HQ in order to determine the cause of failure. Moreover, the performance data is used for preventive maintenance and spares distribution planning, and to provide statistics for official reports and management decision making. An important part of the performance monitoring is reporting. Equipment performance reports contain information about equipment inventory, utilization, failure types, failure distribution, and reliability. Trends in performance are given in graphical form in cases, where past data is available. Reliability estimates such as expected times between failures are provided. The automated reporting tools are obtainable through EMIS database application. (author)

Days individual equipment of protection and professional risks; Equipements de protection individuelle et risques professionnelles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2007-07-01

The personal protection equipment is studied in the legal way (legal liabilities, certification, European texts), technical way (ergonomics, painfulness of ventilated equipment wearing, reliability of a respirable air line, protection gloves against the chemical risk, exposure to nano particulates, working in hot area), human factors (hostile area and emotion management), studies on personal equipment such evaluation, efficiency, conception of new equipment, physiological tolerance, limit of use, and some general safety studies on the working places. (N.C.)

Design, construction and testing of replacement nuclear coolant pump stators to meet today's equipment reliability expectations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fostier, L.; Howell, D.

2005-01-01

The reliability expectations of equipment and components in today's nuclear power plant are much greater than three or more decades ago when nuclear plants were first constructed due to economic impact of a failure. Very few components in a pressurized water reactor plant can have as much impact of the plants capacity factor as a catastrophic failure of a reactor coolant pump winding. This paper describes the maintenance approach taken by one North American utility in attempt to preclude such failures. The paper will discuss the challenges of the reactor coolant pump application and the enhancements made in the winding design and construction by the supplier to address failure mechanisms so as to better meet present reliability expectations in accordance with dedicated specifications. The paper will also present the in-process and final testing requirements and limits imposed in an attempt to ensure quality of the machine windings, along with selected test results from the stators that have been designed and constructed to these specifications to date. (author)

Component fragility data base for reliability and probability studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bandyopadhyay, K.; Hofmayer, C.; Kassier, M.; Pepper, S.

1989-01-01

Safety-related equipment in a nuclear plant plays a vital role in its proper operation and control, and failure of such equipment due to an earthquake may pose a risk to the safe operation of the plant. Therefore, in order to assess the overall reliability of a plant, the reliability of performance of the equipment should be studied first. The success of a reliability or a probability study depends to a great extent on the data base. To meet this demand, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has formed a test data base relating the seismic capacity of equipment specimens to the earthquake levels. Subsequently, the test data have been analyzed for use in reliability and probability studies. This paper describes the data base and discusses the analysis methods. The final results that can be directly used in plant reliability and probability studies are also presented in this paper

Application of Equipment Monitoring Technology in Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, H. T.; Lee, J. K.; Lee, K. D.; Jo, S. H.

2012-01-01

The major goal of nuclear power industries during the past 10 years is to increase reliability and utility capacity factor. As the capacitor factor, however, crept upward. it became harder to attain next percentage of improvement. Therefore other innovative technologies are required. By the technologies applied to the fossil power plants, equipment health monitoring was performed on equipment to maintain it in operable condition and contributed on improving their reliability a lot. But the equipment monitoring may be limited to the observation of current system states in nuclear power plant. Monitoring of current system states is being augmented with prediction of future operating states and predictive diagnosis of future failure states. Such predictive diagnosis is motivated by the need for nuclear power plants to optimize equipment performance and reduce costs and unscheduled downtime. This paper reviews the application of techniques that focus on improving reliability in nuclear power plant by monitoring and predicting equipment health and suggests how possible to support on-line monitoring

Attribute measurement equipment for the verification of plutonium in classified forms for the Trilateral Initiative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langner, D.G.; Hsue, S.-T.; Macarthur, D.W.

2001-01-01

Full text: A team of technical experts from the Russian Federation, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United States have been working for almost five years on the development of a tool kit of instruments that could be used to verify plutonium-bearing items that have classified characteristics in nuclear weapons states. This suite of instruments is similar in many ways to standard safeguards equipment and includes high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometers, neutron multiplicity counters, gross neutron counters and gross gamma-ray detectors. In safeguards applications, this equipment is known to be robust, and authentication methods are well understood. This equipment is very intrusive, however, and a traditional safeguards application of such equipment for verification of materials with classified characteristics would reveal classified information to the inspector, Several enabling technologies have been or are being developed to facilitate the use of these trusted, but intrusive technologies. In this paper, these technologies will be described. One of the new technologies is called an Attribute Verification System with an Information Barrier Utilizing Neutron Multiplicity Counting and High-Resolution Gamma-Ray Spectrometry' or AVNG. The radiation measurement equipment, comprising a neutron multiplicity counter and high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer, is standard safeguards-type equipment with information security features added. The information barrier is a combination of technical and procedural methods that protect classified information while allowing the inspector to have confidence that the measurement equipment is providing authentic results. The approach is to reduce the radiation data collected by the measurement equipment to a simple 'yes/no' result regarding attributes of the plutonium-bearing item. The 'yes/no' result is unclassified by design so that it can be shared with an inspector. The attributes that the Trilateral Initiative

A Reliable Bistable Board Implementation through I/O Redundancy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Min Gyu; Chung, Tae Hyok; Lee, Youn Sang; Kim, Tae Hee; Song, Seung Hwan

2010-01-01

Nuclear power plant safety systems and related equipment used in the design, including an accident in all driving conditions that must be proven In addition, the safety-related equipment that is derived according to the digitization of the safety equipment is the most important factors. Therefore, it is necessary to prove that the device was satisfied the requirements for a given performance for safety-related digital equipment for the life of the installation. These proven is done through the process, design verification of the equipment, production management, such as installation and maintenance. Among other things, it is most important to implement of the performance and reliability features the safety-related equipment in the design phase. In this paper, Bistable Board implemented to generate a ESF sign-on signal throughout the signal processing of input signal from sensors. Also, for the reliable signal input and output, I/O Module that implements the redundancy increases the reliability of the Bistable Board , to verify the performance of safety-related equipment

A study of operational and testing reliability in software reliability analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, B.; Xie, M.

2000-01-01

Software reliability is an important aspect of any complex equipment today. Software reliability is usually estimated based on reliability models such as nonhomogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) models. Software systems are improving in testing phase, while it normally does not change in operational phase. Depending on whether the reliability is to be predicted for testing phase or operation phase, different measure should be used. In this paper, two different reliability concepts, namely, the operational reliability and the testing reliability, are clarified and studied in detail. These concepts have been mixed up or even misused in some existing literature. Using different reliability concept will lead to different reliability values obtained and it will further lead to different reliability-based decisions made. The difference of the estimated reliabilities is studied and the effect on the optimal release time is investigated

Engineering Work Plan for the Development of Phased Startup Initiative (PSI) Phases 3 and 4 Test Equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

PITNER, A.L.

2000-01-01

A number of tools and equipment pieces are required to facilitate planned test operations during Phases 3 and 4 of the Phased Startup Initiative (PSI). These items will be used in assessing residual canister sludge quantities on cleaned fuel assemblies, sorting coarse and fine scrap fuel pieces, assessing the size distribution of scrap pieces, loading scrap into a canister, and measuring the depth of the accumulated scrap in a canister. This work plan supercedes those previously issued for development of several of these test items. These items will be considered prototype equipment until testing has confirmed their suitability for use in K West Basin. The process described in AP-EN-6-032 will be used to qualify the equipment for facility use. These items are considered non-OCRWM for PSI Phase 3 applications. The safety classification of this equipment is General Service, with Quality Level 0 (for PSI Phase 3). Quality Control inspections shall be performed to verify basic dimensions and overall configurations of fabricated components, and any special quality control verifications specified in this work plan (Section 3.1.5). These inspections shall serve to approve the test equipment for use in K West Basin (Acceptance Tag). This equipment is for information gathering only during PSI Phases 3 and 4 activities, and will be discarded at the completion of PSI. For equipment needed to support actual production throughput, development/fabrication/testing activities would be more rigorously controlled

Compilation of the calculation elements of the electronic equipments reliability; Recueil des elements de calcul de la fiabilite des equipements electroniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lefevre, R.; D' Harcourt, A.; Dupuy, G. [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1968-07-01

The aim of this work is to allow the practical execution of the estimated calculation of the electronic devices reliability and to standardize the source and the approach of the calculations while giving a systematic character to their execution mode. The systematic character of the calculations allows a comparison of the reliability of different materials and a rapid control of the calculations validity; at last, it brings out the use conditions of all the components of a set. A reliability calculation made according to the method described here reveals: -components badly used -the relative influence on the reliability of the set, of a component or a components group taking into account of the number, of the characteristics and of the use of these ones. At last, the results of the calculation allows to organize the exploitation (availability) and the maintenance (staff, stock of components) of the materials. The failure rates given in this book are only relating to the components service-life and do not correspond to precocious failures. (authors) [French] L'objet du present recueil est d'une part de permettre l'execution pratique du calcul previsionnel de la fiabilite des equipements electroniques et d'autre part d'uniformiser l'origine et la presentation de calculs en donnant un caractere systematique a leur mode d'execution. Le caractere systematique des calculs permet une comparaison de la fiabilite de differents materiels et un controle rapide de la validite des calculs; enfin il met en relief les conditions d'utilisation de tous les composants d'un ensemble. Un calcul de fiabilite realise selon la methode preconise par ce document permet la mise en evidence: -des composants mal utilises -de l'influence relative sur la fiabilite de l'ensemble, d'un composant ou d'un groupe de composants compte tenu du nombre, des caracteristiques et de l'utilisation de ceux-ci. Enfin, les resultats du

Electric Power Infrastructure Reliability and Security (EPIRS) Reseach and Development Initiative

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rick Meeker; L. Baldwin; Steinar Dale; Alexander Domijan; Davild Larbalestier; Hui Li; Peter McLaren; Sastry Pamidi; Horatio Rodrigo; Michael Steurer

2010-03-31

Power systems have become increasingly complex and face unprecedented challenges posed by population growth, climate change, national security issues, foreign energy dependence and an aging power infrastructure. Increased demand combined with increased economic and environmental constraints is forcing state, regional and national power grids to expand supply without the large safety and stability margins in generation and transmission capacity that have been the rule in the past. Deregulation, distributed generation, natural and man-made catastrophes and other causes serve to further challenge and complicate management of the electric power grid. To meet the challenges of the 21st century while also maintaining system reliability, the electric power grid must effectively integrate new and advanced technologies both in the actual equipment for energy conversion, transfer and use, and in the command, control, and communication systems by which effective and efficient operation of the system is orchestrated - in essence, the 'smart grid'. This evolution calls for advances in development, integration, analysis, and deployment approaches that ultimately seek to take into account, every step of the way, the dynamic behavior of the system, capturing critical effects due to interdependencies and interaction. This approach is necessary to better mitigate the risk of blackouts and other disruptions and to improve the flexibility and capacity of the grid. Building on prior Navy and Department of Energy investments in infrastructure and resources for electric power systems research, testing, modeling, and simulation at the Florida State University (FSU) Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS), this project has continued an initiative aimed at assuring reliable and secure grid operation through a more complete understanding and characterization of some of the key technologies that will be important in a modern electric system, while also fulfilling an education and

Reliability on the move: safety and reliability in transportation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guy, G.B.

1989-01-01

The development of transportation has been a significant factor in the development of civilisation as a whole. Our technical ability to move people and goods now seems virtually limitless when one considers for example the achievements of the various space programmes. Yet our current achievements rely heavily on high standards of safety and reliability from equipment and the human component of transportation systems. Recent failures have highlighted our dependence on equipment and human reliability. This book represents the proceedings of the 1989 Safety and Reliability Society symposium held at Bath on 11-12 October 1989. The structure of the book follows the structure of the symposium itself and the papers selected represent current thinking the the wide field of transportation, and the areas of rail (6 papers, three on railway signalling), air including space (two papers), road (one paper), road and rail (two papers) and sea (three papers) are covered. There are four papers concerned with general transport issues. Three papers concerned with the transport of radioactive materials are indexed separately. (author)

Analysis of operating reliability of WWER-1000 unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bortlik, J.

1985-01-01

The nuclear power unit was divided into 33 technological units. Input data for reliability analysis were surveys of operating results obtained from the IAEA information system and certain indexes of the reliability of technological equipment determined using the Bayes formula. The missing reliability data for technological equipment were used from the basic variant. The fault tree of the WWER-1000 unit was determined for the peak event defined as the impossibility of reaching 100%, 75% and 50% of rated power. The period was observed of the nuclear power plant operation with reduced output owing to defect and the respective time needed for a repair of the equipment. The calculation of the availability of the WWER-1000 unit was made for different variant situations. Certain indexes of the operating reliability of the WWER-1000 unit which are the result of a detailed reliability analysis are tabulated for selected variants. (E.S.)

Reliability Model of Power Transformer with ONAN Cooling

OpenAIRE

M. Sefidgaran; M. Mirzaie; A. Ebrahimzadeh

2010-01-01

Reliability of a power system is considerably influenced by its equipments. Power transformers are one of the most critical and expensive equipments of a power system and their proper functions are vital for the substations and utilities. Therefore, reliability model of power transformer is very important in the risk assessment of the engineering systems. This model shows the characteristics and functions of a transformer in the power system. In this paper the reliability model...

Power Electronics Packaging Reliability | Transportation Research | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

Packaging Reliability Power Electronics Packaging Reliability A photo of a piece of power electronics laboratory equipment. NREL power electronics packaging reliability research investigates the electronics packaging around a semiconductor switching device determines the electrical, thermal, and

Reliability centred maintenance of nuclear power plant facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kovacs, Zoltan; Novakova, Helena; Hlavac, Pavol; Janicek, Frantisek

2011-01-01

A method for the optimization of preventive maintenance nuclear power plant equipment, i.e. reliability centred maintenance, is described. The method enables procedures and procedure schedules to be defined such as allow the maintenance cost to be minimized without compromising operational safety or reliability. Also, combinations of facilities which remain available and ensure reliable operation of the reactor unit during the maintenance of other pieces of equipment are identified. The condition-based maintenance concept is used in this process, thereby preventing unnecessary operator interventions into the equipment, which are often associated with human errors. Where probabilistic safety assessment is available, the most important structures, systems and components with the highest maintenance priority can be identified. (orig.)

Load Bearing Equipment for Bone and Muscle

Science.gov (United States)

Shackelford, Linda; Griffith, Bryan

2015-01-01

Resistance exercise on ISS has proven effective in maintaining bone mineral density and muscle mass. Exploration missions require exercise with similar high loads using equipment with less mass and volume and greater safety and reliability than resistance exercise equipment used on ISS (iRED, ARED, FWED). Load Bearing Equipment (LBE) uses each exercising person to create and control the load to the partner.

Reliability engineering theory and practice

CERN Document Server

Birolini, Alessandro

2010-01-01

Presenting a solid overview of reliability engineering, this volume enables readers to build and evaluate the reliability of various components, equipment and systems. Current applications are presented, and the text itself is based on the author's 30 years of experience in the field.

Electronics reliability calculation and design

CERN Document Server

Dummer, Geoffrey W A; Hiller, N

1966-01-01

Electronics Reliability-Calculation and Design provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of reliability. The increasing complexity of electronic equipment has made problems in designing and manufacturing a reliable product more and more difficult. Specific techniques have been developed that enable designers to integrate reliability into their products, and reliability has become a science in its own right. The book begins with a discussion of basic mathematical and statistical concepts, including arithmetic mean, frequency distribution, median and mode, scatter or dispersion of mea

Optimizing the design and operation of reactor emergency systems using reliability analysis techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snaith, E.R.

1975-01-01

Following a reactor trip various reactor emergency systems, e.g. essential power supplies, emergency core cooling and boiler feed water arrangements are required to operate with a high degree of reliability. These systems must therefore be critically assessed to confirm their capability of operation and determine their reliability of performance. The use of probability analysis techniques enables the potential operating reliability of the systems to be calculated and this can then be compared with the overall reliability requirements. However, a system reliability analysis does much more than calculate an overall reliability value for the system. It establishes the reliability of all parts of the system and thus identifies the most sensitive areas of unreliability. This indicates the areas where any required improvements should be made and enables the overall systems' designs and modes of operation to be optimized, to meet the system and hence the overall reactor safety criteria. This paper gives specific examples of sensitive areas of unreliability that were identified as a result of a reliability analysis that was carried out on a reactor emergency core cooling system. Details are given of modifications to design and operation that were implemented with a resulting improvement in reliability of various reactor sub-systems. The report concludes that an initial calculation of system reliability should represent only the beginning of continuing process of system assessment. Data on equipment and system performance, particularly in those areas shown to be sensitive in their effect on the overall nuclear power plant reliability, should be collected and processed to give reliability data. These data should then be applied in further probabilistic analyses and the results correlated with the original analysis. This will demonstrate whether the required and the originally predicted system reliability is likely to be achieved, in the light of the actual history to date of

Failure analysis – basic step of applying Reliability Centered Maintenance in general aviation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin BUGAJ

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Performing a reliability analysis on a product or system can actually include a number of different analyses to determine how reliable the product or system is. A reliability centered maintenance program consists of a set of scheduled tasks generated on the basis of specific reliability characteristics of the equipment they are designed to protect. Complex equipment is composed of a vast number of parts and assemblies. All these items can be expected to fail at one time or another, but some of the failures have more serious consequences than others. Certain kinds of failures have a direct effect on operating safety, and others affect the operational capability of the equipment. The consequences of a particular failure depend on the design of the item and the equipment in which it is installed. Although the environment in which the equipment is operated is sometimes an additional factor, the impact of failures on the equipment, and hence their consequences for the operating organization, are established primarily by the equipment designer. Failure consequences are therefore a primary inherent reliability characteristic.

Development of a database about equipment reliability for management of mechanical integrity of the installations of the Abreu e Lima refinery; Desenvolvimento de um banco de dados de confiabilidade e falha de equipamentos para gestao da integridade mecanica e confiabilidade das instalacoes da Refinaria Abreu e Lima

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Araujo, Nicia Valeria Silva da; Nunes, Katia Chagas [Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PETROBRAS), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Droguett, Enrique Andres Lopez; Moura, Marcio Jose das Chagas; Oliveira, Paulo Estevao Lemos [Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), PE (Brazil)

2012-07-01

The present article aims at presenting the methodology of implementing of the Reliability Data Base (BDConf) of the Abreu e Lima Oil Refinery (RNEST). The data that will be recorded into the BDConf will provide the basis for the planning of maintenance, reliability and inspections and SMES e also are important information for the decision making with focus on the asset management. For the maintenance department, the information generated at the BDConf will support decisions and the intervention planning of the UO. For reliability and inspection areas, the failure frequencies used in QRA (which, for example, determine the frequency of leaking) are defined from general RDB of other equipment (not necessarily from an oil refinery), of another plant where operation, management and meteorological conditions are completely different from RNEST (e.g., North Sea). For SMES in turn, the elaboration of the emergency and contingency plans (for inner and surrounding areas) is the last step of the project and is based on the risk analysis of the process which is initially done qualitatively and for parts of the subsystems of the units/areas of the RNEST. Therefore, the features of the BDConf will be here presented regarding the development of the taxonomy of inventory of equipment and categories of failures and (preventive and corrective) maintenance. Thus, BDConf will allow recording failure of equipment in the context of the RNEST e can estimate failure frequencies in a more customized way in order to develop QRA and RAM analyses in a more precise manner aiming at the stable operation of the plant. Moreover, BDConf can be widely used for other techniques and concepts from Reliability Engineering such as the optimization of the process unity and the asset management with back up on reliability (breakdowns, spare parts). (author)

Connecticut State University System Initiative for Nanotechnology-Related Equipment, Faculty Development and Curriculum Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Broadbridge, Christine C. [Southern Connecticut State University

2013-03-28

DOE grant used for partial fulfillment of necessary laboratory equipment for course enrichment and new graduate programs in nanotechnology at the four institutions of the Connecticut State University System (CSUS). Equipment in this initial phase included variable pressure scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy elemental analysis capability [at Southern Connecticut State University]; power x-ray diffractometer [at Central Connecticut State University]; a spectrophotometer and spectrofluorimeter [at Eastern Connecticut State University; and a Raman Spectrometer [at Western Connecticut State University]. DOE's funding was allocated for purchase and installation of this scientific equipment and instrumentation. Subsequently, DOE funding was allocated to fund the curriculum, faculty development and travel necessary to continue development and implementation of the System's Graduate Certificate in Nanotechnology (GCNT) program and the ConnSCU Nanotechnology Center (ConnSCU-NC) at Southern Connecticut State University. All of the established outcomes have been successfully achieved. The courses and structure of the GCNT program have been determined and the program will be completely implemented in the fall of 2013. The instrumentation has been purchased, installed and has been utilized at each campus for the implementation of the nanotechnology courses, CSUS GCNT and the ConnSCU-NC. Additional outcomes for this grant include curriculum development for non-majors as well as faculty and student research.

Trilateral Initiative: IAEA authentication and national certification of verification equipment for facilities with classified forms of fissile material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haas, Eckard; Sukhanov, Alexander; Murphy, John

2001-01-01

Full text: Within the framework of the Trilateral Initiative, technical challenges have arisen due to the potential of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring fissile material with classified characteristics, as well as the IAEA using facility or host country supplied monitoring equipment. In monitoring material with classified characteristics, it is recognized that the host country needs to assure that classified information is not made available to the IAEA inspectors. Thus, any monitoring equipment used to monitor material with classified characteristics has to contain information security capabilities, such as information barriers. But likewise in using host-country-supplied monitoring equipment, regarding the material being monitored the IAEA has to have confidence that the information provided by the equipment is genuine and can be used by the IAEA in fulfilling its obligation to derive conclusions based on independent verification measures. Thus the IAEA needs to go through the process of authenticating the monitoring equipment. In the same way the host country needs to go through the process to assure itself that the monitoring equipment integrated with an information barrier will not divulge any classified information about an inspected sensitive item. Both processes require on large extent identical measures, but partially also may conflict with each other. The fact that monitoring equipment needs to exhibit information security throughout its lifecycle while at the same time be capable of being authenticated necessitates the need for creative technical approaches to be pursued. (author)

Deep Space Network equipment performance, reliability, and operations management information system

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, T.; Lin, J.; Chatillon, M.

2002-01-01

The Deep Space Mission System (DSMS) Operations Program Office and the DeepSpace Network (DSN) facilities utilize the Discrepancy Reporting Management System (DRMS) to collect, process, communicate and manage data discrepancies, equipment resets, physical equipment status, and to maintain an internal Station Log. A collaborative effort development between JPL and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex delivered a system to support DSN Operations.

Technological plasma source equipped with combined system of vacuum-arc discharge initiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sysoev, Yu.O.

2013-01-01

The construction and the operation principle of erosion plasma source with a three-stage system of vacuum-arc discharge excitation is described. As first two step was used the modified contactless start system with plasma injector, which was widely used in standard plasma sources of the ''Bulat'' systems. The operation principle of the third stage was based on the transition of glow discharge to arc discharge. Coordinated operation of three stages during various stages of coating deposition provided significant increasing of service life and reliability of the system of vacuum-arc discharge initiation and extended the functionality of the plasma source

78 FR 58492 - Generator Verification Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-24

... power capability that is available for planning models and bulk electric system reliability assessments... of generator equipment needed to support Bulk-Power System reliability and enhance coordination of... support Bulk-Power System reliability and will ensure that accurate data is verified and made available...

Compilation of the calculation elements of the electronic equipments reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lefevre, R.; D'Harcourt, A.; Dupuy, G.

1968-01-01

The aim of this work is to allow the practical execution of the estimated calculation of the electronic devices reliability and to standardize the source and the approach of the calculations while giving a systematic character to their execution mode. The systematic character of the calculations allows a comparison of the reliability of different materials and a rapid control of the calculations validity; at last, it brings out the use conditions of all the components of a set. A reliability calculation made according to the method described here reveals: -components badly used -the relative influence on the reliability of the set, of a component or a components group taking into account of the number, of the characteristics and of the use of these ones. At last, the results of the calculation allows to organize the exploitation (availability) and the maintenance (staff, stock of components) of the materials. The failure rates given in this book are only relating to the components service-life and do not correspond to precocious failures. (authors) [fr

Calculation of noninformative prior of reliability parameter and initiating event frequency with Jeffreys method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He Jie; Zhang Binbin

2013-01-01

In the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) of nuclear power plants, there are few historical records on some initiating event frequencies or component failures in industry. In order to determine the noninformative priors of such reliability parameters and initiating event frequencies, the Jeffreys method in Bayesian statistics was employed. The mathematical mechanism of the Jeffreys prior and the simplified constrained noninformative distribution (SCNID) were elaborated in this paper. The Jeffreys noninformative formulas and the credible intervals of the Gamma-Poisson and Beta-Binomial models were introduced. As an example, the small break loss-of-coolant accident (SLOCA) was employed to show the application of the Jeffreys prior in determining an initiating event frequency. The result shows that the Jeffreys method is an effective method for noninformative prior calculation. (authors)

Automatic dose-rate controlling equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szasz, T.; Nagy Czirok, Cs.; Batki, L.; Antal, S.

1977-01-01

The patent of a dose-rate controlling equipment that can be attached to X-ray image-amplifiers is presented. In the new equipment the current of the photocatode of the image-amplifier is led into the regulating unit, which controls the X-ray generator automatically. The advantages of the equipment are the following: it can be simply attached to any type of X-ray image-amplifier, it accomplishes fast and sensitive regulation, it makes possible the control of both the mA and the kV values, it is attached to the most reliable point of the image-transmission chain. (L.E.)

Beam reliability and equipment downtime tracking how Lansce closes the loop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Callaway, N.T.; Ryder, R.D.

2003-01-01

LANSCE uses a semi-automated accounting system to track how well we meet our stated beam delivery goals. When an equipment failure prevents delivery of the desired beam to our customers, the first order cause is identified and an accurate measurement of the downtime is recorded. For equipment downtimes of significant duration, we investigate the causes and make recommendations that will hopefully eliminate or mitigate the impact of similar downtimes in the future. (authors)

Extension and update of the reliability data for fire protection equipment in German light water reactors; Ergaenzung und Aktualisierung von Zuverlaessigkeitskenngroessen fuer Brandschutzeinrichtungen in deutschen Leichtwasserreaktoren

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forell, Burkhard; Einarsson, Svante

2016-12-15

Within the BMUB project 3610R01370 ''Extension and update of reliability data for fire protection equipment in German light water reactors'' plant-specific as well as generic failure rates for the technical reliability of active fire protection features in German nuclear power plants have been calculated. Based on results of previous projects, in this project observation times of components were updated and extended and additional components and functions were assessed. Now, the data evaluated results from a total of six German reference plants with seven reactor units.

Days individual equipment of protection and professional risks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

The personal protection equipment is studied in the legal way (legal liabilities, certification, European texts), technical way (ergonomics, painfulness of ventilated equipment wearing, reliability of a respirable air line, protection gloves against the chemical risk, exposure to nano particulates, working in hot area), human factors (hostile area and emotion management), studies on personal equipment such evaluation, efficiency, conception of new equipment, physiological tolerance, limit of use, and some general safety studies on the working places. (N.C.)

Cooling of electronic equipment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

A. Kristensen, Anders Schmidt

2003-01-01

Cooling of electronic equipment is studied. The design size of electronic equipment decrease causing the thermal density to increase. This affect the cooling which can cause for example failures of critical components due to overheating or thermal induced stresses. Initially a pin fin heat sink...

Cyber security for greater service reliability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vickery, P. [N-Dimension Solutions Inc., Richmond Hill, ON (Canada)

2008-05-15

Service reliability in the electricity transmission and distribution (T and D) industry is being challenged by increased equipment failures, harsher climatic conditions, and computer hackers who aim to disrupt services by gaining access to transmission and distribution resources. This article discussed methods of ensuring the cyber-security of T and D operators. Weak points in the T and D industry include remote terminal units; intelligent electronic devices; distributed control systems; programmable logic controllers; and various intelligent field devices. An increasing number of interconnection points exist between an operator's service control system and external systems. The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) standards specify that cyber security strategies should ensure that all cyber assets are protected, and that access points must be monitored to detect intrusion attempts. The introduction of new advanced metering initiatives must also be considered. Comprehensive monitoring systems should be available to support compliance with cyber security standards. It was concluded that senior management should commit to a periodic cyber security re-assessment program in order to keep up-to-date.

Reliability analysis of the automatic control and power supply of reactor equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monori, Pal; Nagy, J.A.; Meszaros, Zoltan; Konkoly, Laszlo; Szabo, Antal; Nagy, Laszlo

1988-01-01

Based on reliability analysis the shortcomings of nuclear facilities are discovered. Fault tree types constructed for the technology of automatic control and for power supply serve as input data of the ORCHARD 2 computer code. In order to charaterize the reliability of the system, availability, failure rates and time intervals between failures are calculated. The results of the reliability analysis of the feedwater system of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant showed that the system consisted of elements of similar reliabilities. (V.N.) 8 figs.; 3 tabs

Reliability database development and plant performance improvement effort at Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, S. J.; Hwang, S. W.; Na, J. H.; Lim, H. S.

2008-01-01

Nuclear utilities in recent years have focused on improved plant performance and equipment reliability. In U.S., there is a movement toward process integration. Examples are INPO AP-913 equipment reliability program and the standard nuclear performance model developed by NEI. Synergistic effect from an integrated approach can be far greater than as compared to individual effects from each program. In Korea, PSA for all Korean NPPs (Nuclear Power Plants) has been completed. Plant performance monitoring and improvement is an important goal for KHNP (Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company) and a risk monitoring system called RIMS has been developed for all nuclear plants. KHNP is in the process of voluntarily implementing maintenance rule program similar to that in U.S. In the future, KHNP would like to expand the effort to equipment reliability program and to achieve highest equipment reliability and improved plant performance. For improving equipment reliability, the current trend is moving toward preventive/predictive maintenance from corrective maintenance. With the emphasis on preventive maintenance, the failure cause and operation history and environment are important. Hence, the development of accurate reliability database is necessary. Furthermore, the database should be updated regularly and maintained as a living program to reflect the current status of equipment reliability. This paper examines the development of reliability database system and its application of maintenance optimization or Risk Informed Application (RIA). (authors)

Predictive Maintenance of Power Substation Equipment by Infrared Thermography Using a Machine-Learning Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irfan Ullah

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A variety of reasons, specifically contact issues, irregular loads, cracks in insulation, defective relays, terminal junctions and other similar issues, increase the internal temperature of electrical instruments. This results in unexpected disturbances and potential damage to power equipment. Therefore, the initial prevention measures of thermal anomalies in electrical tools are essential to prevent power-equipment failure. In this article, we address this initial prevention mechanism for power substations using a computer-vision approach by taking advantage of infrared thermal images. The thermal images are taken through infrared cameras without disturbing the working operations of power substations. Thus, this article augments the non-destructive approach to defect analysis in electrical power equipment using computer vision and machine learning. We use a total of 150 thermal pictures of different electrical equipment in 10 different substations in operating conditions, using 300 different hotspots. Our approach uses multi-layered perceptron (MLP to classify the thermal conditions of components of power substations into “defect” and “non-defect” classes. A total of eleven features, which are first-order and second-order statistical features, are calculated from the thermal sample images. The performance of MLP shows initial accuracy of 79.78%. We further augment the MLP with graph cut to increase accuracy to 84%. We argue that with the successful development and deployment of this new system, the Technology Department of Chongqing can arrange the recommended actions and thus save cost in repair and outages. This can play an important role in the quick and reliable inspection to potentially prevent power substation equipment from failure, which will save the whole system from breakdown. The increased 84% accuracy with the integration of the graph cut shows the efficacy of the proposed defect analysis approach.

Improving the reliability of emergency diesel generators through sustained maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reddy, R.

2000-01-01

In Nuclear Power Stations Emergency Diesel Generators are vital safety related equipment which ensures power supply to essential equipment during loss of power. In view of their importance Reliability of Diesel generators should be very high. Since these Diesel generators are standby equipment and operate only during demand or during surveillance checks, their demand failure probability should be very low and once they operate their operational availability should be very high. Madras Atomic Power Station at Kalpakkam, India consists two pressurised heavy water Reactors each rated at 220 MWe. To supply standby power each unit has two Diesel Generators of I 500 kW capacity each. The Diesel Engine is 16 cylinder 'V' type engine and is cranked by Air starting motor and is connected to generator whose rating at 100% load is 1500 KW. During commissioning and in the initial years of operation these Diesel Generators have encountered many problems. Major problem was Diesel Engine failing to start on demand. This was due to non engagement of air motor pinion with ring gear or continued engagement air motor even after the engine had picked up speed and failure of timer to initiate multiple starts after initial incomplete starts Apart from these there were problems like fuel oil leaks, high jacket water temperatures, low fuel oil pressure trips. Another major problem was with excitation system. How these problems were dealt with thereby reducing the demand failure probability and increasing the operational availability are discussed in this paper. (author)

Reliability Evaluation and Improvement Approach of Chemical Production Man - Machine - Environment System

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Yongchun; Kang, Rongxue; Chen, Xuefeng

2017-12-01

In recent years, with the gradual extension of reliability research, the study of production system reliability has become the hot topic in various industries. Man-machine-environment system is a complex system composed of human factors, machinery equipment and environment. The reliability of individual factor must be analyzed in order to gradually transit to the research of three-factor reliability. Meanwhile, the dynamic relationship among man-machine-environment should be considered to establish an effective blurry evaluation mechanism to truly and effectively analyze the reliability of such systems. In this paper, based on the system engineering, fuzzy theory, reliability theory, human error, environmental impact and machinery equipment failure theory, the reliabilities of human factor, machinery equipment and environment of some chemical production system were studied by the method of fuzzy evaluation. At last, the reliability of man-machine-environment system was calculated to obtain the weighted result, which indicated that the reliability value of this chemical production system was 86.29. Through the given evaluation domain it can be seen that the reliability of man-machine-environment integrated system is in a good status, and the effective measures for further improvement were proposed according to the fuzzy calculation results.

Reliability and durability in solar energy systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Godolphin, D.

1982-10-01

The reliability and durability in solar energy systems for residential buildings is discussed. It is concluded that although strides have been made in design and manufacturing over the past years, the reliability and durability of the equipment depends on the proper installation. (MJF)

Electric Power Infrastructure Reliability And Security Research And Development Initiative. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dale, S.; Meeker, R.; Steurer, M.; Li, H.; Pamidi, S.; Rodrigo, H.; Suryanarayanan, S.; Cartes, D.; Ordonez, J.; Domijan, A.; Liu, W.; Cox, D.; McLaren, P.; Hovsapian, R.; Edwards, D.; Simmons, S.; Wilde, N.; Woodruff, S.; Kopriva, D.; Hussaini, Y.; Mohammed, O.; Zheng, J.; Baldwin, T.L.

2008-01-01

This is the final scientific/technical report for the Electric Power Infrastructure Reliability and Security R and D Initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, under award number DE-FG02-05CH11292. This report covers results from the FSU-led, multi-institution effort conducted over the period 8/15/05 to 10/14/2007. Building upon existing infrastructure for power systems research, modeling, and simulation, the Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) at Florida State University (FSU) is developing world-class programs in electric power systems research and education to support future electric power system needs and challenges. With U.S. Department of Energy Support, FSU CAPS has engaged in a multi-faceted effort to conduct basic and applied research towards understanding, developing, and deploying technologies and approaches that can lead to improved reliability and security of the North American electric power generation and delivery infrastructure. This wide-reaching project, through a number of carefully selected thrusts cutting across several research disciplines, set out to address key terrestrial electric utility power system issues and challenges. The challenges and the thrusts to address them were arrived at through analysis of a number of national reports and recommendations combined with input from an experienced multi-disciplined team of power systems research staff and faculty at FSU CAPS. The resulting project effort can be grouped into four major areas: - Power Systems and New Technology Insertion - Controls, Protection, and Security - Simulation Development - High Temperature Superconductivity (HTS)

Life Cycle Management for Equipments in Nuclear Plants Based on Reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Dalin; Sun Jinlong

2012-01-01

Majority of equipments in nuclear power stations are not un-repairable, but repaired after failures or maintained periodically and then returned to running. Along with aging or fatigue causes, duration between failures may be variable such as larger or shorter. Equipments failure occurrences are consistent with non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP), in which their failure rates are variable. We chose Weibull process to simplify the actual circumstances to obtain the optimal life cycle management plans approximately. In application we need to estimate parameters of Weibull process with existing data. Before that, trend test is necessary. Total time test (TTT) is an alternative. Trend test can determine whether the failure rate changes along operating time and whether the devices operated under imperfect or minimal repair. Parameters of Weibull process λ, β can be estimated by maximum likelihood estimation method. LCM model is designed to found an optimizing model for those aging equipments under minimal repair or imperfect maintenance with maximum economic or availability as objective function. The purpose is to establish the optimal replacement strategies. Periodical replacement is the most regular choice and so LCM model aims to calculate the optimal replacement periodical duration.

Human factor reliability program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knoblochova, L.

2017-01-01

The human factor's reliability program was at Slovenske elektrarne, a.s. (SE) nuclear power plants. introduced as one of the components Initiatives of Excellent Performance in 2011. The initiative's goal was to increase the reliability of both people and facilities, in response to 3 major areas of improvement - Need for improvement of the results, Troubleshooting support, Supporting the achievement of the company's goals. The human agent's reliability program is in practice included: - Tools to prevent human error; - Managerial observation and coaching; - Human factor analysis; -Quick information about the event with a human agent; -Human reliability timeline and performance indicators; - Basic, periodic and extraordinary training in human factor reliability(authors)

Weibull distribution in reliability data analysis in nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Yingfei; Zhang Zhijian; Zhang Min; Zheng Gangyang

2015-01-01

Reliability is an important issue affecting each stage of the life cycle ranging from birth to death of a product or a system. The reliability engineering includes the equipment failure data processing, quantitative assessment of system reliability and maintenance, etc. Reliability data refers to the variety of data that describe the reliability of system or component during its operation. These data may be in the form of numbers, graphics, symbols, texts and curves. Quantitative reliability assessment is the task of the reliability data analysis. It provides the information related to preventing, detect, and correct the defects of the reliability design. Reliability data analysis under proceed with the various stages of product life cycle and reliability activities. Reliability data of Systems Structures and Components (SSCs) in Nuclear Power Plants is the key factor of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA); reliability centered maintenance and life cycle management. The Weibull distribution is widely used in reliability engineering, failure analysis, industrial engineering to represent manufacturing and delivery times. It is commonly used to model time to fail, time to repair and material strength. In this paper, an improved Weibull distribution is introduced to analyze the reliability data of the SSCs in Nuclear Power Plants. An example is given in the paper to present the result of the new method. The Weibull distribution of mechanical equipment for reliability data fitting ability is very strong in nuclear power plant. It's a widely used mathematical model for reliability analysis. The current commonly used methods are two-parameter and three-parameter Weibull distribution. Through comparison and analysis, the three-parameter Weibull distribution fits the data better. It can reflect the reliability characteristics of the equipment and it is more realistic to the actual situation. (author)

Reliability evaluation of smart distribution grids

OpenAIRE

Kazemi, Shahram

2011-01-01

The term "Smart Grid" generally refers to a power grid equipped with the advanced technologies dedicated for purposes such as reliability improvement, ease of control and management, integrating of distributed energy resources and electricity market operations. Improving the reliability of electric power delivered to the end users is one of the main targets of employing smart grid technologies. The smart grid investments targeted for reliability improvement can be directed toward the generati...

Study of redundant Models in reliability prediction of HXMT's HES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Jinming; Liu Congzhan; Zhang Zhi; Ji Jianfeng

2010-01-01

Two redundant equipment structures of HXMT's HES are proposed firstly, the block backup and dual system cold-redundancy. Then prediction of the reliability is made by using parts count method. Research of comparison and analysis is also performed on the two proposals. A conclusion is drawn that a higher reliability and longer service life could be offered by taking a redundant equipment structure of block backup. (authors)

RELIABILITY MODELING BASED ON INCOMPLETE DATA: OIL PUMP APPLICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed HAFAIFA

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The reliability analysis for industrial maintenance is now increasingly demanded by the industrialists in the world. Indeed, the modern manufacturing facilities are equipped by data acquisition and monitoring system, these systems generates a large volume of data. These data can be used to infer future decisions affecting the health facilities. These data can be used to infer future decisions affecting the state of the exploited equipment. However, in most practical cases the data used in reliability modelling are incomplete or not reliable. In this context, to analyze the reliability of an oil pump, this work proposes to examine and treat the incomplete, incorrect or aberrant data to the reliability modeling of an oil pump. The objective of this paper is to propose a suitable methodology for replacing the incomplete data using a regression method.

Reliability of fossil-fuel and nuclear power installations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-01-01

The conference heard a total of 37 papers of which 24 were inputted in INIS. The subject area was mainly the use of reliability information systems and the production of data banks for these systems, the application of the reliability theory and the reliability analysis of equipment and systems of nuclear power plants. (J.P.)

Lessons learned in testing of Safeguards equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pepper, Susan; Farnitano, Michael; Carelli, Joseph

2001-01-01

Full text: During the 1990s, the IAEA Department of Safeguards began a transition from analog to digital equipment. This included surveillance equipment, seals, NDA measurement systems, and other instruments. The transition to digital equipment was intended to facilitate compatibility between and integration of instruments, remote communication of data, improved data storage, and modernization. Many of the instruments are designed to operate on battery power during loss of facility power, and therefore, are designed to consume minimal power. In 2000, the IAEA experienced a number of failures in digital image surveillance (DIS) equipment. A study of the performance data revealed that the failures occurred in 'high risk' environments where the systems were exposed to neutrons. As a supporter of IAEA equipment development and implementation, the U.S. Support Program worked with the IAEA, the equipment designer, and the equipment manufacturer in special meetings on DIS to determine the cause of the failures. It was as a result of these meetings that single event upset (SEU) was determined to be the root cause of the failures. The meeting participants also identified a list of actions to improve the reliability of DIS systems. As a result of the DIS meetings and the identified actions, the U.S. Support Program approved a request from the IAEA and established Task E.125, 'Remote Monitoring and Unattended Digital Surveillance Systems.' This task is an umbrella task intended to provide a mechanism for response to IAEA needs related to improving the reliability of unattended, remote monitoring and DIS equipment. Subtasks approved under this task include: E.125.1, 'SDIS Software Consolidation and DCM-14 Audit' - This subtask involves the consolidation of a number of individual upgrades to the SDIS and review of the DCM-14 software. As the sponsor of the design of the DCM-14 by Dr. Neumann, the German Support Program is also a participant in this subtask; E.125.2, 'DIS

Reliability analysis and initial requirements for FC systems and stacks

Science.gov (United States)

Åström, K.; Fontell, E.; Virtanen, S.

In the year 2000 Wärtsilä Corporation started an R&D program to develop SOFC systems for CHP applications. The program aims to bring to the market highly efficient, clean and cost competitive fuel cell systems with rated power output in the range of 50-250 kW for distributed generation and marine applications. In the program Wärtsilä focuses on system integration and development. System reliability and availability are key issues determining the competitiveness of the SOFC technology. In Wärtsilä, methods have been implemented for analysing the system in respect to reliability and safety as well as for defining reliability requirements for system components. A fault tree representation is used as the basis for reliability prediction analysis. A dynamic simulation technique has been developed to allow for non-static properties in the fault tree logic modelling. Special emphasis has been placed on reliability analysis of the fuel cell stacks in the system. A method for assessing reliability and critical failure predictability requirements for fuel cell stacks in a system consisting of several stacks has been developed. The method is based on a qualitative model of the stack configuration where each stack can be in a functional, partially failed or critically failed state, each of the states having different failure rates and effects on the system behaviour. The main purpose of the method is to understand the effect of stack reliability, critical failure predictability and operating strategy on the system reliability and availability. An example configuration, consisting of 5 × 5 stacks (series of 5 sets of 5 parallel stacks) is analysed in respect to stack reliability requirements as a function of predictability of critical failures and Weibull shape factor of failure rate distributions.

Author Correction: Reliability and feasibility of gait initiation centre-of-pressure excursions using a Wii® Balance Board in older adults at risk of falling.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, James; Webb, Graham; Shortland, Adam P; Edwards, Rebecca; Wilce, Charlotte; Jones, Gareth D

2018-05-12

In the original publication, the article title was incorrectly published as 'Reliability and feasibility of gait initiation centre-of-pressure excursions using a Wii® Balance Board in older adults at risk of failing'. The correct title should read as 'Reliability and feasibility of gait initiation centre-of-pressure excursions using a Wii® Balance Board in older adults at risk of falling'.

Nuclear power generating station operability assurance reliability, availability, and maintainability application for maintenance management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleveland, J.W.; Regenie, T.R.; Wilson, R.J.

1985-01-01

Environmental qualification and equipment warrantee insurance stipulations should be supplemented with a reliable maintainability program structured to identify and control fast failing subcomponents within critical equipment. Anticipation of equipment subcomponent failures can control unnecessary plant off-line occurrences. Incorporation of reliability, availability, and maintainability considerations into plant maintenance policies on power generation and safety related items have positive cost benefit advantages

Evaluating performance characteristics of x-ray equipment and film systems without the use of electronic measurement and/or special instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bianchi, M.F.; DeNitto, C.; Liscio, A.; Scala, N.

2004-01-01

Measurement and control of characteristics of NDT equipment and system that produce output to be interpreted by inspector is one of the most important tools for NDT reliability. Control activity should be based on: initial accurate measurement and calibration; periodical check to assure maintenance of calibration status; and, immediate verification and corrective action when any malfunctioning is suspected. 'Self-calibration' intended as capability of NDT facility to calibrate and control its own equipment and systems is very important for continuous and reliable activity. Typical approach based on this philosophy is ASTM E317 'Standard Practice for Evaluating Performance Characteristics of Ultrasonic Pulse-Echo Examination Instruments and Systems Without the Use of Electronic Measurement Instruments' that is applicable to shop or field conditions. Is 'Self-calibration' applicable to radiographic system too? Many characteristics can be self-determined according to existing practices and methods, but other ones require assistance and cooperation of supplier both for film system and x-ray equipment. A certified film system being controlled by pre-exposed filmstrips can be adopted as 'measurement device' for X-ray output concerning both intensity and contrast. Basically x-ray equipment manufacturer performs initial accurate measurement and calibration using electronic measurement and/or special instrumentation as necessary. Then specific film set on 'low-price' blocks and specimens is produced according to standard practice whose guidelines are supplied by this paper. Film set, blocks, specimens and results referred to specific film system will be the reference kit for periodical check in NDT facility. This paper supplies some guidelines for standard practice based on testing using mainly GE Inspection Technologies radiographic system being available in Avio facilities. (author)

Development of automatic Ultrasonic testing equipment for reactor pressure vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kor R.; Kim, Jae H.; Lee, Jae C.

1996-06-01

The selected weld areas of a reactor pressure vessel and adjacent piping are examined by the remote mechanized ultrasonic testing (MUT) equipment. Since the MUT equipment was purchased from southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in April 1985, 15 inservice inspections and 5 preservice inspections are performed with this MUT equipment. However due to the old age of the equipment and frequent movements to plant sites, the reliability of examination was recently decreased rapidly and it is very difficult to keep spare parts. In order to resolve these problems and to meet the strong request from plant sites, we intend to develop a new 3-axis control system including hardware and software. With this control system, we expect more efficient and reliable examination of the nozzle to shell weld areas, which is specified in ASME Code Section XI. The new 3-axis control system hardware and software were designed and development of our own control system, the advanced technologies of computer control mechanism were established and examination reliability of the nozzle to shell weld area was improved. With the development of our 3-axis control system for PaR ISI-2 computer control system, the reliability of nozzle to shell weld area examination has been improved. The established technologies from the development and detailed analysis of existing control system, are expected to be applied to the similar control systems in nuclear power plants. (author). 12 refs., 4 tabs., 33 figs

Development of automatic Ultrasonic testing equipment for reactor pressure vessel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Kor R.; Kim, Jae H.; Lee, Jae C.

1996-06-01

The selected weld areas of a reactor pressure vessel and adjacent piping are examined by the remote mechanized ultrasonic testing (MUT) equipment. Since the MUT equipment was purchased from southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in April 1985, 15 inservice inspections and 5 preservice inspections are performed with this MUT equipment. However due to the old age of the equipment and frequent movements to plant sites, the reliability of examination was recently decreased rapidly and it is very difficult to keep spare parts. In order to resolve these problems and to meet the strong request from plant sites, we intend to develop a new 3-axis control system including hardware and software. With this control system, we expect more efficient and reliable examination of the nozzle to shell weld areas, which is specified in ASME Code Section XI. The new 3-axis control system hardware and software were designed and development of our own control system, the advanced technologies of computer control mechanism were established and examination reliability of the nozzle to shell weld area was improved. With the development of our 3-axis control system for PaR ISI-2 computer control system, the reliability of nozzle to shell weld area examination has been improved. The established technologies from the development and detailed analysis of existing control system, are expected to be applied to the similar control systems in nuclear power plants. (author). 12 refs., 4 tabs., 33 figs.

Method for assessing reliability of a network considering probabilistic safety assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cepin, M.

2005-01-01

A method for assessment of reliability of the network is developed, which uses the features of the fault tree analysis. The method is developed in a way that the increase of the network under consideration does not require significant increase of the model. The method is applied to small examples of network consisting of a small number of nodes and a small number of their connections. The results give the network reliability. They identify equipment, which is to be carefully maintained in order that the network reliability is not reduced, and equipment, which is a candidate for redundancy, as this would improve network reliability significantly. (author)

Nuclear reliability assurance data source guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-11-01

Seven sources of reliability and maintainability data are reviewed for their potential for providing nuclear equipment data. Consideration is given to similarity to nuclear application, variety of equipment types reported, availability of data, and obsolescence of data. In addition, discussions of advantages and disadvantages of each data source are presented, and samples of either the data or the character of the data are included as appendixes

LMZ experience in refurbishment of hydroturbine equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sotnikov, Anatoly A. [LMZ, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation). Div. of Hydraulic Machine

2000-07-01

AO LMZ experience in refurbishment of hydroturbine equipment is generalized. Hydraulic turbines of many power stations having been in service of more than 30 years need rehabilitation and modernization. As a rule, the following problems are solved in the process of refurbishment works: increase of turbine efficiency and output, ensuring of reliable operation of the equipment during the next length of life, ensuring the environmental safety of the equipment, furnishing of the power station with up to date automatic control systems. The process of refurbishment used by LMZ is described. The examples of refurbishment are given. (author)

Approach to reliability assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, A.E.; Bourne, A.J.

1975-01-01

Experience has shown that reliability assessments can play an important role in the early design and subsequent operation of technological systems where reliability is at a premium. The approaches to and techniques for such assessments, which have been outlined in the paper, have been successfully applied in variety of applications ranging from individual equipments to large and complex systems. The general approach involves the logical and systematic establishment of the purpose, performance requirements and reliability criteria of systems. This is followed by an appraisal of likely system achievment based on the understanding of different types of variational behavior. A fundamental reliability model emerges from the correlation between the appropriate Q and H functions for performance requirement and achievement. This model may cover the complete spectrum of performance behavior in all the system dimensions

US utility I ampersand C upgrade initiative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkinson, D.

1993-01-01

This paper describes an initiative which is being pursued to address the problems associated with the increasing obsolescence of instrumentation and control (I ampersand C) systems in nuclear power plants. Such efforts will improve safety, availability, and reliability of plant operation. The program presented is a joint plan between EPRI, utilities, and vendors, to bring about the development of technology to meet these needs, to encourage the private sector to develop such technology, and to prove to utilities the value and utility in applying such technology to upgrade their facilities. Part of this plan is demonstration programs where plant-wide sensor and I ampersand C improvements can be implemented, in a documented manner, to provide R ampersand D information on their performance, functionality, and reliability. The intent is to reduce the costs and shorten the learning curve associated with the utilization of modern I ampersand C equipment

Reliability evaluation of oil pipelines operating in aggressive environment

Science.gov (United States)

Magomedov, R. M.; Paizulaev, M. M.; Gebel, E. S.

2017-08-01

In connection with modern increased requirements for ecology and safety, the development of diagnostic services complex is obligatory and necessary enabling to ensure the reliable operation of the gas transportation infrastructure. Estimation of oil pipelines technical condition should be carried out not only to establish the current values of the equipment technological parameters in operation, but also to predict the dynamics of changes in the physical and mechanical characteristics of the material, the appearance of defects, etc. to ensure reliable and safe operation. In the paper, existing Russian and foreign methods for evaluation of the oil pipelines reliability are considered, taking into account one of the main factors leading to the appearance of crevice in the pipeline material, i.e. change the shape of its cross-section, - corrosion. Without compromising the generality of the reasoning, the assumption of uniform corrosion wear for the initial rectangular cross section has been made. As a result a formula for calculation the probability of failure-free operation was formulated. The proposed mathematical model makes it possible to predict emergency situations, as well as to determine optimal operating conditions for oil pipelines.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEMPERATURE CONTROL OF THE HOME-STREET AND MANAGING EXECUTIVE EQUIPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Doshenko G.G.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A home-street temperature control device and executive equipment management have been developed, which is characterized by high reliability and comparatively low cost. Due to the improvement of the analog circuit it is ensured to increase the speed of the developed device and its reliability. Practical recommendations for the manufacture of a home-street temperature control device and executive equipment management are presented

Problem of nuclear power plant reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popyrin, L.S.; Nefedov, Yu.V.

1989-01-01

The problem of substantiation of rational and methods of ensurance of NPP reliability at the stage of its designing has been studied. It is shown that the optimal level of NPP reliability is determined by coordinating solution of the proiblems for optimization of reliability of power industry, heat and power supply and nuclear power generation systems comprising NPP, and problems of reliability optimization of NPP proper, as a complex engineering system. The conclusion is made that the greatest attention should be paid to the development of mathematical models of reliability, taking into account different methods of equipment redundancy, as well as dependence of failures on barious factors, improvement of NPP reliability indices, development of data base, working out of the complec of consistent standards of reliability. 230 refs.; 2 figs.; 1 tab

The application and practice of predictive maintenance at CANDU equipment management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Guangting

2014-01-01

The equipment in Qinshan CANDU unit is characterized by large number and complex structure. Some equipment failure has no relation with the operation time, it is impossible to avoid the failure of these equipment only by periodical maintenance. To improve the equipment reliability, increase the equipment usability and decrease the maintenance cost, for important equipment related to nuclear safety and generating electricity, it is required to perform condition monitoring and the predictive maintenance (PdM). According to different characteristics of equipment, it is required to use suitable equipment condition monitoring method, content and frequency. In this way, some potential equipment failure can be found, preventive maintenance can be arranged in advance, and equipment maintenance management can be optimized. (author)

Reliability tasks from prediction to field use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guyot, Christian.

1975-01-01

This tutorial paper is part of a series intended to sensitive on reliability prolems. Reliability probabilistic concept, is an important parameter of availability. Reliability prediction is an estimation process for evaluating design progress. It is only by the application of a reliability program that reliability objectives can be attained through the different stages of work: conception, fabrication, field use. The user is mainly interested in operational reliability. Indication are given on the support and the treatment of data in the case of electronic equipment at C.E.A. Reliability engineering requires a special state of mind which must be formed and developed in a company in the same way as it may be done for example for safety [fr

Special equipment for processing can-rupture measurements; Equipement specialise de traitement des mesures de rupture de gaines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaiser, J.; Phalippou, J.; Dumont, D.; Viellard, R. [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1969-07-01

Recent installations for detecting can-rupture in nuclear reactors use, in the measurement processing section, a digital computer, either completely or partially. The reliability of the system is limited by that of the computer, which represents a common point for the processing of data from the detector. In order to satisfy the demands imposed by safety considerations for the operation of the equipment it is necessary to consider the possibility of installing a second computer in certain cases. The use of a computer involves the presence as interface between the detection equipment and the computer itself, of sealers operating as integrators for the pulses produced by the detector. By adding a certain number of circuits to these sealers, it is possible to carry out the work now demanded of the computer, as far as the calculation is concerned. This reasoning has led us to a so-called 'decentralized' solution involving the construction of specialized equipment in the region of the prospector itself. We believe that this solution, apart from the reliability point of view, has definite economic advantages. In our solution, the common point in the processing of the data is now situated not in the zone of the production of results but further down, in the printing out of these results. Even in the case of an incident at the common point, the results are produced, exposed and compared to the alarm thresholds. In the case of a breakdown of the specialized equipment, the results from this prospector are no longer available but the others continue to operate. It seems that this solution is more reliable than that employing universal computers. By using an interchangeable drawer system (MULTIBLOC) it is possible to replace rapidly any of the specialized equipment which breaks down. The systematic use of integrated circuits (TTL) ensures an increased reliability of the equipment. (author) [French] Les installations recentes de detection de rupture de gaines

Constructing the Best Reliability Data for the Job

Science.gov (United States)

Kleinhammer, R. K.; Kahn, J. C.

2014-01-01

Modern business and technical decisions are based on the results of analyses. When considering assessments using "reliability data", the concern is how long a system will continue to operate as designed. Generally, the results are only as good as the data used. Ideally, a large set of pass/fail tests or observations to estimate the probability of failure of the item under test would produce the best data. However, this is a costly endeavor if used for every analysis and design. Developing specific data is costly and time consuming. Instead, analysts rely on available data to assess reliability. Finding data relevant to the specific use and environment for any project is difficult, if not impossible. Instead, we attempt to develop the "best" or composite analog data to support our assessments. One method used incorporates processes for reviewing existing data sources and identifying the available information based on similar equipment, then using that generic data to derive an analog composite. Dissimilarities in equipment descriptions, environment of intended use, quality and even failure modes impact the "best" data incorporated in an analog composite. Once developed, this composite analog data provides a "better" representation of the reliability of the equipment or component can be used to support early risk or reliability trade studies, or analytical models to establish the predicted reliability data points. Data that is more representative of reality and more project specific would provide more accurate analysis, and hopefully a better final decision.

Constructing the "Best" Reliability Data for the Job

Science.gov (United States)

DeMott, D. L.; Kleinhammer, R. K.

2014-01-01

Modern business and technical decisions are based on the results of analyses. When considering assessments using "reliability data", the concern is how long a system will continue to operate as designed. Generally, the results are only as good as the data used. Ideally, a large set of pass/fail tests or observations to estimate the probability of failure of the item under test would produce the best data. However, this is a costly endeavor if used for every analysis and design. Developing specific data is costly and time consuming. Instead, analysts rely on available data to assess reliability. Finding data relevant to the specific use and environment for any project is difficult, if not impossible. Instead, we attempt to develop the "best" or composite analog data to support our assessments. One method used incorporates processes for reviewing existing data sources and identifying the available information based on similar equipment, then using that generic data to derive an analog composite. Dissimilarities in equipment descriptions, environment of intended use, quality and even failure modes impact the "best" data incorporated in an analog composite. Once developed, this composite analog data provides a "better" representation of the reliability of the equipment or component can be used to support early risk or reliability trade studies, or analytical models to establish the predicted reliability data points. Data that is more representative of reality and more project specific would provide more accurate analysis, and hopefully a better final decision.

Observations on the Reliability of Rubidium Frequency Standards on Block 2/2A GPS Satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Dieter, Gary L.

1996-01-01

Currently, the block 2/2A Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites are equipped with two rubidium frequency standards. These frequency standards were originally intended to serve as the back-ups to two cesium frequency standards. As the constellation ages, the master Control Station is forced to initialize and increasing number or rubidium frequency standards. Unfortunately the operational use of these frequency standards has not lived up to initial expectations. Although the performance of these rubidium frequency standards has met and even exceeded GPS requirements, their reliability has not. The number of unscheduled outage times and the short operational lifetimes of the rubidium frequency standards compare poorly to the track record of the cesium frequency standards. Only a small number of rubidium frequency standards have actually been made operational. Of these, a large percentage have exhibited poor reliability. If this trend continues, it is unlikely that the rubidium frequency standards will help contribute to the navigation payload meeting program specification.

Technology and equipment to improve reliability of pipeline transport

Science.gov (United States)

Suleimanov, D. F.; Shulayev, N. S.; Bondar, K. E.; Laponov, S. V.; Uzinger, A. A.

2017-10-01

The article is dedicated to development of technology and hardware design of method pipeline transport reliability improving by improving the isolated coating properties modified by microwave radiation. The article describes the technology of the modification process of the coating and instrumentation production, which allows improving operational properties not only in stationary conditions in the manufacture of the insulation coating, but also during its replacement in the field.

DoD Nuclear Weapons Personnel Reliability Assurance

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-27

systems, positive control material (PCM) and equipment, and special nuclear material (SNM) and subject to a nuclear weapons personnel reliability...assurance implementation guidance for consistency and compliance with this issuance. c. Conducts programmatic reviews, manages audits , and directs...personnel reliability assurance education and training materials . 2.4. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR HEALTH AFFAIRS (ASD(HA)). Under the authority

Field reliability of electronic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elm, T.

1984-02-01

This report investigates, through several examples from the field, the reliability of electronic units in a broader sense. That is, it treats not just random parts failure, but also inadequate reliability design and (externally and internally) induced failures. The report is not meant to be merely an indication of the state of the art for the reliability prediction methods we know, but also as a contribution to the investigation of man-machine interplay in the operation and repair of electronic equipment. The report firmly links electronics reliability to safety and risk analyses approaches with a broader, system oriented view of reliability prediction and with postfailure stress analysis. It is intended to reveal, in a qualitative manner, the existence of symptom and cause patterns. It provides a background for further investigations to identify the detailed mechanisms of the faults and the remedical actions and precautions for achieving cost effective reliability. (author)

Use of operator-provided, installed C/S equipment in IAEA safeguards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shea, T.; Rundquist, D.; Gaertner, K.; Yellin, E.

1987-01-01

Developing solutions for complex safe guards problems in close cooperation with Operators is becoming more common, especially as the IAEA continues to operate under zero-growth limitations. This has in practice taken on various forms; from the extreme case of very specific equipment developed and constructed by the State/Operator for use in only one facility, to the more normal case where only the development is carried out by the State/Operator. This practice has advantages and disadvantages. For example, to ensure that Agency inspections will be carried out in a predictable manner, it will be in the Operator's interest to ensure that any equipment he provides is of the highest quality, meets all national safety requirements, and is installed and maintained in such a manner that it will provide years of service. Agency equipment performs its intended function in a reliable manner, but with very specific, limited applications in mind, improvements in reliability over that obtained with normal Agency equipment are to be expected. Also, the authors experience is that reaching acceptable arrangements for the use of State- of Operator-supplied equipment is often far more straightforward than when arranging to apply Agency equipment

Development and Initial Reliability Testing of NAK-50+: A Nutrition Attitude and Knowledge Questionnaire for Adults 50+ Years of Age.

Science.gov (United States)

Ducak, Kate; Keller, Heather

2016-03-01

Few questionnaires to test nutrition knowledge and attitudes of older adults living independently in the community have been developed and tested to assess self-management tools such as Nutri-eSCREEN and other education programs. This study is a first step in the development of a questionnaire designed to evaluate the nutrition knowledge and attitudes of independent older adults (NAK-50+). The steps involved in this study were: (i) drafting initial questions based on the content of the Nutri-eSCREEN education material, (ii) using cognitive interviewing to determine if these questions were understandable and relevant (n = 9 adults ≥50 years of age), and (iii) completing test-retest reliability in a convenient community sample (n = 60 adults ≥50 years of age). Intra-class coefficients (ICC) and kappa were used to determine reliability. A 33-item questionnaire resulted from this development and analysis. ICC for the total score was 0.68 indicating good agreement and thus initial reliability. NAK-50+ is a face valid and reliable questionnaire that assesses nutrition knowledge and attitudes in independent adults aged ≥50 years. Further work to determine construct validity and to refine the questionnaire is warranted. Availability of the questionnaire for this age group will support rigorous evaluation of education and self-management interventions for this segment of the population.

Progress in control equipment for fuel-handling machinery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nutting, B.A.

1986-01-01

The paper outlines the development of the equipment used to control the fuel-handling machinery associated with nuclear reactors, from the early electromechanical equipment, through solid-state switching logic to programmable controllers and microprocessors. The control techniques have developed along with the technology, and modern systems offer versatility, reliability and ease of design, operation and maintenance. Future trends and developments are discussed together with possible limiting factors. (author)

Research on Application of FMECA in Missile Equipment Maintenance Decision

Science.gov (United States)

Kun, Wang

2018-03-01

Fault mode effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) is a method widely used in engineering. Studying the application of FMEA technology in military equipment maintenance decision-making, can help us build a better equipment maintenance support system, and increase the using efficiency of weapons and equipment. Through Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) of equipment, known and potential failure modes and their causes are found out, and the influence on the equipment performance, operation success, personnel security are determined. Furthermore, according to the synthetical effects of the severity of effects and the failure probability, possible measures for prevention and correction are put forward. Through replacing or adjusting the corresponding parts, corresponding maintenance strategy is decided for preventive maintenance of equipment, which helps improve the equipment reliability.

ASSESSMENT OF RELIABILITY AND RISK DEGREE FOR ACCIDENT INITIATION AT SLIME STORAGES OF 4th MINING ADMINISTRATION, JSC “BELARUSKALI”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. M. Bohaslauchyk

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Definition of reliability for dams of slime storage embankment is given on the basis of reliability theory and characteristics of reliability and their analysis are presented in the paper. The paper specifies qualitative indices for earth dams which are subdivided in two groups: applicability factors and structural reliability factors. A short analysis of all possible causes for accident initiation at earth dams has been made and the analysis has permitted to pinpoint eleven main objects for diagnosis for slime storage dams. In order to assess risk degree of accident initiation at JSC “Belaruskali” slime storages all possible causes of emergency cases and their probability of occurrence have been analyzed in the paper. The paper acknowledges the fact that dam malfunction is possible, as a rule, due to violation of operational rules and regulations. Main parameters of slime storage state which are to be controlled regularly in the process of its operation have been noted in the paper. Observation results over slime storages, calculations of dam slope stability for normal operation (a principal calculation case and operating irregularities in water seals (a special calculation case. As a stability margin factor is close to 1.0 for a special calculation case, an extreme position of depression curve has been determined for all design sections. It has been recommended to carry out a constant control over its position, and in the case when it reaches its peak value it is necessary to undertake appropriate measures in order to reduce its value. Final expert estimations on probability of accident initiation at the investigated slime storage dams of the 4th Mining Administration, JSC “Belaruskali” have been prepared on the basis of the analysis comprising all the required factors. A conclusion has been made about low risk degree of their destruction.

Equipment Maintenance management support system based on statistical analysis of maintenance history data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, S.; Ando, Y.; Morioka, T.

1990-01-01

Plant maintenance is recently becoming important with the increase in the number of nuclear power stations and in plant operating time. Various kinds of requirements for plant maintenance, such as countermeasures for equipment degradation and saving maintenance costs while keeping up plant reliability and productivity, are proposed. For this purpose, plant maintenance programs should be improved based on equipment reliability estimated by field data. In order to meet these requirements, it is planned to develop an equipment maintenance management support system for nuclear power plants based on statistical analysis of equipment maintenance history data. The large difference between this proposed new method and current similar methods is to evaluate not only failure data but maintenance data, which includes normal termination data and some degree of degradation or functional disorder data for equipment and parts. So, it is possible to utilize these field data for improving maintenance schedules and to evaluate actual equipment and parts reliability under the current maintenance schedule. In the present paper, the authors show the objectives of this system, an outline of this system and its functions, and the basic technique for collecting and managing of maintenance history data on statistical analysis. It is shown, from the results of feasibility tests using simulation data of maintenance history, that this system has the ability to provide useful information for maintenance and the design enhancement

Reliability engineering theory and practice

CERN Document Server

Birolini, Alessandro

2014-01-01

This book shows how to build in, evaluate, and demonstrate reliability and availability of components, equipment, systems. It presents the state-of-theart of reliability engineering, both in theory and practice, and is based on the author's more than 30 years experience in this field, half in industry and half as Professor of Reliability Engineering at the ETH, Zurich. The structure of the book allows rapid access to practical results. This final edition extend and replace all previous editions. New are, in particular, a strategy to mitigate incomplete coverage, a comprehensive introduction to human reliability with design guidelines and new models, and a refinement of reliability allocation, design guidelines for maintainability, and concepts related to regenerative stochastic processes. The set of problems for homework has been extended. Methods & tools are given in a way that they can be tailored to cover different reliability requirement levels and be used for safety analysis. Because of the Appendice...

The use of commercial microwave dissolution equipment for the fast and reliable dissolution of high-fired POX and MOX samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tushingham, J.; McInnes, C.; Firkin, S.

1998-09-01

The use of commercially available microwave dissolution equipment for the fast and reliable dissolution of high-fired plutonium dioxide (POX) and mixed oxide (MOX) samples has been evaluated for application to Safeguards Analysis. Under the auspices of the UK R and D Support Programme to the IAEA, equipment has been purchased and tested for the high-pressure microwave dissolution of POX samples fired to 1250 deg. C and MOX samples fired to 1600 deg. C, in concentrated nitric acid and hydrofluoric acid mixture. Considerable problems were encountered during development of procedures for microwave dissolution, resulting largely from sudden changes in pressure within dissolution vessels, which resulted in actuation of safety interlocks designed to prevent overpressurisation. These difficulties were alleviated by controlling the microwave power to reduce the reaction temperature and pressure, and also by introducing additional safety valves into the digestion vessels. Using microwave digestion, dissolution times for high fired POX and MOX samples were substantially reduced. Samples which required ca. 10 hours to dissolve by conventional means could be dissolved in ca. 80 minutes by microwave digestion. Whilst a similar performance in terms of plutonium recovery was achieved for some materials by microwave and conventional dissolution, for other materials microwave dissolution gave higher plutonium recoveries but with poorer precision. This suggests the possible presence of some plutonium oxide within high-fired materials which is more difficult to dissolve than the bulk, and which is perhaps dissolved to an additional but variable degree by the current microwave dissolution procedure. Microwave dissolution has been demonstrated to increase the speed of dissolution of high-fired POX and MOX materials, compared with conventional dissolution. However, the technique has not yet proved satisfactory for the complete dissolution of all high-fired materials tested because of

Development of reliability databases and the particular requirements of probabilistic risk analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meslin, T.

1989-01-01

Nuclear utilities have an increasing need to develop reliability databases for their operating experience. The purposes of these databases are often multiple, including both equipment maintenance aspects and probabilistic risk analyses. EDF has therefore been developing experience feedback databases, including the Reliability Data Recording System (SRDF) and the Event File, as well as the history of numerous operating documents. Furthermore, since the end of 1985, EDF has been preparing a probabilistic safety analysis applied to one 1,300 MWe unit, for which a large amount of data of French origin is necessary. This data concerns both component reliability parameters and initiating event frequencies. The study has thus been an opportunity for trying out the performance databases for a specific application, as well as in-depth audits of a number of nuclear sites to make it possible to validate numerous results. Computer aided data collection is also on trial in a number of plants. After describing the EDF operating experience feedback files, we discuss the particular requirements of probabilistic risk analyses, and the resources implemented by EDF to satisfy them. (author). 5 refs

Explosion Clad for Upstream Oil and Gas Equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Banker, John G.; Massarello, Jack; Pauly, Stephane

2011-01-01

Today's upstream oil and gas facilities frequently involve the combination of high pressures, high temperatures, and highly corrosive environments, requiring equipment that is thick wall, corrosion resistant, and cost effective. When significant concentrations of CO2 and/or H2S and/or chlorides are present, corrosion resistant alloys (CRA) can become the material of choice for separator equipment, piping, related components, and line pipe. They can provide reliable resistance to both corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement. For these applications, the more commonly used CRA's are 316L, 317L and duplex stainless steels, alloy 825 and alloy 625, dependent upon the application and the severity of the environment. Titanium is also an exceptional choice from the technical perspective, but is less commonly used except for heat exchangers. Explosion clad offers significant savings by providing a relatively thin corrosion resistant alloy on the surface metallurgically bonded to a thick, lower cost, steel substrate for the pressure containment. Developed and industrialized in the 1960's the explosion cladding technology can be used for cladding the more commonly used nickel based and stainless steel CRA's as well as titanium. It has many years of proven experience as a reliable and highly robust clad manufacturing process. The unique cold welding characteristics of explosion cladding reduce problems of alloy sensitization and dissimilar metal incompatibility. Explosion clad materials have been used extensively in both upstream and downstream oil, gas and petrochemical facilities for well over 40 years. The explosion clad equipment has demonstrated excellent resistance to corrosion, embrittlement and disbonding. Factors critical to insure reliable clad manufacture and equipment design and fabrication are addressed.

Explosion Clad for Upstream Oil and Gas Equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banker, John G.; Massarello, Jack; Pauly, Stephane

2011-01-01

Today's upstream oil and gas facilities frequently involve the combination of high pressures, high temperatures, and highly corrosive environments, requiring equipment that is thick wall, corrosion resistant, and cost effective. When significant concentrations of CO 2 and/or H 2 S and/or chlorides are present, corrosion resistant alloys (CRA) can become the material of choice for separator equipment, piping, related components, and line pipe. They can provide reliable resistance to both corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement. For these applications, the more commonly used CRA's are 316L, 317L and duplex stainless steels, alloy 825 and alloy 625, dependent upon the application and the severity of the environment. Titanium is also an exceptional choice from the technical perspective, but is less commonly used except for heat exchangers. Explosion clad offers significant savings by providing a relatively thin corrosion resistant alloy on the surface metallurgically bonded to a thick, lower cost, steel substrate for the pressure containment. Developed and industrialized in the 1960's the explosion cladding technology can be used for cladding the more commonly used nickel based and stainless steel CRA's as well as titanium. It has many years of proven experience as a reliable and highly robust clad manufacturing process. The unique cold welding characteristics of explosion cladding reduce problems of alloy sensitization and dissimilar metal incompatibility. Explosion clad materials have been used extensively in both upstream and downstream oil, gas and petrochemical facilities for well over 40 years. The explosion clad equipment has demonstrated excellent resistance to corrosion, embrittlement and disbonding. Factors critical to insure reliable clad manufacture and equipment design and fabrication are addressed.

The application of GIS equipment in nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji Lin; Huang Pengbo; Chang Xin'ai

2012-01-01

In this paper, the advantage and disadvantage of gas insulated switchgear (GIS) in environmental adaptability, operation safety and economic benefit are analyzed. Issues concerning the manufacture, transportation, on-site installation, operation, maintenance and extension of GIS equipment are discussed. Comparing those characteristics with air insulated switchgear (AIS), GIS is characterized by better aseismic ability, less occupied area and installation process, lower fault rate, longer maintenance period, easier for extension and higher economic benefit, SF6 gas insures the operation safety and reliability of GIS equipment, modular transport and re-assembling improves the installation flexibility. Therefore, GIS equipment may be the first choice for the primary equipment of nuclear power plant. (authors)

Reliability of infrared thermometric measurements of skin temperature in the hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Packham, Tara L; Fok, Diana; Frederiksen, Karen; Thabane, Lehana; Buckley, Norman

2012-01-01

Clinical measurement study. Skin temperature asymmetries (STAs) are used in the diagnosis of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), but little evidence exists for reliability of the equipment and methods. This study examined the reliability of an inexpensive infrared (IR) thermometer and measurement points in the hand for the study of STA. ST was measured three times at five points on both hands with an IR thermometer by two raters in 20 volunteers (12 normals and 8 CRPS). ST measurement results using IR thermometers support inter-rater reliability: intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) estimate for single measures 0.80; all ST measurement points were also highly reliable (ICC single measures, 0.83-0.91). The equipment demonstrated excellent reliability, with little difference in the reliability of the five measurement sites. These preliminary findings support their use in future CRPS research. Not applicable. Copyright © 2012 Hanley & Belfus. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Brief scales to assess physical activity and sedentary equipment in the home

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Durant Nefertiti

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Sedentary behaviors such as TV viewing are associated with childhood obesity, while physical activity promotes healthy weight. The role of the home environment in shaping these behaviors among youth is poorly understood. The study purpose was to examine the reliability of brief parental proxy-report and adolescent self-report measures of electronic equipment and physical activity equipment in the home and to assess the construct validity of these scales by examining their relationship to physical activity, sedentary behavior, and weight status of children and adolescents. Methods Participants were adolescents (n = 189; mean age = 14.6, parents of adolescents (n = 171; mean age = 45.0, and parents of younger children (n = 116; parents mean age = 39.6; children's mean age = 8.3 who completed two surveys approximately one month apart. Measures included a 21-item electronic equipment scale (to assess sedentary behavior facilitators in the home, in the child or adolescent's bedroom, and portable electronics and a 14-item home physical activity equipment scale. Home environment factors were examined as correlates of children's and adolescents' physical activity, sedentary behavior, and weight status after adjusting for child age, sex, race/ethnicity, household income, and number of children in the home. Results Most scales had acceptable test-retest reliability (intraclass correlations were .54 - .92. Parent and adolescent reports were correlated. Electronic equipment in adolescents' bedrooms was positively related to sedentary behavior. Activity equipment in the home was inversely associated with television time in adolescents and children, and positively correlated with adolescents' physical activity. Children's BMI z-score was positively associated with having a television in their bedroom. Conclusions The measures of home electronic equipment and activity equipment were similarly reliable when reported by parents and by

Real Time Grid Reliability Management 2005

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eto, Joe; Eto, Joe; Lesieutre, Bernard; Lewis, Nancy Jo; Parashar, Manu

2008-07-07

The increased need to manage California?s electricity grid in real time is a result of the ongoing transition from a system operated by vertically-integrated utilities serving native loads to one operated by an independent system operator supporting competitive energy markets. During this transition period, the traditional approach to reliability management -- construction of new transmission lines -- has not been pursued due to unresolved issues related to the financing and recovery of transmission project costs. In the absence of investments in new transmission infrastructure, the best strategy for managing reliability is to equip system operators with better real-time information about actual operating margins so that they can better understand and manage the risk of operating closer to the edge. A companion strategy is to address known deficiencies in offline modeling tools that are needed to ground the use of improved real-time tools. This project: (1) developed and conducted first-ever demonstrations of two prototype real-time software tools for voltage security assessment and phasor monitoring; and (2) prepared a scoping study on improving load and generator response models. Additional funding through two separate subsequent work authorizations has already been provided to build upon the work initiated in this project.

Mobile equipment maintenance at Elk Valley Coal Corporation Fording River

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-01

Major loading and support equipment, haul trucks, and the number of staff and hourly tradesmen working in the maintenance manpower division at Elk Valley Coal are listed. Maintenance strategies are safety, high maintenance of equipment availabilities and reliability, cost reduction, and maximized productivity of assets. Maintenance assets comprise a large shop, shovel and drill crew, machine shop, light vehicle facility, line crew, radio technicians, and cranes. Most maintenance work is completed in- house. Fording River uses a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) that was developed in-house to match business needs. Several examples of the application of Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) are described. 12 figs., 2 tabs.

Procuring, maintaining and using equipment: the key issues in controlling exposure to patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendra, I.R.F.

1989-01-01

Radiological equipment is not purpose-built for each individual application. Thus, not only are acceptance criteria directly related to the design of equipment and the quality assurance exercised during its manufacture, but also the performance, safety and reliability of equipment must feature in the requirements for procuring new equipment. In the UK this issue is dealt with under the Department of Health and Social Security Manufacturer Registration Scheme for Medical Equipment in its application to radiological equipment. Similarly the continuing reliability of equipment in service is directly related to the quality of maintenance services. This is determined largely by the manner in which such services are procured. In the UK this issue has been considered by one of four Working Parties commissioned by the South-East Thames Regional Health Authority who are the ''Centre of Responsibility'' for diagnostic imaging equipment. The report prepared from the first phase of activity of this working group describes features of a procurement specification for maintenance services and prescribes the complementary duties of contractors and customers. The use in X-ray departments of the kind of manufacturing quality system that is used by most reputable equipment manufacturers has the potential for a dramatic reduction in exposure to patients. (author)

Development, initial content validation and reliability of Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Prevention strategies are effective only when there are epidemiological data for the targeted populations. The collection of such .... Proquest, Sport discuss and Cochrane as these are ... 0.74, test retest reliability 0.70; Diet: internal consistency:.

Evaluating the Effectiveness and the Impact of Donated Neurosurgical Equipment on Neurosurgical Units in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: The World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Venturini, Sara; Park, Kee B

2018-01-01

Surgical practice highly depends on the availability of surgical equipment; this is particularly relevant to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where resources are limited. A key part of the efforts to improve surgical provision globally include providing affordable equipment to LMICs; however, the effectiveness and the impact of these initiatives have not yet been assessed. We aimed to evaluate the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies neurosurgical equipment program in this context. Recipients were identified from the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies records; contact details were gathered. An online survey was used to collect data on equipment, including its current use, any malfunctioning issues, suitability, reliability, serviceability, and the impact it has had on the unit. Responses were received from 16 units, totaling 28 pieces of equipment. A total of 75% of the equipment is still in use; of this, 57% is fully functioning, and 43% is used despite some malfunction. We found that 25% of the equipment is broken and unusable; high-maintenance items, such as high-speed drills, feature in this category (100% broken, n = 3). Units reported an increase in number of operation performed in 74% cases, improved surgery quality in 78%, and breadth of operations in 44%. Satisfaction, equipment suitability, reliability, and serviceability scored highly, with median values of 9 for all fields on a 10-point scale. Equipment donation positively impacts neurosurgical units in LMICs by allowing expansion of neurosurgical practice, improved safety and quality, and affordability. Adequate follow-up, considerations regarding equipment durability and maintenance needs, and improved support for repairs should be prioritized to ensure maximal benefit. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design and construction of a air pollutant gases sampler equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomez S, R.A.; Rodriguez, T.J.

1996-01-01

This thesis is about the sketch and construction of an equipment which samples contaminated gases in the air. The topic of this work, is to propose a solution for imported and national equipment. The solution consist on lower prices of imported and national equipment without loosing the accuracy and the precision of those now available. The investigation shows all process to sample gases and theirs measurement for which all the mechanical, electric and electronic equipment, and the necessary software for giving the results in a computerized way were outlined. With this work it was able to succeed in measurements with a national low price, accurate, reliable, programmable, completely automatic and easy to use. This equipment exceed in accuracy the Japanese and the american equipment

Developing ''SMART'' Equipment and Systems through Collaborative NERI Research and Development: A First Year of Progress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harmon, Daryl L.; Golay, Michael W.; Chapman, Leon D.; Maynard, Kennet P.

2000-01-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) created the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) in 1999 to conduct research and development with the objectives of: (1) overcoming the principal technical obstacles to expanded nuclear energy use, (2) advancing the state of nuclear technology to maintain its competitive position in domestic and world markets, and (3) improving the performance, efficiency, reliability, and economics of nuclear energy. The NERI program is now beginning its second year with increased funding and an emphasis on international participation. Among the programs selected for funding was the ''Smart Equipment and Systems to Improve Reliability and Safety in Future Nuclear Power Plant Operations''. This program is a 36 month collaborative effort bringing together the technical capabilities of Westinghouse Nuclear Automation, Sandia National Laboratories, Duke Engineering and Services (DE and S), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Pennsylvania State University (PSU). The goal of the program is to design, develop, and evaluate an integrated set of tools and methodologies that can improve the reliability and safety of advanced nuclear power plants through the introduction of smart equipment and predictive maintenance technology. The results have implications for reduced construction costs. This paper discusses: (1) the goals and significance of the program, (2) the significant achievements of the program's first year and the current direction for its continuing efforts and (3) potential cooperation with the domestic nuclear and component manufacturing industries, and with international organizations

Application of a truncated normal failure distribution in reliability testing

Science.gov (United States)

Groves, C., Jr.

1968-01-01

Statistical truncated normal distribution function is applied as a time-to-failure distribution function in equipment reliability estimations. Age-dependent characteristics of the truncated function provide a basis for formulating a system of high-reliability testing that effectively merges statistical, engineering, and cost considerations.

RELIABILITY ANALYSIS OF POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Popescu V.S.

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Power distribution systems are basic parts of power systems and reliability of these systems at present is a key issue for power engineering development and requires special attention. Operation of distribution systems is accompanied by a number of factors that produce random data a large number of unplanned interruptions. Research has shown that the predominant factors that have a significant influence on the reliability of distribution systems are: weather conditions (39.7%, defects in equipment(25% and unknown random factors (20.1%. In the article is studied the influence of random behavior and are presented estimations of reliability of predominantly rural electrical distribution systems.

Development of automatic ultrasonic testing equipment for reactor pressure vessel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jang, Kee Ok; Park, Dae Yung; Park, Moon Hoh; Koo, Kil Mo; Park, Kwang Heui; Kang, Sang Sin; Bang, Heui Song; Noh, Heui Choong; Kong, Woon Sik [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1994-08-01

The selected weld areas of reactor pressure vessel and adjacent piping are examined by remote mechanized ultrasonic testing(MUT) equipment. Since the MUT equipment was purchased from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in April 1985, we have performed 15 inservice inspections and 5 preservice inspections. However, the reliability of examination was recently decreased rapidly as the problems which results from the old age of equipment and the frequent movement to plant site to site have occurred frequently. Therefore, the 3-axis control system hardware in occurring many problems among the equipments of mechanized ultrasonic testing (MUT) was designed and developed to cover the examination areas of nozzle-shell weld as specified in ASME Code Section XI and to improve the examination reliability. The new 3-axis control system hardware with the performance of this project was developed to be compatible with the old one and it was used as dual system or spare parts of the old system. Furthermore, the established technologies are expected to be applied to the similar control systems in nuclear power plant. 17 figs, 2 pix, 2 tabs, 10 refs. (Author).

Development of automatic ultrasonic testing equipment for reactor pressure vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Kee Ok; Park, Dae Yung; Park, Moon Hoh; Koo, Kil Mo; Park, Kwang Heui; Kang, Sang Sin; Bang, Heui Song; Noh, Heui Choong; Kong, Woon Sik

1994-08-01

The selected weld areas of reactor pressure vessel and adjacent piping are examined by remote mechanized ultrasonic testing(MUT) equipment. Since the MUT equipment was purchased from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in April 1985, we have performed 15 inservice inspections and 5 preservice inspections. However, the reliability of examination was recently decreased rapidly as the problems which results from the old age of equipment and the frequent movement to plant site to site have occurred frequently. Therefore, the 3-axis control system hardware in occurring many problems among the equipments of mechanized ultrasonic testing (MUT) was designed and developed to cover the examination areas of nozzle-shell weld as specified in ASME Code Section XI and to improve the examination reliability. The new 3-axis control system hardware with the performance of this project was developed to be compatible with the old one and it was used as dual system or spare parts of the old system. Furthermore, the established technologies are expected to be applied to the similar control systems in nuclear power plant. 17 figs, 2 pix, 2 tabs, 10 refs. (Author)

General Atomic HTGR fuel reprocessing pilot plant: results of initial sequential equipment operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-09-01

In September 1977, the processing of 20 large high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (LHTGR) fuel elements was completed sequentially through the head-end cold pilot plant equipment. This report gives a brief description of the equipment and summarizes the results of the sequential operation of the pilot plant. 32 figures, 15 tables

Performance characterization of night vision equipment based on Triangle Orientation Discrimination (TOD) methodology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Laurent, N.; Lejard, C.; Deltel, G.; Bijl, P.

2013-01-01

Night vision equipment is crucial in order to accomplish supremacy and safety of the troops on the battlefield. Evidently, system integrators, MODs and end-users need access to reliable quantitative characterization of the expected field performance when using night vision equipment. The Image

Technical information report: Plasma melter operation, reliability, and maintenance analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendrickson, D.W.

1995-01-01

This document provides a technical report of operability, reliability, and maintenance of a plasma melter for low-level waste vitrification, in support of the Hanford Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) Low-Level Waste (LLW) Vitrification Program. A process description is provided that minimizes maintenance and downtime and includes material and energy balances, equipment sizes and arrangement, startup/operation/maintence/shutdown cycle descriptions, and basis for scale-up to a 200 metric ton/day production facility. Operational requirements are provided including utilities, feeds, labor, and maintenance. Equipment reliability estimates and maintenance requirements are provided which includes a list of failure modes, responses, and consequences

Benefits Of Vibration Analysis For Development Of Equipment In HLW Tanks - 12341

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefanko, D.; Herbert, J.

2012-01-01

Vibration analyses of equipment intended for use in the Savannah River Site (SRS) radioactive liquid waste storage tanks are performed during pre-deployment testing and has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the life-cycle costs of the equipment. Benefits of using vibration analysis to identify rotating machinery problems prior to deployment in radioactive service will be presented in this paper. Problems encountered at SRS and actions to correct or lessen the severity of the problem are discussed. In short, multi-million dollar cost saving have been realized at SRS as a direct result of vibration analysis on existing equipment. Vibration analysis of equipment prior to installation can potentially reduce inservice failures, and increases reliability. High-level radioactive waste is currently stored in underground carbon steel waste tanks at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Savannah River Site and at the Hanford Site, WA. Various types of rotating machinery (pumps and separations equipment) are used to manage and retrieve the tank contents. Installation, maintenance, and repair of these pumps and other equipment are expensive. In fact, costs to remove and replace a single pump can be as high as a half million dollars due to requirements for radioactive containment. Problems that lead to in-service maintenance and/or equipment replacement can quickly exceed the initial investment, increase radiological exposure, generate additional waste, and risk contamination of personnel and the work environment. Several different types of equipment are considered in this paper, but pumps provide an initial example for the use of vibration analysis. Long-shaft (45 foot long) and short-shaft (5-10 feet long) equipment arrangements are used for 25-350 horsepower slurry mixing and transfer pumps in the SRS HLW tanks. Each pump has a unique design, operating characteristics and associated costs, sometimes exceeding a million dollars. Vibration data are routinely

BENEFITS OF VIBRATION ANALYSIS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF EQUIPMENT IN HLW TANKS - 12341

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stefanko, D.; Herbert, J.

2012-01-10

Vibration analyses of equipment intended for use in the Savannah River Site (SRS) radioactive liquid waste storage tanks are performed during pre-deployment testing and has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the life-cycle costs of the equipment. Benefits of using vibration analysis to identify rotating machinery problems prior to deployment in radioactive service will be presented in this paper. Problems encountered at SRS and actions to correct or lessen the severity of the problem are discussed. In short, multi-million dollar cost saving have been realized at SRS as a direct result of vibration analysis on existing equipment. Vibration analysis of equipment prior to installation can potentially reduce inservice failures, and increases reliability. High-level radioactive waste is currently stored in underground carbon steel waste tanks at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Savannah River Site and at the Hanford Site, WA. Various types of rotating machinery (pumps and separations equipment) are used to manage and retrieve the tank contents. Installation, maintenance, and repair of these pumps and other equipment are expensive. In fact, costs to remove and replace a single pump can be as high as a half million dollars due to requirements for radioactive containment. Problems that lead to in-service maintenance and/or equipment replacement can quickly exceed the initial investment, increase radiological exposure, generate additional waste, and risk contamination of personnel and the work environment. Several different types of equipment are considered in this paper, but pumps provide an initial example for the use of vibration analysis. Long-shaft (45 foot long) and short-shaft (5-10 feet long) equipment arrangements are used for 25-350 horsepower slurry mixing and transfer pumps in the SRS HLW tanks. Each pump has a unique design, operating characteristics and associated costs, sometimes exceeding a million dollars. Vibration data are routinely

Reliability Information Analysis Center 1st Quarter 2007, Technical Area Task (TAT) Report

Science.gov (United States)

2007-02-05

Library or [twField/Test 217Plus Ally w/ a.romtu DAAData Experience Data Need t( rdito Trqnd • s aa(Model) develol analisis Mappng & ANLED217Plu...of collected reliability data and have discovered that even with sparse data, analysis of the data shows clustering of reliability data by equipment...intended search target. Conceptually cluster discovered data to allow more detailed analysis by equipment type. For example, it may be useful to

Partners in qualified equipment supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rygg, D.E.; O'Hare, G.J.

1993-01-01

Industry initiatives have been taken to improve procurement practices and commercial dedication programs, formation of procurement engineering groups, emphasis on product quality, and increased engineering involvement in procurement and maintenance of qualified equipment. This poses new challenges for many licensees in terms of resources, product knowledge, and access to information normally held proprietary by equipment suppliers. Alternative approaches to future licensee/Westinghouse relationships which will allow licensees to adapt to the changing environment are discussed. 2 figs

49 CFR Appendix E to Part 238 - General Principles of Reliability-Based Maintenance Programs

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... STANDARDS Pt. 238, App. E Appendix E to Part 238—General Principles of Reliability-Based Maintenance... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false General Principles of Reliability-Based... the design level of safety and reliability of the equipment; (2) To restore safety and reliability to...

Management of reliability and maintainability; a disciplined approach to fleet readiness

Science.gov (United States)

Willoughby, W. J., Jr.

1981-01-01

Material acquisition fundamentals were reviewed and include: mission profile definition, stress analysis, derating criteria, circuit reliability, failure modes, and worst case analysis. Military system reliability was examined with emphasis on the sparing of equipment. The Navy's organizational strategy for 1980 is presented.

Reliability parameters of distribution networks components

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gono, R.; Kratky, M.; Rusek, S.; Kral, V. [Technical Univ. of Ostrava (Czech Republic)

2009-03-11

This paper presented a framework for the retrieval of parameters from various heterogenous power system databases. The framework was designed to transform the heterogenous outage data in a common relational scheme. The framework was used to retrieve outage data parameters from the Czech and Slovak republics in order to demonstrate the scalability of the framework. A reliability computation of the system was computed in 2 phases representing the retrieval of component reliability parameters and the reliability computation. Reliability rates were determined using component reliability and global reliability indices. Input data for the reliability was retrieved from data on equipment operating under similar conditions, while the probability of failure-free operations was evaluated by determining component status. Anomalies in distribution outage data were described as scheme, attribute, and term differences. Input types consisted of input relations; transformation programs; codebooks; and translation tables. The system was used to successfully retrieve data from 7 distributors in the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic between 2000-2007. The database included 301,555 records. Data were queried using SQL language. 29 refs., 2 tabs., 2 figs.

27 CFR 6.88 - Equipment and supplies.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS âTIED-HOUSEâ Exceptions § 6.88 Equipment and supplies. (a) General. The act by an industry member of selling equipment or supplies to a retailer does not constitute a means... a price not less than the cost to the industry member who initially purchased them, and if the price...

Manual on reliability data collection for research reactor PSAs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1992-01-01

The IAEA has been actively promoting performance of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) studies for research reactors. From 1986 to 1988 the IAEA undertook a Coordinated Research Programme (CRP) on PSA for research reactors which helped promote use of PSA and foster a broad exchange of information. Although the basic methodological approach in performing a research reactor PSA is understood, some unresolved issues, data availability being among them, still exist. To address the issue on the international level, the IAEA initiated a new CRP on ``Data Acquisition for Research Reactors PSA Studies``. The aim of the CRP is to develop a data collection system and generate research reactor specific reliability data for use in PSAs. The achieve this aim a set of precise definitions should be adopted. A set of definitions developed specifically for research reactors and covering classification of equipment and failure terms, reliability parameters, failure modes and other terms necessary for data collection and processing is presented in this document which is based on discussions during the first meeting of the CRP held in Vienna in October 1989 and during the second meeting held in Beijing, China, in October 1990. Refs and figs.

Manual on reliability data collection for research reactor PSAs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

The IAEA has been actively promoting performance of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) studies for research reactors. From 1986 to 1988 the IAEA undertook a Coordinated Research Programme (CRP) on PSA for research reactors which helped promote use of PSA and foster a broad exchange of information. Although the basic methodological approach in performing a research reactor PSA is understood, some unresolved issues, data availability being among them, still exist. To address the issue on the international level, the IAEA initiated a new CRP on ''Data Acquisition for Research Reactors PSA Studies''. The aim of the CRP is to develop a data collection system and generate research reactor specific reliability data for use in PSAs. The achieve this aim a set of precise definitions should be adopted. A set of definitions developed specifically for research reactors and covering classification of equipment and failure terms, reliability parameters, failure modes and other terms necessary for data collection and processing is presented in this document which is based on discussions during the first meeting of the CRP held in Vienna in October 1989 and during the second meeting held in Beijing, China, in October 1990. Refs and figs

Considerations concerning the reliability of reactor safety equipment; Considerations sur la fiabilite des ensembles de securite de reacteurs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Furet, J; Guyot, Ch [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1967-07-01

A review is made of the circumstances which favor a good collection of maintenance data at the C.E.A. The large amount of data to be treated has made necessary the use of a computer for analyzing automatically the results collected. Here, only particular aspects of the reliability from the point of view of the electronics used for nuclear reactor control will be dealt with: sale and unsafe failures; probability of survival (in the case of reactor safety); availability. The general diagrams of the safety assemblies which have been drawn up for two types of reactor (power reactor and low power experimental reactor) are given. Results are presented of reliability analysis which could be applied to the use of functional modular elements, developed industrially in France. Improvement of this reliability appears to be fairly limited by an increase in the redundancy; on the other hand it is shown how it may be very markedly improved by the use of automatic tests with different frequencies for detecting unsafe failures rates of measurements for the sub-assemblies and for the logic sub-assemblies. Finally examples are given to show the incidence of the complexity and of the use of different technologies in reactor safety equipment on the reliability. (authors) [French] On rappelle les circonstances qui favorisent au C.E.A. la collecte d'une information valable des resultats de la maintenance. L'importance des donnees a traiter a rendu necessaire l'utilisation d'une calculatrice poux l'analyse automatique des resultats recueillis. On se limitera ici aux aspects particuliers de la fiabilite du point de vue de l'electronique pour le controle et la commande de reacteurs nucleaires: pannes sures et pannes non sures; probabilite de survie dans le cas de la securite des reacteurs; facteur de disponibilite. Les schemas de principe des ensembles de securite definis pour deux types de reacteurs (reacteur de puissance et reacteur experimental de faible puissance) sont indiques. On

Profit ability versus construction equipment maintenance

OpenAIRE

Clutts, Craig A.

2010-01-01

CIVINS (Civilian Institutions) Thesis document Approved for public release ; distribution is unlimited Construction equipment is a high cost of capital investment necessary for the successful existence of a private construction company and essential to the mission success of the Naval Construction Force (NCF). The highest impact cost factor other than the initial purchase investment is the expenses related to maintenance and repair. As the equipment ages, the ownership costs decrease an...

Reliability engineering for nuclear and other high technology systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lakner, A.A.; Anderson, R.T.

1985-01-01

This book is written for the reliability instructor, program manager, system engineer, design engineer, reliability engineer, nuclear regulator, probability risk assessment (PRA) analyst, general manager and others who are involved in system hardware acquisition, design and operation and are concerned with plant safety and operational cost-effectiveness. It provides criteria, guidelines and comprehensive engineering data affecting reliability; it covers the key aspects of system reliability as it relates to conceptual planning, cost tradeoff decisions, specification, contractor selection, design, test and plant acceptance and operation. It treats reliability as an integrated methodology, explicitly describing life cycle management techniques as well as the basic elements of a total hardware development program, including: reliability parameters and design improvement attributes, reliability testing, reliability engineering and control. It describes how these elements can be defined during procurement, and implemented during design and development to yield reliable equipment. (author)

Maintenance management of railway infrastructures based on reliability analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macchi, Marco; Garetti, Marco; Centrone, Domenico; Fumagalli, Luca; Piero Pavirani, Gian

2012-01-01

Railway infrastructure maintenance plays a crucial role for rail transport. It aims at guaranteeing safety of operations and availability of railway tracks and related equipment for traffic regulation. Moreover, it is one major cost for rail transport operations. Thus, the increased competition in traffic market is asking for maintenance improvement, aiming at the reduction of maintenance expenditures while keeping the safety of operations. This issue is addressed by the methodology presented in the paper. The first step of the methodology consists of a family-based approach for the equipment reliability analysis; its purpose is the identification of families of railway items which can be given the same reliability targets. The second step builds the reliability model of the railway system for identifying the most critical items, given a required service level for the transportation system. The two methods have been implemented and tested in practical case studies, in the context of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, the Italian public limited company for railway transportation.

Equipment for production of hydrogel by sol-gel method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Urbanek, V.

1975-01-01

The method of uranyl gel preparation is described by the sol-gel process of the internal gelation type. A laboratory-scale equipment with an output of 1.5 kg of gel per hour was built at the Nuclear Research Institute, Rez; the diameter of the microspheres produced may vary between 0.5 and 4.0 mm. The reliability of the equipment was verified by producing several tens of kilograms of uranyl gels and of gels based on other non-nuclear materials. (author)

Design of fuel cell powered data centers for sufficient reliability and availability

Science.gov (United States)

Ritchie, Alexa J.; Brouwer, Jacob

2018-04-01

It is challenging to design a sufficiently reliable fuel cell electrical system for use in data centers, which require 99.9999% uptime. Such a system could lower emissions and increase data center efficiency, but the reliability and availability of such a system must be analyzed and understood. Currently, extensive backup equipment is used to ensure electricity availability. The proposed design alternative uses multiple fuel cell systems each supporting a small number of servers to eliminate backup power equipment provided the fuel cell design has sufficient reliability and availability. Potential system designs are explored for the entire data center and for individual fuel cells. Reliability block diagram analysis of the fuel cell systems was accomplished to understand the reliability of the systems without repair or redundant technologies. From this analysis, it was apparent that redundant components would be necessary. A program was written in MATLAB to show that the desired system reliability could be achieved by a combination of parallel components, regardless of the number of additional components needed. Having shown that the desired reliability was achievable through some combination of components, a dynamic programming analysis was undertaken to assess the ideal allocation of parallel components.

Advancements in valve technology and industry lessons lead to improved plant reliability and cost savings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, V.; Kalsi, M.S.

2005-01-01

Plant reliability and safety hinges on the proper functioning of several valves. Recent advancements in valve technology have resulted in new analytical and test methods for evaluating and improving valve and actuator reliability. This is especially significant in critical service applications in which the economic impact of a valve failure on production, outage schedules and consequential damages far surpasses the initial equipment purchase price. This paper presents an overview of recent advances in valve technology driven by reliability concerns and cost savings objectives without comprising safety in the Nuclear Power Industry. This overview is based on over 27 years of experience in supporting US and International nuclear power utilities, and contributing to EPRI, and NSSS Owners' Groups in developing generic models/methodologies to address industry wide issues; performing design basis reviews; and implementing plant-wide valve reliability improvement programs. Various analytical prediction software and hardware solutions and training seminars are now available to implement valve programs covering power plants' lifecycle from the construction phase through life extension and power up rate. These tools and methodologies can enhance valve-engineering activities including the selection, sizing, proper application, condition monitoring, failure analysis, and condition based maintenance optimization with a focus on potential bad actors. This paper offers two such examples, the Kalsi Valve and Actuator Program (KVAP) and Check Valve Analysis and Prioritization (CVAP) [1-3, 8, 9, 11-13]. The advanced, validated torque prediction models incorporated into KVAP software for AOVs and MOVs have improved reliability of margin predictions and enabled cost savings through elimination of unwarranted equipment modifications. CVAP models provides a basis to prioritize the population of valves recommended for preventive maintenance, inspection and/or modification, allowing

Improvements in valve reliability due to implementation of effective condition monitoring programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hale, Stan

2003-01-01

Modern diagnostic systems for motor-operated valves, pneumatic control valves and checkvalves have facilitated a shift in the maintenance philosophy for valves and actuators in nuclear power plants from schedule based to condition-based maintenance (CBM). This shift enables plant management to focus resources and schedule priority on the plant equipment that warrants attention thereby not wasting resources or increasing the human factors risk on equipment that has not degraded. The most recent initiatives combine condition monitoring with risk/safety insights to focus attention and resonances on the right equipment at the right time consistent with each component's safety-significance. The activities of the ASME working groups responsible for nuclear O and M codes have kept pace with the technology and process improvements necessary to maximize the technical and economic benefits of condition based and risk informed maintenance. This paper discusses adoption of valve condition monitoring in the nuclear power industry, changes to ASME codes and standards during the 90's to facilitate adoption of condition monitoring technology for in-service testing and recent efforts to combine risk insights with condition monitoring strategies to achieve the highest level of valve reliability and nuclear safety without over inflating maintenance cost. (author)

On the matter of the reliability of the chemical monitoring system based on the modern control and monitoring devices

Science.gov (United States)

Andriushin, A. V.; Dolbikova, N. S.; Kiet, S. V.; Merzlikina, E. I.; Nikitina, I. S.

2017-11-01

The reliability of the main equipment of any power station depends on the correct water chemistry. In order to provide it, it is necessary to monitor the heat carrier quality, which, in its turn, is provided by the chemical monitoring system. Thus, the monitoring system reliability plays an important part in providing reliability of the main equipment. The monitoring system reliability is determined by the reliability and structure of its hardware and software consisting of sensors, controllers, HMI and so on [1,2]. Workers of a power plant dealing with the measuring equipment must be informed promptly about any breakdowns in the monitoring system, in this case they are able to remove the fault quickly. A computer consultant system for personnel maintaining the sensors and other chemical monitoring equipment can help to notice faults quickly and identify their possible causes. Some technical solutions for such a system are considered in the present paper. The experimental results were obtained on the laboratory and experimental workbench representing a physical model of a part of the chemical monitoring system.

Operational and reliability experience with reactor instrumentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dixon, F.; Gow, R.S.

1978-01-01

In the last 15 years the CEGB has experienced progressive plant development, integration and changes in operating regime through nine nuclear (gas-cooled reactor) power stations with corresponding instrumentation advances leading towards more refined centralized control. Operation and reliability experience with reactor instrumentation is reported in this paper with reference to the progressive changes related to the early magnox, late magnox and AGR periods. Data on instrumentation reliability in terms of reactor forced outages are presented and show that the instrumentation contributions to loss of generating plant availability are small. Reactor safety circuits, neutron flux and temperature measurements, gas analysis and vibration monitoring are discussed. In reviewing the reactor instrumentation the emphasis is on reporting recent experience, particularly on AGR equipment, but overall performance and changes to magnox equipment are included so that some appreciation can be obtained of instrumentation requirements with respect to plant lifetimes. (author)

Reliability testing of failed fuel location system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vieru, G.

1996-01-01

This paper presents the experimental reliability tests performed in order to prove the reliability parameters for Failed Fuel Location System (FFLS), equipment used to detect in which channel of a particular heat transport loop a fuel failure is located, and to find in which channel what particular bundle pair is failed. To do so, D20 samples from each reactor channel are sequentially monitored to detect a comparatively high level of delayed neutron activity. 15 refs, 8 figs, 2 tabs

Equipment qualification research program: program plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong, R.G.; Smith, P.D.

1982-01-01

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) under the sponsorship of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has developed this program plan for research in equipment qualification (EQA). In this report the research program which will be executed in accordance with this plan will be referred to as the Equipment Qualification Research Program (EQRP). Covered are electrical and mechanical equipment under the conditions described in the OBJECTIVE section of this report. The EQRP has two phases; Phase I is primarily to produce early results and to develop information for Phase II. Phase I will last 18 months and consists of six projects. The first project is program management. The second project is responsible for in-depth evaluation and review of EQ issues and EQ processes. The third project is responsible for detailed planning to initiate Phase II. The remaining three projects address specific equipment; i.e., valves, electrical equipment, and a pump

Reliability prediction for the vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS and passive safety systems (PSS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balbir S. Dhillon

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The human error has been reported as a major root cause in road accidents in today’s world. The human as a driver in road vehicles composed of human, mechanical and electrical components is constantly exposed to changing surroundings (e.g., road conditions, environmentwhich deteriorate the driver’s capacities leading to a potential accident. The auto industries and transportation authorities have realized that similar to other complex and safety sensitive transportation systems, the road vehicles need to rely on both advanced technologies (i.e., Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS and Passive Safety Systems (PSS (e.g.,, seatbelts, airbags in order to mitigate the risk of accidents and casualties. In this study, the advantages and disadvantages of ADAS as active safety systems as well as passive safety systems in road vehicles have been discussed. Also, this study proposes models that analyze the interactions between human as a driver and ADAS Warning and Crash Avoidance Systems and PSS in the design of vehicles. Thereafter, the mathematical models have been developed to make reliability prediction at any given time on the road transportation for vehicles equipped with ADAS and PSS. Finally, the implications of this study in the improvement of vehicle designs and prevention of casualties are discussed.

Incidents of chemical reactions in cell equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baldwin, N.M.; Barlow, C.R. [Uranium Enrichment Organization, Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

1991-12-31

Strongly exothermic reactions can occur between equipment structural components and process gases under certain accident conditions in the diffusion enrichment cascades. This paper describes the conditions required for initiation of these reactions, and describes the range of such reactions experienced over nearly 50 years of equipment operation in the US uranium enrichment program. Factors are cited which can promote or limit the destructive extent of these reactions, and process operations are described which are designed to control the reactions to minimize equipment damage, downtime, and the possibility of material releases.

AX Tank Farm ancillary equipment study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

SKELLY, W.A.

1999-01-01

This report examines the feasibility of remediating ancillary equipment associated with the 241-AX Tank Farm at the Hanford Site. Ancillary equipment includes surface structures and equipment, process waste piping, ventilation components, wells, and pits, boxes, sumps, and tanks used to make waste transfers to/from the AX tanks and adjoining tank farms. Two remedial alternatives are considered: (1) excavation and removal of all ancillary equipment items, and (2) in-situ stabilization by grout filling, the 241-AX Tank Farm is being employed as a strawman in engineering studies evaluating clean and landfill closure options for Hanford single-shell tanks. This is one of several reports being prepared for use by the Hanford Tanks Initiative Project to explore potential closure options and to develop retrieval performance evaluation criteria for tank farms

Attribute measurement systems prototypes and equipment in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langner, D.C.; Landry, R.P.; Hsue, S.-T.; MacArthur, D.W.; Mayo, D.R.; Smith, M.K.; Nicholas, N.J.; Whiteson, R.

2001-01-01

Since the fall of 1997, the United States has been developing prototypical attribute verification technology for potential use by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under the Trilateral Initiative. The first attribute measurement equipment demonstration took place in December 1997 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This demonstration led to a series of joint Russian Federatioin/US/IAEA technical discussions that focused on attribute measurement technology that could be applied to plutonium bearing items having classified characteristics. A first prototype attribute verification system with an information barrier was demonstrated at a Trilateral Technical Workshop in June 1999 at Los Alamos. This prototype nourished further fruitful discussions between the three parties that has in turn led to the documents discussed in a previous paper. Prototype development has continued in the US, under other initiatives, using an integrated approach that includes the Trilatleral Initiative. Specifically for the Trilateral Initiative, US development has turned to some peripheral equipment that would support verifications by the IAEA. This equipment includes an authentication tool for measurement systems with information barriers and in situ probes that would facilitate inspections by reducing the need to move material out of storage locations for reverification. In this paper, we will first summarize the development of attribute verification measurement system technology in the US and then report on the status of the development of other equipment to support the Trilateral Initiative.

Reliability of equipments and theory of frequency statistics and Bayesian decision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Procaccia, H.; Clarotti, C.A.

1992-01-01

The rapid development of Bayesian techniques use in the domain of industrial risk is a recent phenomenon linked to the development of powerful computers. These techniques involve a reasoning well adapted to experimental logics, based on the dynamical knowledge enrichment with experience data. In the framework of reliability studies and statistical decision making, these methods differ slightly from the methods commonly used to evaluate the reliability of systems and from classical theoretical frequency statistics. This particular approach is described in this book and illustrated with many examples of application (power plants, pressure vessels, industrial installations etc..). These examples generally concern the risk management in the cases where the application of rules and the respect of norms become insufficient. It is now well known that the risk cannot be reduced to zero and that its evaluation must be performed using statistics, taking into account the possible accident processes and also the investments necessary to avoid them (service life, failure, maintenance costs and availability of materials). The result is the optimizing of a decision process about rare or uncertain events. (J.S.)

Interventional suite and equipment management: cradle to grave

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strauss, Keith J. [Harvard Medical School, Radiology Physics and Engineering, Children' s Hospital Boston, Boston, MA (United States)

2006-09-15

The acquisition process for interventional equipment and the care that this equipment receives constitute a comprehensive quality improvement program. This program strives to (a) achieve the production of good image quality that meets clinical needs, (b) reduce radiation doses to the patient and personnel to their lowest possible levels, and (c) provide overall good patient care at reduced cost. Interventional imaging equipment is only as effective and efficient as its supporting facility. The acquisition process of interventional equipment and the development of its environment demand a clinical project leader who can effectively coordinate the efforts of the many professionals who must communicate and work effectively on this type of project. The clinical project leader needs to understand (a) clinical needs of the end users, (b) how to justify the cost of the project, (c) the technical needs of the imaging and all associated equipment, (d) building and construction limitations, (e) how to effectively read construction drawings, and (f) how to negotiate and contract the imaging equipment from the appropriate vendor. After the initial commissioning of the equipment, it must not be forgotten. The capabilities designed into the imaging device can be properly utilized only by well-trained operators and staff who were initially properly trained and receive ongoing training concerning the latest clinical techniques throughout the equipment's lifetime. A comprehensive, ongoing maintenance and repair program is paramount to reducing costly downtime of the imaging device. A planned periodic maintenance program can identify and eliminate problems with the imaging device before these problems negatively impact patient care. (orig.)

Interventional suite and equipment management: cradle to grave

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strauss, Keith J.

2006-01-01

The acquisition process for interventional equipment and the care that this equipment receives constitute a comprehensive quality improvement program. This program strives to (a) achieve the production of good image quality that meets clinical needs, (b) reduce radiation doses to the patient and personnel to their lowest possible levels, and (c) provide overall good patient care at reduced cost. Interventional imaging equipment is only as effective and efficient as its supporting facility. The acquisition process of interventional equipment and the development of its environment demand a clinical project leader who can effectively coordinate the efforts of the many professionals who must communicate and work effectively on this type of project. The clinical project leader needs to understand (a) clinical needs of the end users, (b) how to justify the cost of the project, (c) the technical needs of the imaging and all associated equipment, (d) building and construction limitations, (e) how to effectively read construction drawings, and (f) how to negotiate and contract the imaging equipment from the appropriate vendor. After the initial commissioning of the equipment, it must not be forgotten. The capabilities designed into the imaging device can be properly utilized only by well-trained operators and staff who were initially properly trained and receive ongoing training concerning the latest clinical techniques throughout the equipment's lifetime. A comprehensive, ongoing maintenance and repair program is paramount to reducing costly downtime of the imaging device. A planned periodic maintenance program can identify and eliminate problems with the imaging device before these problems negatively impact patient care. (orig.)

Preliminary studies on the impact of smoke on digital equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, T.J.; Korsah, K.; Antonescu, C.

1995-01-01

Last year the USNRC initiated a program at Sandia National Laboratories to determine the potential impact of smoke on advanced safety-related digitial instrumentation. In recognition of the fact that the reliability of safety-related equipment during or shortly after a fire in a nuclear power plant is more risk significant than long-term effects, we are concentrating on short-term failures. We exposed a multiplexer module board to three different types of smoke to determine whether the smoke would affect its operation. The operation of the multiplexer board was halted by one out of the three smoke exposures. In coordination with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, an experimental digital safety system was also smoke tested. The series of tests showed that smoke can cause potentially serious failures of a safety system. Most of these failures were intermittent and showed that smoke can temporarily interrupt communication between digital systems

Performance and Reliability of Wind Turbines: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Pfaffel

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Performance (availability and yield and reliability of wind turbines can make the difference between success and failure of wind farm projects and these factors are vital to decrease the cost of energy. During the last years, several initiatives started to gather data on the performance and reliability of wind turbines on- and offshore and published findings in different journals and conferences. Even though the scopes of the different initiatives are similar, every initiative follows a different approach and results are therefore difficult to compare. The present paper faces this issue, collects results of different initiatives and harmonizes the results. A short description and assessment of every considered data source is provided. To enable this comparison, the existing reliability characteristics are mapped to a system structure according to the Reference Designation System for Power Plants (RDS-PP®. The review shows a wide variation in the performance and reliability metrics of the individual initiatives. Especially the comparison on onshore wind turbines reveals significant differences between the results. Only a few publications are available on offshore wind turbines and the results show an increasing performance and reliability of offshore wind turbines since the first offshore wind farms were erected and monitored.

Reliability of Power Units in Poland and the World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Józef Paska

2015-09-01

Full Text Available One of a power system’s subsystems is the generation subsystem consisting of power units, the reliability of which to a large extent determines the reliability of the power system and electricity supply to consumers. This paper presents definitions of the basic indices of power unit reliability used in Poland and in the world. They are compared and analysed on the basis of data published by the Energy Market Agency (Poland, NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation – USA, and WEC (World Energy Council. Deficiencies and the lack of a unified national system for collecting and processing electric power equipment unavailability data are also indicated.

Wind Farm Reliability Modelling Using Bayesian Networks and Semi-Markov Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Adam Sobolewski

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Technical reliability plays an important role among factors affecting the power output of a wind farm. The reliability is determined by an internal collection grid topology and reliability of its electrical components, e.g. generators, transformers, cables, switch breakers, protective relays, and busbars. A wind farm reliability’s quantitative measure can be the probability distribution of combinations of operating and failed states of the farm’s wind turbines. The operating state of a wind turbine is its ability to generate power and to transfer it to an external power grid, which means the availability of the wind turbine and other equipment necessary for the power transfer to the external grid. This measure can be used for quantitative analysis of the impact of various wind farm topologies and the reliability of individual farm components on the farm reliability, and for determining the expected farm output power with consideration of the reliability. This knowledge may be useful in an analysis of power generation reliability in power systems. The paper presents probabilistic models that quantify the wind farm reliability taking into account the above-mentioned technical factors. To formulate the reliability models Bayesian networks and semi-Markov processes were used. Using Bayesian networks the wind farm structural reliability was mapped, as well as quantitative characteristics describing equipment reliability. To determine the characteristics semi-Markov processes were used. The paper presents an example calculation of: (i probability distribution of the combination of both operating and failed states of four wind turbines included in the wind farm, and (ii expected wind farm output power with consideration of its reliability.

Reliability of the Beam Loss Monitors System for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN

CERN Document Server

Guaglio, G; Santoni, C

2005-01-01

The energy stored in the Large Hadron Collider is unprecedented. The impact of the beam particles can cause severe damage on the superconductive magnets, resulting in significant downtime for repairing. The Beam Loss Monitors System (BLMS) detects the secondary particles shower of the lost beam particles and initiates the extraction of the beam before any serious damage to the equipment can occur. This thesis defines the BLMS specifications in term of reliability. The main goal is the design of a system minimizing both the probability to not detect a dangerous loss and the number of false alarms generated. The reliability theory and techniques utilized are described. The prediction of the hazard rates, the testing procedures, the Failure Modes Effects and Criticalities Analysis and the Fault Tree Analysis have been used to provide an estimation of the probability to damage a magnet, of the number of false alarms and of the number of generated warnings. The weakest components in the BLMS have been pointed out....

Virtual age model for equipment aging plant based on operation environment and service state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Liming; Cai Qi; Zhao Xinwen; Chen Ling

2010-01-01

The accelerated life model based on the operation environment and service state was established by taking the virtual age as the equipment aging indices. The effect of different operation environments and service states on the reliability and virtual age under the continuum operation conditions and cycle operation conditions were analyzed, and the sensitivities of virtual age on operational environments and service states were studied. The results of the example application show that the effect of NPP equipment lifetime and the key parameters related to the reliability can be quantified by this model, and the result is in accordance with the reality.(authors)

Improvement of the electromagnetic situation in networks of operational current at nuclear power plant for the purpose of ensuring reliability of monitoring systems, control, RPA and communications, realized on the basis of digital equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fomenko, O.V.; Moloshnaya, E.S.; Ul'yanova, Yu.E.

2014-01-01

The authors propose the technique of designing a portable grounding contour for protection and control systems, relay protection and automation (RPA) systems made on the basis of digital equipment in networks of an operational direct current to increase the reliability of their functioning under the conditions of influence of strong hindrances and improvement of an electromagnetic environment [ru

Enhancing reactor availability factor by diagnostic monitoring and data acquisition of electrical equipments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, G.

2006-01-01

Electrical energy has made significant contribution to rapid growth of industrial activity in the country. Development and improvement of energy conversion devices or electrical apparatus have supported the growth. Reliability is probably the most important factor in electrical supply system, not only to give uninterrupted service but to provide an economic supply. Regular diagnostic testing of electrical equipments will make a significant contribution to the reliability of electrical supply. The purpose of diagnostic monitoring is to recognize the development of faults at an early stage, which consequently allows greater freedom to schedule the outages resulting in lower downtime and lower capitalized losses. The insulation constitutes the heart of any electrical/power equipment. The insulation in power equipment in normal condition undergoes certain changes in the physical, chemical, electrical and mechanical properties. The change with respect to time in the presence of an influencing factor, more often a stress (electrical) is referred to as ageing. The deterioration of insulating material plays an important role in the assessing the condition of electrical equipments. The systematic diagnostic tests are also part of the maintenance program to ensure the continued serviceability of electrical equipments, by replacing or repairing the components likely to fail, as revealed by the test. Diagnostic tests are carried out on various electrical equipments for detection of incipient fault, location and judging their severity. (author)

Test and Analysis of Metallurgical Converter Equipment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shan Pang

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Oxygen top-blow converter is the main equipment in steel making, and its work reliability decides the security and economy of steel production. Therefore, how to design and test analysis of convertor has been an important subject of industry research. Geometric modelling and structure analysis of converter tilting device by using Pro/E program .The design Principle, basic design structure were analyzed in detail. The computer simulation software of metallurgical converter equipment and how to use it were introduced .It developed by VC++ software. The position of barycentre and moment curve in No.3 and No.4 are calculated. The converter acceleration down dip can be resolved by comparing the moment curve and center curve.

An equipment test for grading lumber by transverse vibration technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo Rodrigo Carreira

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Due to the great variability of its mechanical properties, the rational use of lumber for structural purposes is directly conditioned to its grading. There are several techniques available for grading structural lumber. The most relevant one is the transverse vibration technique which obtained reliable results in non-destructive evaluation of lumber. The purpose of this work is to present the bases for the mechanical grading of lumber and the results of the calibration test of the frst transverse vibration equipment developed in Brazil. In this research 30 beams of cupiúba (Goupia glabra with nominal dimensions of 5 cm X 10 cm X 300 cm, were used. The tests were accomplished at the Wood and Timber Structures Laboratory (LaMEM of the University of São Paulo (USP. The results showed a strong correlation between the elasticity modulus measured by the static bending test and the one obtained with the transverse vibration equipment, showing the high reliability of the vibration method for the grading of structural lumber. A determination coeffcient (R² of 0.896 was obtained with the Brazilian equipment, showing that it can be used in the grading of lumber.

Building and integrating reliability models in a Reliability-Centered-Maintenance approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verite, B.; Villain, B.; Venturini, V.; Hugonnard, S.; Bryla, P.

1998-03-01

Electricite de France (EDF) has recently developed its OMF-Structures method, designed to optimize preventive maintenance of passive structures such as pipes and support, based on risk. In particular, reliability performances of components need to be determined; it is a two-step process, consisting of a qualitative sort followed by a quantitative evaluation, involving two types of models. Initially, degradation models are widely used to exclude some components from the field of preventive maintenance. The reliability of the remaining components is then evaluated by means of quantitative reliability models. The results are then included in a risk indicator that is used to directly optimize preventive maintenance tasks. (author)

Models on reliability of non-destructive testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simola, K.; Pulkkinen, U.

1998-01-01

The reliability of ultrasonic inspections has been studied in e.g. international PISC (Programme for the Inspection of Steel Components) exercises. These exercises have produced a large amount of information on the effect of various factors on the reliability of inspections. The information obtained from reliability experiments are used to model the dependency of flaw detection probability on various factors and to evaluate the performance of inspection equipment, including the sizing accuracy. The information from experiments is utilised in a most effective way when mathematical models are applied. Here, some statistical models for reliability of non-destructive tests are introduced. In order to demonstrate the use of inspection reliability models, they have been applied to the inspection results of intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) type flaws in PISC III exercise (PISC 1995). The models are applied to both flaw detection frequency data of all inspection teams and to flaw sizing data of one participating team. (author)

Reliability analysis of service water system under earthquake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Yu; Qian Xiaoming; Lu Xuefeng; Wang Shengfei; Niu Fenglei

2013-01-01

Service water system is one of the important safety systems in nuclear power plant, whose failure probability is always gained by system reliability analysis. The probability of equipment failure under the earthquake is the function of the peak acceleration of earthquake motion, while the occurrence of earthquake is of randomicity, thus the traditional fault tree method in current probability safety assessment is not powerful enough to deal with such case of conditional probability problem. An analysis frame was put forward for system reliability evaluation in seismic condition in this paper, in which Monte Carlo simulation was used to deal with conditional probability problem. Annual failure probability of service water system was calculated, and failure probability of 1.46X10 -4 per year was obtained. The analysis result is in accordance with the data which indicate equipment seismic resistance capability, and the rationality of the model is validated. (authors)

A physical review on power system reliability factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Navid, Taghizadegan; Ahmad Reza, Zentabchi; Mohammad Ali, Tavakoli; Nader, Samsunchi; Mohammad Ali, Tavakoli

2005-01-01

Full text : Planning and design engineers and management must necessarily take into consideration the funds available, the requirements of regulatory agencies and other restrictions that may be imposed, as well as availability of equipment and supplies. A well-designed electrical power system strikes a reasonable between reliability and cost. A prime responsibility of power system operators is to operate their systems in such a way that will provide the maximum reliability of service possible with the facilities under their control

29 CFR 1926.95 - Criteria for personal protective equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND HEALTH REGULATIONS FOR CONSTRUCTION Personal Protective and Life... in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever it is necessary by reason of hazards of processes or... construction for the work to be performed. (d) Payment for protective equipment. (1) Except as provided by...

Hanford tank initiative test facility site selection study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Staehr, T.W.

1997-01-01

The Hanford Tanks Initiative (HTI) project is developing equipment for the removal of hard heel waste from the Hanford Site underground single-shell waste storage tanks. The HTI equipment will initially be installed in the 241-C-106 tank where its operation will be demonstrated. This study evaluates existing Hanford Site facilities and other sites for functional testing of the HTI equipment before it is installed into the 241-C-106 tank

LESSONS LEARNED IN TESTING OF SAFEGUARDS EQUIPMENT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pepper, S.; Farnitano, M.; Carelli, J.; Hazeltine, J.; Bailey, D.

2001-01-01

The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Department of Safeguards uses complex instrumentation for the application of safeguards at nuclear facilities around the world. Often, this equipment is developed through cooperation with member state support programs because the Agency's requirements are unique and are not met by commercially available equipment. Before approving an instrument or system for routine inspection use, the IAEA subjects it to a series of tests designed to evaluate its reliability. In 2000, the IAEA began to observe operational failures in digital surveillance systems. In response to the observed failures, the IAEA worked with the equipment designer and manufacturer to determine the cause of failure. An action plan was developed to correct the performance issues and further test the systems to make sure that additional operational issues would not surface later. This paper addresses the steps taken to address operation issues related to digital image surveillance systems and the lessons learned during this process

Reliability data bank in electronics: ITALTEL experience over 10 years of operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turconi, G.

1986-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to show the Italtel Reliability Data Bank experience in electronics after ten years from data bank creation. Technological evolution on systems and equipment have originated a reliability data bank evolution in order to maintain and improve its performances. This paper will describe the concepts employed to design the today data bank features enabling it to be an important Company tool for reliability activities. (orig.)

Practices of prolongation of the I and C equipment lifetime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samoylov, O.B.; Pronin, V.S.; Savelov, I.D.; Bogomazov, V.A.; Drumov, V.V.; Chudin, A.G.

2000-01-01

The lifetime of nuclear power plants (NPP) always exceeds the operational time of Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems. Ageing of I and C equipment in NPPs have many aspects. Research of these aspects is being performed in OKB Mechanical Engineering. Under condition of fast development of I and C systems and applying more stringent safety requirements, modernization of the equipment irrespective of its operational condition is getting important. However, an equipment of I and C systems operated in Russia was designed and manufactured applying highest requirements for a reliability of their work during its whole operational time. Therefore, in many cases it is not necessary to replace them in spite of expiration of their specified lifetime. During operation this equipment is maintained in a proper operation condition by a special service procedures stipulated by its development. When the equipment lifetime approaches to its end, lifetime extension for the certain period should be considered. (author)

Development of remote automatic equipment for BWR power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Masayoshi

1984-01-01

The development of remote control, automatic equipment for nuclear power stations has been promoted to raise the rate of operation of plants by shortening regular inspection period, to improve the safety and reliability of inspection and maintenance works by mechanization, to reduce the radiation exposure dose of workers and to reduce the manpower required for works. The taking-off of control rod drives from reactors and fixing again have been mechanized, but the disassembling, cleaning, inspection and assembling of control rod drives are manually carried out. Therefore, Hitachi Ltd. has exerted effort to develop the automatic equipment for this purpose. The target of development, investigation, the construction and function of the equipment, the performance and the effect of adopting it are reported. The equipment for the volume reduction of spent fuel channel boxes and spent control rods is developed since these are major high level radioactive solid wastes, and their apparent volume is large. Also the target of development, investigated things, the construction and function of the equipment, the performance and the effect of adopting it are reported. (Kako, I.)

Choice of drilling equipment for surface mines of the Banovici and Djurdjevik coal basins

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kljucanin, T.; Cilovic, I.; Novak, I.; Tomic, R.

1988-07-01

Discusses factors influencing drilling equipment productivity at the Turija, Grivice and Potocari mines. When no reliable correlations were found in geomechanical analyses of overburden from different rigs, large-scale in field observations were made of overburden drilling. Four types of drilling equipment were in use in combination with 8 different shovel excavators (bucket capacity 5-20 m{sup 3}). Gives full details of the equipment considered and concludes by recommending the use of 110-115 mm diameter drilling equipment in combination with 8-9 m{sup 3} shovel excavators and also 150 mm diameter drilling equipment with larger capacity (18-20 m{sup 3}) excavators. 4 refs.

Development of ion/proton beam equipment for industrial uses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Byung Ho; Lee, J. H.; Cho, Y. S.; Joo, P. K.; Kang, S. S.; Song, W. S.; Kim, H. J.; Chang, G. H.; Bang, S. W

1999-12-01

KAERI has possessed design and fabrication technologies of various ion sources including Duoplasmatron and DuoPiGatron developed by R and D projects of the long-term nuclear technology development program. In order to industrialize ion beam equipments utilizing these ion sources, a technology transfer project for a technology transfer project for a domestic firm has been performed. Under this project, engineers of the firm have been trained through classroom lectures of ion beam principles and OJT, an ion/proton beam equipment (DEMO equipment) has been designed, assembled and commissioned jointly with the engineers. Quality of the ion sources has been quantified, and technologies for ion beam equipment construction, functional test and application research have been developed. The DEMO equipment, which consists of an ion source, power supplies, vacuum, cooling and target systems, has been fabricated and tested to secure stability and reliability for industrial uses. Various characteristic tests including high voltage insulation, beam extraction, beam current measuring, etc. have been performed. This DEMO can be utilized for ion sources development as well as ion beam process development for various industrial products. Engineers of the firm have been trained for the industrialization of ion beam equipment and joined in beam application technology development to create industrial needs of beam equipment. (author)

Coal-Powered Electric Generating Unit Efficiency and Reliability Dialogue: Summary Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taylor, Emmanuel [Energetics, Inc., Columbia, MD (United States)

2018-02-01

Coal continues to play a critical role in powering the Nation’s electricity generation, especially for baseload power plants. With aging coal generation assets facing decreased performance due to the state of the equipment, and with challenges exacerbated by the current market pressures on the coal sector, there are opportunities to advance early-stage technologies that can retrofit or replace equipment components. These changes will eventually result in significant improvements in plant performance once further developed and deployed by industry. Research and development in areas such as materials, fluid dynamics, fuel properties and preparation characteristics, and a new generation of plant controls can lead to new components and systems that can help improve the efficiency and reliability of coal-fired power plants significantly, allowing these assets to continue to provide baseload power. Coal stockpiles at electricity generation plants are typically large enough to provide 30 to 60 days of power prior to resupply—significantly enhancing the stability and reliability of the U.S. electricity sector. Falling prices for non-dispatchable renewable energy and mounting environmental regulations, among other factors, have stimulated efforts to improve the efficiency of these coal-fired electric generating units (EGUs). In addition, increased reliance on natural gas and non-dispatchable energy sources has spurred efforts to further increase the reliability of coal EGUs. The Coal Powered EGU Efficiency and Reliability Dialogue brought together stakeholders from across the coal EGU industry to discuss methods for improvement. Participants at the event reviewed performance-enhancing innovations in coal EGUs, discussed the potential for data-driven management practices to increase efficiency and reliability, investigated the impacts of regulatory compliance on coal EGU performance, and discussed upcoming challenges for the coal industry. This report documents the key

A Systematic Review of Statistical Methods Used to Test for Reliability of Medical Instruments Measuring Continuous Variables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafdzah Zaki

2013-06-01

Full Text Available   Objective(s: Reliability measures precision or the extent to which test results can be replicated. This is the first ever systematic review to identify statistical methods used to measure reliability of equipment measuring continuous variables. This studyalso aims to highlight the inappropriate statistical method used in the reliability analysis and its implication in the medical practice.   Materials and Methods: In 2010, five electronic databases were searched between 2007 and 2009 to look for reliability studies. A total of 5,795 titles were initially identified. Only 282 titles were potentially related, and finally 42 fitted the inclusion criteria. Results: The Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC is the most popular method with 25 (60% studies having used this method followed by the comparing means (8 or 19%. Out of 25 studies using the ICC, only 7 (28% reported the confidence intervals and types of ICC used. Most studies (71% also tested the agreement of instruments. Conclusion: This study finds that the Intra-class Correlation Coefficient is the most popular method used to assess the reliability of medical instruments measuring continuous outcomes. There are also inappropriate applications and interpretations of statistical methods in some studies. It is important for medical researchers to be aware of this issue, and be able to correctly perform analysis in reliability studies.

Creation and Initial Validation of the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, Catriona M; Namasivayam-MacDonald, Ashwini M; Guida, Brittany T; Cichero, Julie A; Duivestein, Janice; Hanson, Ben; Lam, Peter; Riquelme, Luis F

2018-05-01

To assess consensual validity, interrater reliability, and criterion validity of the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale, a new functional outcome scale intended to capture the severity of oropharyngeal dysphagia, as represented by the degree of diet texture restriction recommended for the patient. Participants assigned International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale scores to 16 clinical cases. Consensual validity was measured against reference scores determined by an author reference panel. Interrater reliability was measured overall and across quartile subsets of the dataset. Criterion validity was evaluated versus Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) scores assigned by survey respondents to the same case scenarios. Feedback was requested regarding ease and likelihood of use. Web-based survey. Respondents (N=170) from 29 countries. Not applicable. Consensual validity (percent agreement and Kendall τ), criterion validity (Spearman rank correlation), and interrater reliability (Kendall concordance and intraclass coefficients). The International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale showed strong consensual validity, criterion validity, and interrater reliability. Scenarios involving liquid-only diets, transition from nonoral feeding, or trial diet advances in therapy showed the poorest consensus, indicating a need for clear instructions on how to score these situations. The International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale showed greater sensitivity than the FOIS to specific changes in diet. Most (>70%) respondents indicated enthusiasm for implementing the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale. This initial validation study suggests that the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale has strong consensual and criterion validity and can be used reliably by clinicians

Power system reliability memento; Memento de la surete du systeme electrique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2002-07-01

The reliability memento of the French power system (national power transmission grid) is an educational document which purpose is to point out the role of each one as regards power system operating reliability. This memento was first published in 1999. Extensive changes have taken place since then. The new 2002 edition shows that system operating reliability is as an important subject as ever: 1 - foreword; 2 - system reliability: the basics; 3 - equipment measures taken in order to guarantee the reliability of the system; 4 - organisational and human measures taken to guarantee the reliability of the system; appendix 1 - system operation: basic concepts; appendix 2 - guiding principles governing the reliability of the power system; appendix 3 - international associations of transmission system operators; appendix 4 - description of major incidents.

Reliability engineering theory and practice

CERN Document Server

Birolini, Alessandro

2017-01-01

This book shows how to build in and assess reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety (RAMS) of components, equipment, and systems. It presents the state of the art of reliability (RAMS) engineering, in theory & practice, and is based on over 30 years author's experience in this field, half in industry and half as Professor of Reliability Engineering at the ETH, Zurich. The book structure allows rapid access to practical results. Methods & tools are given in a way that they can be tailored to cover different RAMS requirement levels. Thanks to Appendices A6 - A8 the book is mathematically self-contained, and can be used as a textbook or as a desktop reference with a large number of tables (60), figures (210), and examples / exercises^ 10,000 per year since 2013) were the motivation for this final edition, the 13th since 1985, including German editions. Extended and carefully reviewed to improve accuracy, it represents the continuous improvement effort to satisfy reader's needs and confidenc...

Hawaii Utility Integration Initiatives to Enable Wind (Wind HUI) Final Technical Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dora Nakafuji; Lisa Dangelmaier; Chris Reynolds

2012-07-15

To advance the state and nation toward clean energy, Hawaii is pursuing an aggressive Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), 40% renewable generation and 30% energy efficiency and transportation initiatives by 2030. Additionally, with support from federal, state and industry leadership, the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI) is focused on reducing Hawaii's carbon footprint and global warming impacts. To keep pace with the policy momentum and changing industry technologies, the Hawaiian Electric Companies are proactively pursuing a number of potential system upgrade initiatives to better manage variable resources like wind, solar and demand-side and distributed generation alternatives (i.e. DSM, DG). As variable technologies will continue to play a significant role in powering the future grid, practical strategies for utility integration are needed. Hawaiian utilities are already contending with some of the highest penetrations of renewables in the nation in both large-scale and distributed technologies. With island grids supporting a diverse renewable generation portfolio at penetration levels surpassing 40%, the Hawaiian utilities experiences can offer unique perspective on practical integration strategies. Efforts pursued in this industry and federal collaborative project tackled challenging issues facing the electric power industry around the world. Based on interactions with a number of western utilities and building on decades of national and international renewable integration experiences, three priority initiatives were targeted by Hawaiian utilities to accelerate integration and management of variable renewables for the islands. The three initiatives included: Initiative 1: Enabling reliable, real-time wind forecasting for operations by improving short-term wind forecasting and ramp event modeling capabilities with local site, field monitoring; Initiative 2: Improving operators situational awareness to variable resources via real-time grid condition

Testing of FFTF fuel handling equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coleman, D.W.; Grazzini, E.D.; Hill, L.F.

1977-07-01

The Fast Flux Test Facility has several manual/computer controlled fuel handling machines which are exposed to severe environments during plant operation but still must operate reliably when called upon for reactor refueling. The test programs for two such machines--the Closed Loop Ex-Vessel Machine and the In-Vessel Handling Machine--are described. The discussion centers on those areas where design corrections or equipment repairs substantiated the benefits of a test program prior to plant operation

Review of equipment aging theory and technology. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carfagno, S.P.; Gibson, R.J.

1980-09-01

The theory and technology of equipment aging is reviewed, particularly as they relate to the qualification of safety-system equipment for nuclear power generating stations. A fundamental degradation model is developed, and its relation to more restricted models (e.g., Arrhenius and inverse-stress models) is shown. The most common theoretical and empirical models of aging are introduced, and limitations on their practical application are analyzed. Reliability theory and its application to the acceleration of aging are also discussed. A compendium of aging data for materials and components, including degradation mechanisms, failure modes and activation energies, is included.

Review of equipment aging theory and technology. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carfagno, S.P.; Gibson, R.J.

1980-09-01

The theory and technology of equipment aging is reviewed, particularly as they relate to the qualification of safety-system equipment for nuclear power generating stations. A fundamental degradation model is developed, and its relation to more restricted models (e.g., Arrhenius and inverse-stress models) is shown. The most common theoretical and empirical models of aging are introduced, and limitations on their practical application are analyzed. Reliability theory and its application to the acceleration of aging are also discussed. A compendium of aging data for materials and components, including degradation mechanisms, failure modes and activation energies, is included

Specialized equipment needs for the transportation of radioactive material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Condrey, D.; Lambert, M.

1998-01-01

To ensure the safe and reliable transportation of radioactive materials and components, from both the front and back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle, a transport management company needs three key elements: specialized knowledge, training and specialized equipment. These three elements result, in part, from national and international regulations which require specialized handling of all radioactive shipments. While the reasons behind the first two elements are readily apparent, the role of specialized equipment is often not considered until too late shipment process even though it plays an integral part of any radioactive material transport. This paper will describe the specialized equipment needed to transport three of the major commodities comprising the bulk of international nuclear transports: natural uranium (UF6), low enriched uranium (UF6) and fresh nuclear fuel. (authors)

Business of reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, Pierre

1999-12-01

The presentation is organized around three themes: (1) The decrease of reception equipment costs allows non-Remote Sensing organization to access a technology until recently reserved to scientific elite. What this means is the rise of 'operational' executive agencies considering space-based technology and operations as a viable input to their daily tasks. This is possible thanks to totally dedicated ground receiving entities focusing on one application for themselves, rather than serving a vast community of users. (2) The multiplication of earth observation platforms will form the base for reliable technical and financial solutions. One obstacle to the growth of the earth observation industry is the variety of policies (commercial versus non-commercial) ruling the distribution of the data and value-added products. In particular, the high volume of data sales required for the return on investment does conflict with traditional low-volume data use for most applications. Constant access to data sources supposes monitoring needs as well as technical proficiency. (3) Large volume use of data coupled with low- cost equipment costs is only possible when the technology has proven reliable, in terms of application results, financial risks and data supply. Each of these factors is reviewed. The expectation is that international cooperation between agencies and private ventures will pave the way for future business models. As an illustration, the presentation proposes to use some recent non-traditional monitoring applications, that may lead to significant use of earth observation data, value added products and services: flood monitoring, ship detection, marine oil pollution deterrent systems and rice acreage monitoring.

High temperature superconducting Maglev equipment on vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, S. Y.; Wang, J. S.; Ren, Z. Y.; Zhu, M.; Jiang, H.; Wang, X. R.; Shen, X. M.; Song, H. H.

2003-04-01

Onboard high temperature superconducting (HTS) Maglev equipment is a heart part of a HTS Maglev vehicle, which is composed of YBaCuO bulks and rectangle-shape liquid nitrogen vessel and used successfully in the first manned HTS Maglev test vehicle. Arrangement of YBaCuO bulks in liquid nitrogen vessel, structure of the vessel, levitation forces of a single vessel and two vessels, and total levitation force are reported. The first manned HTS Maglev test vehicle in the world has operated well more than one year after it was born on Dec. 31, 2000, and more than 23,000 passengers have taken the vehicle till now. Well operation of more than one year proves the reliability of the onboard HTS Maglev equipment.

Reliability study: maintenance facilities Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Post, B.E.; Sikorski, P.A.; Fankell, R.; Johnson, O.; Ferryman, D.S.; Miller, R.L.; Gearhart, E.C.; Rafferty, M.J.

1981-08-01

A reliability study of the maintenance facilities at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant has been completed. The reliability study team analyzed test data and made visual inspections of each component contributing to the overall operation of the facilities. The impacts of facilities and equipment failures were given consideration with regard to personnel safety, protection of government property, health physics, and environmental control. This study revealed that the maintenance facilities are generally in good condition. After evaluating the physical condition and technology status of the major components, the study team made several basic recommendations. Implementation of the recommendations proposed in this report will help assure reliable maintenance of the plant through the year 2000

Selenide isotope generator for the Galileo mission. Reliability program plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-10-01

The reliability program plan for the Selenide Isotope Generator (SIG) program is presented. It delineates the specific tasks that will be accomplished by Teledyne Energy Systems and its suppliers during design, development, fabrication and test of deliverable Radioisotopic Thermoelectric Generators (RTG), Electrical Heated Thermoelectric Generators (ETG) and associated Ground Support Equipment (GSE). The Plan is formulated in general accordance with procedures specified in DOE Reliability Engineering Program Requirements Publication No. SNS-2, dated June 17, 1974. The Reliability Program Plan presented herein defines the total reliability effort without further reference to Government Specifications. The reliability tasks to be accomplished are delineated herein and become the basis for contract compliance to the extent specified in the SIG contract Statement of Work

Vibroacoustic certification of NPPs as a mean for increasing their reliability and safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Proskuryakov, K.N.

2005-01-01

Paper presents the results of simulation and calculation of natural frequencies of coolant pressure variations in VVER-1000 NPP equipment. Calculation results have shown satisfactory agreement with measurements performed at an NPP. One substantiates a conclusion about occurrence of latent dynamic processes in the NPP equipment affecting its reliability and service life [ru

Performance of nuclear power plants and analysis of some factors affecting their operational reliability and economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozak, M.; Havel, S.

1989-09-01

In Czechoslovakia, there are eight WWER 440 type reactors in operation at present. Since their introduction into operation, nuclear power plants in Czechoslovakia have exhibited high reliability. In the paper, total parameters of reliability with an analysis of causes affecting negatively their annual utilization are presented. Existence of a computerized information system for acquisition, recording and evaluation of reliability-significant data from operation and its feedback to designers and manufacturers of nuclear power plant equipment and components is a basic requirement of a systematic assurance of the needed level of nuclear power plant reliability. The information system is used simultaneously also for realistic evaluation of aging of equipment and systems. Analysis of the state of equipment is important mainly in the final stage of the NPP during consideration of further extension of its service life. Environmental effects of the Czechoslovak NPPs are very low (favourable). It follows from comparison of annual dose equivalents of the Czechoslovak NPPs operational personnel with the foreign NPPs that the values recorded in Czechoslovakia belong to the lowest ones. In conclusion, some ways of assurance of operational safety and reliability of the Czechoslovak nuclear power plants including the role of the State regulatory body are briefly discussed. (author). 3 tabs

The research of medical equipment on-line detection system based on Android smartphone

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Junjie; Dong, Xinyu; Zhang, Hongjie; Liu, Mengjun

2017-06-01

With the unceasing enhancement of medical level, the expanding scale of medical institutions, medical equipment as an important tool for disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention, used in all levels of medical institutions. The quality and accuracy of the Medical equipment play a key role in the doctor's diagnosis and treatment effect, medical metrology as the important technical foundation is to ensure that the equipment, technology, material components are accurate and the application is safe and reliable. Medical equipment have the feature of variety, large quantity, long using cycle, expensive and multi-site, which bring great difficulty in maintenance, equipment management and verification. Therefore, how to get the medical measurement integrate deeply into the advanced internet technology, information technology and the new measuring method, for real-time monitoring of medical equipment, tracking, positioning, and query is particularly important.

The application of probability methods with a view to improving the quality of equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carnino, A.; Gachot, B.; Greppo, J.-F.; Guitton, J.

1976-01-01

After stating that reliability and availability could be considered as parameters allowing the quality of equipment to be estimated, the chief aspects of the use of probability methods in the field of quality is described. These methods are mainly applied at the design, operation and maintenance level of the equipment, as well as at the compilation stage of the corresponding data [fr

The reliability data acquisition system in PWR nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lienart, P.

1984-01-01

In April 1978, Electricite de France put a reliability data acquisition system (SRDF) into operation at its two nuclear power plant sites: Fessenheim and Bugey. In the light of the experience acquired and the advantages offered by such a data bank, this system has been progressively extended since 1982 to cover the entire PWR network. The SRDF was originally designed for the follow-up of 4000 items of equipment per pair of units. However, the various difficulties encountered in gathering data made it necessary - in order to safeguard the quality of the information - to reduce this number initially to 800 major mechanical or electromechanical items of equipment designed to ensure the safety or availability of the units. Subsequently, an increase to 1100 was possible. The SRDF consists of a centralized information bank linked by telephone to the various nuclear sites. The software enables the data-acquisition cards to be introduced, modified or deleted. Any user can gain access to the bank by simply making queries in real time. The quality of the acquisition and processing of the data depend on a list of equipment confined to essential operational systems and on a card design combining, as far as possible, the precision and accessibility of the data. A method of logical failure analysis has also been devised, its main purposes being to provide the following: (1) aid to card instruction; (2) an easier way of checking the uniformity of information concerning a failure; and (3) compatibility between the instructions and analysis of data, thereby facilitating development of the data-processing program. (author)

Overexposure of patients due to malfunctions or defects in radiation equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gill, J.R.

1992-01-01

Some 38 incidents involving patient overexposure due to malfunctions or defects in radiation equipment were notified to HSE between 1986 and 1990. Of these cases, 30 involved diagnostic X ray equipment, while the remainder involved nuclear medicine or radiotherapy equipment. Those cases involving X ray equipment are examined in detail and grouped into six categories. The numbers of patients affected varied. In one case an estimated 350 patients were affected: in another, 240; while 13 cases affected only a single patient. A very rough estimate of the collective effective dose equivalent in the 30 cases comes to 5 man sieverts. It is concluded that improvements are needed in fault finding procedures, and guidance is needed on consistent methods of dose estimation and reporting. Improvements for the longer term include the selection of reliable components during manufacture; application of HSE guidance in software design for programmable electronic systems; and equipment design to incorporate fault detection and inhibition of operation to prevent excessive exposures

The role of lubricant analysis in maximizing lubricant and equipment life

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janis, J.

1995-01-01

Lubricant analysis has always played an important yet somewhat invisible role in equipment health monitoring. At its most primitive, simple observations and field testing alert equipment operators to changing conditions. At its most advanced, data from performance and analytical tests are used to develop or select optimum lubricants for service, stretch drain intervals, predict remaining equipment life and identify potential equipment or system problems at an incipient stage. Coupled with thermography and vibration analysis, lubricant analysis can become a major component of a comprehensive predictive maintenance (PM) program. Ontario Hydro finds itself at a turning point regarding the use and monitoring of lubricants. Increasing emphasis on equipment reliability and plant life extension, coupled with major, recent changes in lubricant composition in response to environmental, energy and safety concerns, forces an upgrading of many aspects of lubricant monitoring so that it may establish itself as a key part of modern PM practices. This paper discusses some of these aspects. (author)

Quality assurance requirements for the reliability of nuclear power plants in developing countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhutta, S.M.

1978-01-01

Quality Assurance (QA) has not been taken very seriously in developing countries despite their having significant nuclear power programmes. This may affect plant reliability and demands that urgent and serious attention be given to the development and implementation of Quality Assurance programmes according to local conditions. Confusion has been created by the differences in definitions and interpretations of terminologies of Quality Assurance and Control. Problems have been aggravated by the lack of clearly defined responsibilities and accountabilities during the projects execution phases of site selection, data collection, design, equipment fabrication and construction, etc. Therefore, reliability of nuclear power plants in developing countries is relatively low. But whenever some programme of QA has been implemented it has helped to improve the plant performance. This is highlighted in this paper by the practical examples for the experience of Karachi Nuclear Power Plant whose forced outages have been reduced by over a half within a period of 3 years. In view of the benefits, a QA programme for Chashma Nuclear Power Project has also been initiated. In this paper urgency is emphasized for the establishment and implementation of a formal QA programme in the developing countries if the reactor suppliers and purchasers both want to ensure higher reliability of their plants. The best way that management can play its role effectively is by setting up a strong QA organization with local personnel, thus helping to attain self-reliance and higher reliability during plant operation. (author)

Maintenance-based prognostics of nuclear plant equipment for long-term operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Welz, Zachary; Coble, Jamie; Upadhyaya, Belle; Hines, Wes [University of Tennessee, Knoxville (United States)

2017-08-15

While industry understands the importance of keeping equipment operational and well maintained, the importance of tracking maintenance information in reliability models is often overlooked. Prognostic models can be used to predict the failure times of critical equipment, but more often than not, these models assume that all maintenance actions are the same or do not consider maintenance at all. This study investigates the influence of integrating maintenance information on prognostic model prediction accuracy. By incorporating maintenance information to develop maintenance-dependent prognostic models, prediction accuracy was improved by more than 40% compared with traditional maintenance-independent models. This study acts as a proof of concept, showing the importance of utilizing maintenance information in modern prognostics for industrial equipment.

Methodology for assessing laser-based equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Pelegrina-Bonilla, Gabriel; Hermsdorf, Jörg; Thombansen, Ulrich; Abels, Peter; Kaierle, Stefan; Neumann, Jörg

2017-10-01

Methodologies for the assessment of technology's maturity are widely used in industry and research. Probably the best known are technology readiness levels (TRLs), initially pioneered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). At the beginning, only descriptively defined TRLs existed, but over time, automated assessment techniques in the form of questionnaires emerged in order to determine TRLs. Originally TRLs targeted equipment for space applications, but the demands on industrial relevant equipment are partly different in terms of, for example, overall costs, product quantities, or the presence of competitors. Therefore, we present a commonly valid assessment methodology with the aim of assessing laser-based equipment for industrial use, in general. The assessment is carried out with the help of a questionnaire, which allows for a user-friendly and easy accessible way to monitor the progress from the lab-proven state to the application-ready product throughout the complete development period. The assessment result is presented in a multidimensional metric in order to reveal the current specific strengths and weaknesses of the equipment development process, which can be used to direct the remaining development process of the equipment in the right direction.

Qualification of electrical equipment. A United States nuclear system supplier perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jordan, W.G.

1978-01-01

At Westinghouse Pressurized Water Reactor Systems Division (PWR-SD) qualification. of safety related electrical equipment can be segregated into three distinct generations: (1) the initial seismic and environmental qualification programs for electrical equipment (1969-1972); (2) the supplemental sismic and environmental qualification programs (1975-1977); and (3) the seismic and environmental qualification programs to meet IEEE-323-1974, IEEE Standard for Qualifying Class 1E Equipment for Nuclear Power Generating Stations''(1975). The latter two programs (in a licensing framework), as they are most current, with emphasis on electrical equipment (e.g. transmitters, rack mounted equipment) as opposed to electro-mechanical equipment (valve operators, pump motors) are reviewed. (author)

Digital Processor Module Reliability Analysis of Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Yong; Jung, Jae Hyun; Kim, Jae Ho; Kim, Sung Hun

2005-01-01

The system used in plant, military equipment, satellite, etc. consists of many electronic parts as control module, which requires relatively high reliability than other commercial electronic products. Specially, Nuclear power plant related to the radiation safety requires high safety and reliability, so most parts apply to Military-Standard level. Reliability prediction method provides the rational basis of system designs and also provides the safety significance of system operations. Thus various reliability prediction tools have been developed in recent decades, among of them, the MI-HDBK-217 method has been widely used as a powerful tool for the prediction. In this work, It is explained that reliability analysis work for Digital Processor Module (DPM, control module of SMART) is performed by Parts Stress Method based on MIL-HDBK-217F NOTICE2. We are using the Relex 7.6 of Relex software corporation, because reliability analysis process requires enormous part libraries and data for failure rate calculation

Reliability Assessment of Wind Farm Electrical System Based on a Probability Transfer Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hejun Yang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The electrical system of a wind farm has a significant influence on the wind farm reliability and electrical energy yield. The disconnect switch installed in an electrical system cannot only improve the operating flexibility, but also enhance the reliability for a wind farm. Therefore, this paper develops a probabilistic transfer technique for integrating the electrical topology structure, the isolation operation of disconnect switch, and stochastic failure of electrical equipment into the reliability assessment of wind farm electrical system. Firstly, as the traditional two-state reliability model of electrical equipment cannot consider the isolation operation, so the paper develops a three-state reliability model to replace the two-state model for incorporating the isolation operation. In addition, a proportion apportion technique is presented to evaluate the state probability. Secondly, this paper develops a probabilistic transfer technique based on the thoughts that through transfer the unreliability of electrical system to the energy transmission interruption of wind turbine generators (WTGs. Finally, some novel indices for describing the reliability of wind farm electrical system are designed, and the variance coefficient of the designed indices is used as a convergence criterion to determine the termination of the assessment process. The proposed technique is applied to the reliability assessment of a wind farm with the different topologies. The simulation results show that the proposed techniques are effective in practical applications.

Equipment size effects on open pit mining performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A. Bozorgebrahimi; R.A. Hall; M.A. Morin [University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada). Mining Engineering Department

2005-03-01

This paper discusses the exploitation of economies of scale in open pit mining through the use of increasingly larger equipment. It presents a method adopted to evaluate the impact of increased scale on operational performance factors. The work identifies equipment size sensitive variables (ESSVs) in the mine design process that affect the performance of the production process. Data from a set of case studies show that the ESSV influence extends beyond mine production to encompass milling performance, environmental footprint and community impacts. Some ESSVs (such as reliability, tyre costs and productivity) are shown to be related to the current state of equipment technology and their effects are therefore comparable for different mines. Other ESSVs relate to the mine and deposit characteristics; their effects therefore vary from mine to mine. A detailed analytical approach, developed to model the impact of ESSVs, suggests that for truck/shovel operations, the industry may be approaching a situation of diseconomies of scale.

Reliability and Failure in NASA Missions: Blunders, Normal Accidents, High Reliability, Bad Luck

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Harry W.

2015-01-01

NASA emphasizes crew safety and system reliability but several unfortunate failures have occurred. The Apollo 1 fire was mistakenly unanticipated. After that tragedy, the Apollo program gave much more attention to safety. The Challenger accident revealed that NASA had neglected safety and that management underestimated the high risk of shuttle. Probabilistic Risk Assessment was adopted to provide more accurate failure probabilities for shuttle and other missions. NASA's "faster, better, cheaper" initiative and government procurement reform led to deliberately dismantling traditional reliability engineering. The Columbia tragedy and Mars mission failures followed. Failures can be attributed to blunders, normal accidents, or bad luck. Achieving high reliability is difficult but possible.

Technical report on reliability assessment of the digital I and C equipment using reliability block diagram

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Dong Young; Hwang, In Koo; Cha, Kyung Ho; Park, Joo Hyun; Choi, Jong Gyun; Lee, Ki Young; Park, Jong Kyun [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

2002-03-01

As the operational life-time of nuclear power plants being currently developed is increasing with technology improvements, the life-time of instrumentation and control systems is also required to be met to this plant operational period. The electronic devices are usually expected to be available less than for 10 years. Therefore, an appropriate S and PM (surveillance and preventive maintenance) strategy should be established to secure the reliability and availability of the plants. EPRI-URD requires that the mean time between failures caused by any I and C system failure shall be more than 50 operating years. The methodology to access of the mean time between failures of I and C system is included in this report. 35 refs., 19 figs., 3 tabs. (Author)

Imperfect Preventive Maintenance Model Study Based On Reliability Limitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhou Qian

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Effective maintenance is crucial for equipment performance in industry. Imperfect maintenance conform to actual failure process. Taking the dynamic preventive maintenance cost into account, the preventive maintenance model was constructed by using age reduction factor. The model regards the minimization of repair cost rate as final target. It use allowed smallest reliability as the replacement condition. Equipment life was assumed to follow two parameters Weibull distribution since it was one of the most commonly adopted distributions to fit cumulative failure problems. Eventually the example verifies the rationality and benefits of the model.

High-reliability, 4. pi. -scan, leakage-x-ray dosimeter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaneko, T; Iida, H; Yoshida, T; Sugimoto, H [Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co. Ltd., Kawasaki, Kanagawa (Japan). Tamagawa Works

1978-04-01

A world-wide movement is growing for the protection of living bodies against leakage radiations. In Japan, detailed regulations have been established for the enforcement of the law in regard to this problem. The substances of the measurement provided in the regulations are extremely diversified, much affecting the reliability and the economic efficiency of the equipment. Now a new 4..pi..-scan X-ray dosimeter with high reliability has been developed and proved to effect qualitative improvement of measurement as well as elevation of productivity.

MYRRHA cryogenic system study on performances and reliability requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Junquera, T.; Chevalier, N.R.; Thermeau, J.P.; Medeiros Romao, L.; Vandeplassche, D.

2015-01-01

A precise evaluation of the cryogenic requirements for accelerator-driven system such as the MYRRHA project has been performed. In particular, operation temperature, thermal losses, and required cryogenic power have been evaluated. A preliminary architecture of the cryogenic system including all its major components, as well as the principles for the cryogenic fluids distribution has been proposed. A detailed study on the reliability aspects has also been initiated. This study is based on the reliability of large cryogenic systems used for accelerators like HERA, LHC or SNS Linac. The requirements to guarantee good cryogenic system availability can be summarised as follows: 1) Mean Time Between Maintenance (MTBM) should be > 8 000 hours; 2) Valves, heat exchangers and turbines are particularly sensitive elements to impurities (dust, oil, gases), improvements are necessary to keep a minimal level in these components; 3) Redundancy studies for all elements containing moving/vibrating parts (turbines, compressors, including their respective bearings and seal shafts) are necessary; 4) Periodic maintenance is mandatory: oil checks, control of screw compressors every 10.000-15.000 hours, vibration surveillance programme, etc; 5) Special control and maintenance of utilities equipment (supply of cooling water, compressed air and electrical supply) is necessary; 6) Periodic vacuum checks to identify leakage appearance such as insulation vacuum of transfer lines and distribution boxes are necessary; 7) Easily exchangeable cold compressors are required

Urgent reconstruction and re-equipping of coking plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kvitkin, I.A.; Martynenko, V.M.; Rozenfel' d, M.S.; Svyatogorov, A.A.; Shvartsman, I.G.

1986-03-01

This paper discusses the various options involved: complete or partial reconstruction of existing buildings and equipment or new construction with new equipment and new underground and surface communications. It explains that reconstruction work is divided into three phases: initial phase (clearance, dismantling, closing down coking batteries); basic phase (fitting heat-resistant materials, prestart-up assembly work); final phase (drying out, heating up, adjustments, start-up). A structured scheme for a typical initial phase is described and a method of calculating the durations of the various phases is discussed. Conclusion is that there is an urgent requirement for a document to be produced for the control of reconstruction work; it should contain standard durations and could serve as a standard for coking plant reconstruction work.

Developing a system engineering program to improve performance and reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keuter, D.

1985-01-01

After several maintenance, operational, and equipment problems last year, Trojan set out on a mission to improve plant performance and reliability by strengthening its on-site engineering organization. This paper presents Trojan's plans in developing an on-site system engineering organization

Reliability Block Diagram (RBD) Analysis of NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) Flight Termination System and Power Supply

Science.gov (United States)

Morehouse, Dennis V.

2006-01-01

In order to perform public risk analyses for vehicles containing Flight Termination Systems (FTS), it is necessary for the analyst to know the reliability of each of the components of the FTS. These systems are typically divided into two segments; a transmitter system and associated equipment, typically in a ground station or on a support aircraft, and a receiver system and associated equipment on the target vehicle. This analysis attempts to analyze the reliability of the NASA DFRC flight termination system ground transmitter segment for use in the larger risk analysis and to compare the results against two established Department of Defense availability standards for such equipment.

WWER-1000 unit reliability problems from the point of view of the main supplier of technological equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bursa, V.; Holousova, M.; Turnik, S.

1990-01-01

At Skoda Works in Plzen, data from the period of construction of nuclear power plants are processed on an ICL DRS 300 computer. The database systems DBASE II and DATAFLEX are available for creating reliability information systems. The information system that is being developed for WWER-1000 units is tested at the WWER-440 units of the Dukovany and Mochovce nuclear power plants. Activities in the field of evaluation of structure reliability of WWER-1000 nuclear power plants are aimed at two major goals, viz., developing a methodology for testing the reliability of the whole unit and its subsystems, and performing reliability analysis and calculations of reliability indices of the secondary circuit of a WWER-1000 nuclear power plant. The reason for the latter concern is the fact that in 1984-1986, secondary circuits contributed 46% to failures of Czechoslovak WWER-440 nuclear power plants. According to existing analyses, the time fluctuations of reliability indices obey no rule that could be employed for inferring indices expected in steady-state operating conditions from indices established in the starting stage of operation. (Z.M.). 10 refs

Co-operation Equipment Qualification for Safety grade I and C Equipment between Russia and Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ham, J. K.; Lee, D. H.; Park, J. W.; Jeong, M. H.; Choi, Y. H.; Suh, J. J.; Jang, T. H.

2007-06-01

Equipment Qualification technology for I and C system on nuclear grade have been approved with accurate and safe for verifying and validation. It contributes to acknowledge of reliability and to review of user approval. Also it did not completely satisfied the requirement of Russia, it can be satisfied by bit of modification on design. It is expected to support the export of safety PLC to nuclear power plant. Proven EQ technology is required on the further markets of nuclear. Therefore, comparison test with foreign country is necessary to support the mutual accreditation of EQ for export of domestic products

Co-operation Equipment Qualification for Safety grade I and C Equipment between Russia and Korea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ham, J. K.; Lee, D. H.; Park, J. W.; Jeong, M. H.; Choi, Y. H.; Suh, J. J.; Jang, T. H. [Korea Testing Laboratory, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2007-06-15

Equipment Qualification technology for I and C system on nuclear grade have been approved with accurate and safe for verifying and validation. It contributes to acknowledge of reliability and to review of user approval. Also it did not completely satisfied the requirement of Russia, it can be satisfied by bit of modification on design. It is expected to support the export of safety PLC to nuclear power plant. Proven EQ technology is required on the further markets of nuclear. Therefore, comparison test with foreign country is necessary to support the mutual accreditation of EQ for export of domestic products.

A Primer for DoD Reliability, Maintainability, Safety, and Logistics Standards, 1992

Science.gov (United States)

1991-10-01

Application of Reliability-Centered Maintenance to Naval Aircraft Weapon Systems and Support Equipment "* FMD -91 Failure Mode/Mechanism...Distributions ( FMD -91) available from the Reliability Analysis Center, HIT Research Institute, 201 Mill St., Rome, NY 13440-8200. 14.4 PHYSICAL...Fault Tree Analysis ( FTA ) (9) Sneak Circuit Analysis (10) Design Reviews Items (1) and (2) are addressed in Section 7 largely by reference to MIL

Systamatic approach to integration of a human reliability analysis into a NPP probabalistic risk assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fragola, J.R.

1984-01-01

This chapter describes the human reliability analysis tasks which were employed in the evaluation of the overall probability of an internal flood sequence and its consequences in terms of disabling vulnerable risk significant equipment. Topics considered include the problem familiarization process, the identification and classification of key human interactions, a human interaction review of potential initiators, a maintenance and operations review, human interaction identification, quantification model selection, the definition of operator-induced sequences, the quantification of specific human interactions, skill- and rule-based interactions, knowledge-based interactions, and the incorporation of human interaction-related events into the event tree structure. It is concluded that an integrated approach to the analysis of human interaction within the context of a Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) is feasible

In situ measurement of dynamic characteristics of atomic power plant equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arya, A.S.; Gupta, S.P.; Shrivastava, S.K.

1977-01-01

For the realistic assessment of stiffness and damping, full scale free vibration tests have been carried out on various pieces of equipment located in plant buildings both during the construction stage and after they are erected. Initial displacement or initial velocity was used to excite the free vibrations. Initial displacement was imparted by means of steel rope pulled with chain pulley block. The sudden release was achieved by means of a clutch system. Acceleration transducer with amplifier and ink writting oscillograph was used for recording the vibrations. Frequency and damping was evaluated from the acceleration records. Observed values for some equipment are given. For some equipment, it has been possible to obtain the values with and without pipe connections. The frequency of L.P. Heater in longitudinal and transverse directions without pipe connection were 17.86 and 10.04 Hz but with pipe connections the values increased to 26.74 and 17.85 Hz. Similarly there has been increase in the damping values too. Thus both the frequency and damping increases substantially with the addition of pipe connections. Moreover, their values are quite different in the two principal directions, pointing out to the importance of in situ measurements on prototype equipment

3-D modeling and motion simulation of fuel rod-replacing equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding Jie; Zhu Libing

2010-01-01

In this paper, the process of 3-D modeling and motion simulation of fuel rod-replacing equipment using SolidWorks is described, and the application of SolidWorks in manufacturing and design improvement is discussed. Complexity of the manufacturing is reduced and reliability of the design is improved. (authors)

Prioritic directions of inculcation of diagnostic equipment at NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morozov, V.I.

2000-01-01

The diagnostic provision creates the conditions for increasing the safety and reliability of the NPP functioning, technical service and maintenance by the actual state. With an account of the large number of the NPP equipment elements, limitedness of financial resources, different technical-economical effect from diagnostics determination of the priority directions for introduction of technical diagnostic means into the operational practice is one of the main factors. The method for determining the above-mentioned priorities is proposed. The main aspects of the method and mathematical models, based on the logical-probabilistic modeling, are presented. The essence of the method consists in ranging the technical-economical effect from introduction of various factors of the diagnostic equipment [ru

Preliminary design report for prototypical spent nuclear fuel rod consolidation equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Judson, B.F.; Maillet, J.; O'Neill, G.L.; Tsitsichvili, J.; Tucoulat, D.

1986-12-01

The purpose of the Prototypical Consolidation Demonstration Project (PCDP) is to develop and demonstrate the equipment system that will be used to consolidate the bulk of the spent nuclear fuel generated in the United States prior to its placement in a geological repository. The equipment must thus be capable of operating on a routine production basis over a long period of time with stringent requirements for safety, reliability, productivity and cost-effectiveness. Four phases are planned for the PCDP. Phase 1 is the Preliminary Design of generic consolidation equipment that could be installed at a Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) facility or in the Receiving ampersand Handling Facility at a geologic repository site. Phase 2 will be the Final Design and preparation of procurement packages for the equipment in a configuration capable of being installed and tested in a special enclosure within the TAN Hot Shop at DOE's Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. In Phase 3 the equipment will be fabricated and then tested with mock fuel elements in a contractor's facility. Finally, in Phase 4 the equipment will be moved to the TAN facility for demonstration operation with irradiated spent fuel elements. 55 figs., 15 tabs

Experience in testing and inspection and maintenance of material handling equipments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, M.L.

2009-01-01

All the Industries, Power Projects/Stations, Organizations engaged in the field of process of manufacturing, power generation, transportation, design, layout, manufacturing, and supply have to utilize material handling equipment, machinery tools tackles, lifting gears for performing their tasks/activities. The major role of the material handling equipments play an important role and a component of 40% of the total activities of the system/process to achieve targeted output with the reliability and quality is performed by material handling equipment and machineries. The material handling equipment shall have to be chosen/selected to suit the process requirement at times to be specifically designed inspected and tested to meet the specific requirement. These equipment/machineries/lifting gears have to undergo for the periodical inspection and testing to qualify for further use in a specified period. All those equipment and machinery to be used for material handling if not found satisfactory during inspection and testing or otherwise also shall be dismantled/stripped to the extent of inspection requirement of the components/sub components and maintenance repair shall have to be done to make them worthy for reuse after testing and inspection duly witnessed by competent authority

Foundations for a time reliability correlation system to quantify human reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dougherty, E.M. Jr.; Fragola, J.R.

1988-01-01

Time reliability correlations (TRCs) have been used in human reliability analysis (HRA) in conjunction with probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) to quantify post-initiator human failure events. The first TRCs were judgmental but recent data taken from simulators have provided evidence for development of a system of TRCs. This system has the equational form: t = tau R X tau U , where the first factor is the lognormally distributed random variable of successful response time, derived from the simulator data, and the second factor is a unitary lognormal random variable to account for uncertainty in the model. The first random variable is further factored into a median response time and a factor to account for the dominant type of behavior assumed to be involved in the response and a second factor to account for other influences on the reliability of the response

Reliability study: steam generation and distribution system, Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, F.E.; Davis, E.L.; Dent, J.T.; Walters, D.E.; West, R.M.

1982-10-01

A reliability study for determining the ability of the Steam Generation and Distribution System to provide reliable and adequate service through the year 2000 has been completed. This study includes an evaluation of the X-600 Steam Plant and the steam distribution system. The Steam Generation and Distribution System is in good overall condition, but to maintain this condition, the reliability study team made twelve recommendations. Eight of the recommendations are for repair or replacement of existing equipment and have a total estimated cost of $540,000. The other four recommendations are for additional testing, new procedure implementation, or continued investigations

Establishing reliable good initial quantum efficiency and in-situ laser cleaning for the copper cathodes in the RF gun

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, F., E-mail: zhoufeng@slac.stanford.edu; Sheppard, J.C.; Vecchione, T.; Jongewaard, E.; Brachmann, A.; Corbett, J.; Gilevich, S.; Weathersby, S.

2015-05-21

Establishing good initial quantum efficiency (QE) and reliable in-situ cleaning for copper cathode in the RF gun is of critical importance for the RF gun operations. Recent studies on the SLAC RF gun test bed indicated that the pre-cleaning (plasma cleaning) in the test chamber followed by copper cathode exposure to air for cathode change leads to a very low initial QE in the RF gun, and also demonstrated that without the pre-cleaning good initial QE >4×10{sup −5} can be routinely achieved in the RF gun with the cathodes of QE <1×10{sup −7} measured in the test chamber. QE can decay over the time in the RF gun. The in-situ laser cleaning technique for copper cathodes in the RF gun is established and refined in comparison to previous cleaning at the linac coherent light source, resulting in an improved QE and emittance evolutions. The physics of the laser cleaning process is discussed. It is believed that the reflectivity change is one of the major factors for the QE boost with the laser cleaning.

Calculating system reliability with SRFYDO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morzinski, Jerome [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Anderson - Cook, Christine M [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Klamann, Richard M [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2010-01-01

SRFYDO is a process for estimating reliability of complex systems. Using information from all applicable sources, including full-system (flight) data, component test data, and expert (engineering) judgment, SRFYDO produces reliability estimates and predictions. It is appropriate for series systems with possibly several versions of the system which share some common components. It models reliability as a function of age and up to 2 other lifecycle (usage) covariates. Initial output from its Exploratory Data Analysis mode consists of plots and numerical summaries so that the user can check data entry and model assumptions, and help determine a final form for the system model. The System Reliability mode runs a complete reliability calculation using Bayesian methodology. This mode produces results that estimate reliability at the component, sub-system, and system level. The results include estimates of uncertainty, and can predict reliability at some not-too-distant time in the future. This paper presents an overview of the underlying statistical model for the analysis, discusses model assumptions, and demonstrates usage of SRFYDO.

Procuring, maintaining and using equipment: the key issues in controlling exposure to patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendra, I.R.F.

1989-01-01

Not only are acceptance criteria directly related to the design of medical x-ray equipment and quality assurance exercised during its manufacture, but also its performance, safety and reliability must feature in requirements for procuring new equipment. In the UK this issue is dealt with under the Department of Health and Social Security Manufacturer Registration Scheme for Medical Equipment in its application to radiological equipment. In the UK quality of maintenance services has been considered by one of our Working Parties commissioned by the South-East Thames Regional Health Authority who are the ''Centre of Responsibility'' for diagnostic imaging equipment in the National Health Service. The report prepared from the first phase of activity of this working group describes features of a procurement specification for maintenance services and prescribes complementary duties of contractors and customers. Radiograph reject analysis has indicated human error outweighs unsatisfactory equipment performance as the reason for rejecting poor radiographs. The use in X-ray departments of the kind of manufacturing quality system used by most reputable equipment manufacturers has the potential for a dramatic reduction in exposure. (author)

Problems and solutions of reliability issues for external power supply in the coal mines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

И. Ю. Семыкина

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Restructuring of the energy sector  and liberalization of the electricity market resulted in separation of a single industry into a multitude of generating companies, federal and interregional distribution utilities, regional power providers and energy suppliers. For a number of reasons, related to the process of managing separate companies, faults in the laws and regulations, and unsatisfactory technical state of the energy equipment both on the part of distributors and consumers, reliability of energy supply faces increasing negative trends, which potentially can lead to big problems. Up to this day the energy sector does not have a developed database on the state of equipment and results of its maintenance, nor has it defined criteria to actually assess technical conditions of the equipment. The authors propose to develop and implement a mechanism aimed at technical auditing and monitoring of the engineering state of external power supply system, whose results can help in the development of more efficient and economically sound measures to improve reliability of energy supply. In recent years, a lot of attention has been paid to the issues of enhanced security of industrial power supply. However, specific characteristics of underground coal mining and enormous work load of the production process limit the applicability of developed methods and algorithms. Existing research does not address economic issues of reliable energy supply, either direct (economic damage from power interruptions, contractual security of supply, tariff regulation or indirect (charges for utility connection with a required level of reliability. There is no explicit definition for the term «autonomous energy source», nor is there a list of power receivers falling into the first and «special» categories according to their reliability. The paper contains a range of urgent problems and solutions that will increase reliability of external power supply in the coal mines.

Contribution to high voltage matrix switches reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lausenaz, Yvan

2000-01-01

Nowadays, power electronic equipment requirements are important, concerning performances, quality and reliability. On the other hand, costs have to be reduced in order to satisfy the market rules. To provide cheap, reliability and performances, many standard components with mass production are developed. But the construction of specific products must be considered following these two different points: in one band you can produce specific components, with delay, over-cost problems and eventuality quality and reliability problems, in the other and you can use standard components in a adapted topologies. The CEA of Pierrelatte has adopted this last technique of power electronic conception for the development of these high voltage pulsed power converters. The technique consists in using standard components and to associate them in series and in parallel. The matrix constitutes high voltage macro-switch where electrical parameters are distributed between the synchronized components. This study deals with the reliability of these structures. It brings up the high reliability aspect of MOSFETs matrix associations. Thanks to several homemade test facilities, we obtained lots of data concerning the components we use. The understanding of defects propagation mechanisms in matrix structures has allowed us to put forwards the necessity of robust drive system, adapted clamping voltage protection, and careful geometrical construction. All these reliability considerations in matrix associations have notably allowed the construction of a new matrix structure regrouping all solutions insuring reliability. Reliable and robust, this product has already reaches the industrial stage. (author) [fr

Guidelines for Electromagnetic Interference Testing of Power Plant Equipment: Revision 3 to TR-102323

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cunningham, J.; Shank, J.

2004-01-01

To continue meeting safety and reliability requirements while controlling costs, operators of nuclear power plants must be able to replace and upgrade equipment in a cost-effective manner. One issue that has been problematic for new plant equipment and especially for digital instrumentation and control (I and C) systems in recent years is electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). The EMC issue usually involves testing to show that critical equipment will not be adversely affected by electromagnetic interference (EMI) in the plant environment. This guide will help nuclear plant engineers address EMC issues and qualification testing in a consistent, comprehensive manner

Guidelines for Electromagnetic Interference Testing of Power Plant Equipment: Revision 3 to TR-102323

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

J. Cunningham and J. Shank

2004-11-01

To continue meeting safety and reliability requirements while controlling costs, operators of nuclear power plants must be able to replace and upgrade equipment in a cost-effective manner. One issue that has been problematic for new plant equipment and especially for digital instrumentation and control (I&C) systems in recent years is electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). The EMC issue usually involves testing to show that critical equipment will not be adversely affected by electromagnetic interference (EMI) in the plant environment. This guide will help nuclear plant engineers address EMC issues and qualification testing in a consistent, comprehensive manner.

Hoisting appliances and fuel handling equipment at nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

The guide is followed by the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) in regulating hoisting and handling equipment Class 3 at nuclear facilities. The guide is applied e.g. to the following equipment: reactor building overhead cranes, hoisting appliances at nuclear fuel storages, fuel handling machines, other hoisting appliances, which because of nuclear safety aspects are classified in Safety Class 3, and load-bearing devices connected with the above equipment, such as replaceable hoisting tools and auxiliary lifting devices. The regulating of hoisting and handling equipment comprises the following stages: handling of preliminary and final safety analysis reports, inspection of the construction plan, supervision of fabrication and construction inspection, and supervision of initial start-up and commissioning inspection

Selection of equipment for equipment qualification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torr, K.G.

1989-01-01

This report describes the methodology applied in selecting equipment in the special safety systems for equipment qualification in the CANDU 600 MW nuclear generating stations at Gentilly 2 and Point Lepreau. Included is an explanation of the selection procedure adopted and the rationale behind the criteria used in identifying the equipment. The equipment items on the list have been grouped into three priority categories as a planning aid to AECB staff for a review of the qualification status of the special safety systems

Long-term Mechanical Circulatory Support System reliability recommendation by the National Clinical Trial Initiative subcommittee.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, James

2009-01-01

The Long-Term Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) System Reliability Recommendation was published in the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) Journal and the Annals of Thoracic Surgery in 1998. At that time, it was stated that the document would be periodically reviewed to assess its timeliness and appropriateness within 5 years. Given the wealth of clinical experience in MCS systems, a new recommendation has been drafted by consensus of a group of representatives from the medical community, academia, industry, and government. The new recommendation describes a reliability test methodology and provides detailed reliability recommendations. In addition, the new recommendation provides additional information and clinical data in appendices that are intended to assist the reliability test engineer in the development of a reliability test that is expected to give improved predictions of clinical reliability compared with past test methods. The appendices are available for download at the ASAIO journal web site at www.asaiojournal.com.

Guideline on evaluation and acceptance of commercial grade digital equipment for nuclear safety applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-10-01

Nuclear power plants are increasingly upgrading their instrumentation and control (I ampersand C) systems with commercial digital equipment, which allows them to continue meeting safety and reliability requirements while controlling operating costs. However, the use of commercial software-based devices for safety related applications has raised new issues that impact design, procurement, and licensing activities. This guideline describes a consistent, comprehensive approach for the evaluation and acceptance of commercial digital equipment for nuclear safety systems

Verification of the thermal design of electronic equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hienonen, R.; Karjalainen, M.; Lankinen, R. [VTT Automation, Espoo (Finland). ProTechno

1997-12-31

The project `Verification of the thermal design of electronic equipment` studied the methodology to be followed in the verification of thermal design of electronic equipment. This project forms part of the `Cool Electronics` research programme funded by TEKES, the Finnish Technology Development Centre. This project was carried out jointly by VTT Automation, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Nokia Research Center and ABB Industry Oy VSD-Technology. The thermal design of electronic equipment has a significant impact on the cost, reliability, tolerance to different environments, selection of components and materials, and ergonomics of the product. This report describes the method for verification of thermal design. It assesses the goals set for thermal design, environmental requirements, technical implementation of the design, thermal simulation and modelling, and design qualification testing and the measurements needed. The verification method covers all packaging levels of electronic equipment from the system level to the electronic component level. The method described in this report can be used as part of the quality system of a corporation. The report includes information about the measurement and test methods needed in the verification process. Some measurement methods for the temperature, flow and pressure of air are described. (orig.) Published in Finnish VTT Julkaisuja 824. 22 refs.

Engineering and Design: Reliability Analysis of Navigation Lock and Dam Mechanical and Electrical Equipment

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Beranek, Dwight

2001-01-01

This engineer technical letter (ETL) provides guidance for assessing the reliability of mechanical and electrical systems of navigation locks and dams and for establishing an engineering basis for major rehabilitation investment decisions...

Defense Logistics: Army and Marine Corps Cannot Be Assured That Equipment Reset Strategies Will Sustain Equipment Availability While Meeting Ongoing Operational Requirements

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Solis, William M; Schmitt, David A; Brown, Renee; Cristinzio, Frank; Hartig, Luke; Helt, Brent; Rogers, Donna M; Song, Yong; Storts, Maria

2007-01-01

.... Because of the potential for equipment reset costs to affect the Department of Defense's (DoD) future budget requirements and related readiness concerns, GAO initiated this review under the Comptroller General's authority...

Equipment Obsolescence Analysis and Management Software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Redmond, J.; Carret, L.; Shaon, S.; Schultz, C.

2015-07-01

The procurement engineering resources at Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) are experiencing increasing backlog for procurement items primarily due to the inability to order the original replacement parts. The level of effort and time required to prepare procurement packages is increasing since the number of obsolete parts are increasing exponentially. Procurement packages for obsolete components and parts are much more complex and take more time to prepare because of the need to perform equivalency evaluations, testing requirements and test acceptance criteria development, commercial grade dedication or equipment qualification, and increasing efforts to verify that no fraudulent or counterfeit parts are procured. This problem will be further compounded when NPPs pursue license renewal and approval for plant-life extension. Advanced planning and advanced knowledge of equipment obsolescence is required to allow for sufficient time to properly procure replacement parts for obsolete items. The uncertain supply chain capability due to obsolescence is a real problem and can cause a risk to reliable plant operations due to the potential for a lack of available spare parts and replacement components to support outages and unplanned component failures. Advanced notification of obsolescence is increasingly more important to ensure that adequate time and planning is scheduled to procure the proper replacement parts. A thorough analysis of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) availability and inventory as well as an analysis of failure rates and usage rates is required to predict critical part needs to allow for early identification of obsolescence issues so that a planned and controlled strategy to qualify replacement equipment can be implemented. (Author)

Commercial Best Practices in Contracting for Knowledge-Based and Equipment-Related Services

Science.gov (United States)

2015-08-01

January 12, 2015, http://news.thomasnet.com/imt /2014/09/04/why-accenture-thinks-it-can- rattle-ibm-in-plm. 33 Sean Broderick , “North American Re...Services-Using-Predictive-Analytics-to-Increase-Equipment-Reliability-and- Reduce-Costs.pdf. Aviation Week Intelligence Network. Sean Broderick . “North

Conceptual design report, CEBAF basic experimental equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1990-04-13

The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) will be dedicated to basic research in Nuclear Physics using electrons and photons as projectiles. The accelerator configuration allows three nearly continuous beams to be delivered simultaneously in three experimental halls, which will be equipped with complementary sets of instruments: Hall A--two high resolution magnetic spectrometers; Hall B--a large acceptance magnetic spectrometer; Hall C--a high-momentum, moderate resolution, magnetic spectrometer and a variety of more dedicated instruments. This report contains a short description of the initial complement of experimental equipment to be installed in each of the three halls.

47 CFR 76.930 - Initiation of review of basic cable service and equipment rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... rates for the basic service tier and associated equipment with a franchising authority within 30 days of receiving written notification from the franchising authority that the franchising authority has been...

TFTR CAMAC power supplies reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camp, R.A.; Bergin, W.

1989-01-01

Since the expected life of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) has been extended into the early 1990's, the issues of equipment wear-out, when to refurbish/replace, and the costs associated with these decisions, must be faced. The management of the maintenance of the TFTR Central Instrumentation, Control and Data Acquisition System (CICADA) power supplies within the CAMAC network is a case study of a set of systems to monitor repairable systems reliability, costs, and results of action. The CAMAC network is composed of approximately 500 racks, each with its own power supply. By using a simple reliability estimator on a coarse time interval, in conjunction with determining the root cause of individual failures, a cost effective repair and maintenance program has been realized. This paper describes the estimator, some of the specific causes for recurring failures and their correction, and the subsequent effects on the reliability estimator. By extension of this program the authors can assess the continued viability of CAMAC power supplies into the future, predicting wear-out and developing cost effective refurbishment/replacement policies. 4 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

Reliability analysis - systematic approach based on limited data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bourne, A.J.

1975-11-01

The initial approaches required for reliability analysis are outlined. These approaches highlight the system boundaries, examine the conditions under which the system is required to operate, and define the overall performance requirements. The discussion is illustrated by a simple example of an automatic protective system for a nuclear reactor. It is then shown how the initial approach leads to a method of defining the system, establishing performance parameters of interest and determining the general form of reliability models to be used. The overall system model and the availability of reliability data at the system level are next examined. An iterative process is then described whereby the reliability model and data requirements are systematically refined at progressively lower hierarchic levels of the system. At each stage, the approach is illustrated with examples from the protective system previously described. The main advantages of the approach put forward are the systematic process of analysis, the concentration of assessment effort in the critical areas and the maximum use of limited reliability data. (author)

The method for assurance to operational safety of cryogenics equipment through definite maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anghel, Vasile

2004-01-01

The present paper reports about a method of ensuring operational safety of cryogenics equipment through specific maintenance measures which imply a definite concept of maintainability and operational reliability, methods of maintenance, necessary logistic and necessary personnel. The stages of the concept should succeed in a logical order and must be based on detailed analyses of the process of maintenance. The method starts from the operation conditions of cryogenic equipment in nuclear regime. Thus maintenance policy must be well defined within the boundaries of the nuclear plant through definition of coherent objectives and responsibility delegation for the personnel implied in maintenance activity. This method ensures performance in maintenance and an efficient feedback from equipment analysis. (author)

42 CFR 493.1252 - Standard: Test systems, equipment, instruments, reagents, materials, and supplies.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Standard: Test systems, equipment, instruments... SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION LABORATORY... storage of reagents and specimens, accurate and reliable test system operation, and test result reporting...

The collection, storage and use of equipment performance data for the safety and reliability assessment of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fothergill, C.D.H.

1975-01-01

It has been characteristic of the Nuclear Industry that it should grow up in an atmosphere where reliability and operational safety considerations have been of vital importance. Consequently all aspects of Nuclear Power Reactor design, construction and operation (in the U.K.A.E.A.) are subjected to rigorous reliability assessments, beginning with the automatic protective devices and the safety shut-down systems. This has resulted in the setting up of large and small private data stores to support this upsurgence of Safety and Reliability assessment work. Unfortunately, much of the information being stored and published falls short of the minimum requirements of Safety Assessors and Reliability Analysts who need to make use of it. That there is still an urgent need for more work to be done in the Reliability Data field is universally acknowledged. The characteristics which make up good quality reliability data must be defined and achievable minimum standards must be set for its identification, collection, storage and retrieval. To this end the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority have set up the Systems Reliability Service Data Bank. This includes a computerized storage facility comprised of two principal data stores: (i) Reliability Data Store, (ii) Event Data Store. The figures available in the Reliability Data Store range from those relating to the lifetimes of minute components to those obtained from the assessment of whole plants and complete assemblies. These data have been accumulated from many reliable sources both inside and outside the Nuclear Industry, including the transfer of 'live' data generated from the results of reliability surveillance exercises associated with Event Data collection. Computer techniques developed specifically for the Reliability Data Store enable further 'processing' of these data to be carried out. The Event Data Store consists of three discrete computerized data stores, each one providing the necessary storage, retrieval and

Potentially damaging failure modes of high- and medium-voltage electrical equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoy, H.C.

1984-01-01

The high- and medium-voltage electrical equipment failures of both nuclear and nonnuclear electric utilities have been reviewed for possible disruptive failure modes that would be of special concern in a nuclear power plant. The resulting emphasis was on the electrical faults of transformers, switchgear (circuit breakers), lightning (surge) arrestors, high-voltage cabling and buswork, control boards, and other electrical equipment that, through failure, can be the initiating event that may expand the original fault to nearby or associated equipment. Many failures of such equipment were found and documented, although the failure rate of electrical equipment in utilities is historically quite low. Nuclear plants record too few failures to be statistically valid, but failures that have been recorded show that good design usually restricts the failure to a single piece of equipment. Conclusions and recommendations pertaining to the design, maintenance, and operation of the affected electrical equipment are presented

Synergistic behaviour of nuclear radiation, temperature-humidity extremes and LOCA situation on safety and safety-related equipment in Indian nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulkarni, R.D.; Bora, J.S.; Prakash, Ravi; Agarwal, Vivek; Sundersingh, V.P.

2002-01-01

Full text: The general philosophy for the instrumentation in nuclear power plants is based on the use of equipment/instruments which are capable of continuous satisfactory operation over a long period of time with minimum attention. Long term reliability under varying service conditions is of prime importance. The reliability of nuclear power plant depends on the reliability of safety and safety-related electronic instruments/ equipment used for performing the crucial tasks. The electrical and electronic systems/ circuits/ components of the equipment used in reactor safety systems (e.g. reactor protection system, emergency core cooling system, etc.) and reactor safety-related systems (e.g. reactor containment isolation and cooling system, reactor shutdown system, etc.) are responsible for safe and reliable operation of a nuclear power plant. The performance of reactor safety and safety-related equipment/instruments viz. pressure and differential pressure transmitter, amplifier for ion chamber, etc. has been evaluated under synergistic atmosphere including LOCA to find out the critical link in the circuits and subsequent modifications are suggested. The mathematical representation of the generated database has been done to estimate the life span of the instruments and accordingly the guidelines has been prepared for the operational staff to avoid the forced outage of the plant. All the details are included and mathematical models are presented to predict the future performances

A reliable measure of footwear upper comfort enabled by an innovative sock equipped with textile pressure sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Herbaut, Alexis; Simoneau-Buessinger, Emilie; Barbier, Franck; Cannard, Francis; Guéguen, Nils

2016-10-01

Footwear comfort is essential and pressure distribution on the foot was shown as a relevant objective measurement to assess it. However, asperities on the foot sides, especially the metatarsals and the instep, make its evaluation difficult with available equipment. Thus, a sock equipped with textile pressure sensors was designed. Results from the mechanical tests showed a high linearity of the sensor response under incremental loadings and allowed to determine the regression equation to convert voltage values into pressure measurements. The sensor response was also highly repeatable and the creep under constant loading was low. Pressure measurements on human feet associated with a perception questionnaire exhibited that significant relationships existed between pressure and comfort perceived on the first, the third and the fifth metatarsals and top of the instep. Practitioner Summary: A sock equipped with textile sensors was validated for measuring the pressure on the foot top, medial and lateral sides to evaluate footwear comfort. This device may be relevant to help individuals with low sensitivity, such as children, elderly or neuropathic, to choose the shoes that fit the best.

A reliability-risk modelling of nuclear rad-waste facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehmann, P.H.; El-Bassioni, A.A.

1975-01-01

Rad-waste disposal systems of nuclear power sites are designed and operated to collect, delay, contain, and concentrate radioactive wastes from reactor plant processes such that on-site and off-site exposures to radiation are well below permissible limits. To assist the designer in achieving minimum release/exposure goals, a computerized reliability-risk model has been developed to simulate the rad-waste system. The objectives of the model are to furnish a practical tool for quantifying the effects of changes in system configuration, operation, and equipment, and for the identification of weak segments in the system design. Primarily, the model comprises a marriage of system analysis, reliability analysis, and release-risk assessment. Provisions have been included in the model to permit the optimization of the system design subject to constraints on cost and rad-releases. The system analysis phase involves the preparation of a physical and functional description of the rad-waste facility accompanied by the formation of a system tree diagram. The reliability analysis phase embodies the formulation of appropriate reliability models and the collection of model parameters. Release-risk assessment constitutes the analytical basis whereupon further system and reliability analyses may be warranted. Release-risk represents the potential for release of radioactivity and is defined as the product of an element's unreliability at time, t, and the radioactivity available for release in time interval, Δt. A computer code (RARISK) has been written to simulate the tree diagram of the rad-waste system. Reliability and release-risk results have been generated for cases which examined the process flow paths of typical rad-waste systems, the effects of repair and standby, the variations of equipment failure and repair rates, and changes in system configurations. The essential feature of this model is that a complex system like the rad-waste facility can be easily decomposed into its

The selection of field component reliability data for use in nuclear safety studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coxson, B.A.; Tabaie, Mansour

1990-01-01

The paper reviews the user requirements for field component failure data in nuclear safety studies, and the capability of various data sources to satisfy these requirements. Aspects such as estimating the population of items exposed to failure, incompleteness, and under-reporting problems are discussed. The paper takes as an example the selection of component reliability data for use in the Pre-Operational Safety Report (POSR) for Sizewell 'B' Power Station, where field data has in many cases been derived from equipment other than that to be procured and operated on site. The paper concludes that the main quality sought in the available data sources for such studies is the ability to examine failure narratives in component reliability data systems for equipment performing comparable duties to the intended plant application. The main benefit brought about in the last decade is the interactive access to data systems which are adequately structured with regard to the equipment covered, and also provide a text-searching capability of quality-controlled event narratives. (author)

Meals in Our Household: reliability and initial validation of a questionnaire to assess child mealtime behaviors and family mealtime environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Sarah E; Must, Aviva; Curtin, Carol; Bandini, Linda G

2012-02-01

Mealtimes in families with young children are increasingly of interest to nutrition and public health researchers, yet assessment tools are limited. Meals in Our Household is a new parent-report questionnaire that measures six domains: 1) structure of family meals, 2) problematic child mealtime behaviors, 3) use of food as reward, 4) parental concern about child diet, 5) spousal stress related to child's mealtime behavior, and 6) influence of child's food preferences on what other family members eat. Reliability and initial face, construct, and discriminant validity of the questionnaire were evaluated between January 2007 and December 2009 in two cross-sectional studies comprising a total of 305 parents of 3- to 11-year-old children (including 53 children with autism spectrum disorders). Internal consistencies (Cronbach's α) for the six domains averaged .77 across both studies. Test-retest reliability, assessed among a subsample of 44 parents who repeated the questionnaire after between 10 and 30 days, was excellent (Spearman correlations for the domain scores between two administrations ranged from 0.80 to 0.95). Initial construct validity of the instrument was supported by observation of hypothesized inter-relationships between domain scores that were of the same direction and similar magnitude in both studies. Consistent with discriminant validity, children with autism spectrum disorders had statistically significantly (Pchild mealtime behaviors, use of food as reward, parental concern about child diet, and spousal stress, as compared to typically developing children. Meals in Our Household may be a useful tool for researchers studying family mealtime environments and children's mealtime behaviors.

DATMAN: A reliability data analysis program using Bayesian updating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, M.; Feltus, M.A.

1996-01-01

Preventive maintenance (PM) techniques focus on the prevention of failures, in particular, system components that are important to plant functions. Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) improves on the PM techniques by introducing a set of guidelines by which to evaluate the system functions. It also minimizes intrusive maintenance, labor, and equipment downtime without sacrificing system performance when its function is essential for plant safety. Both the PM and RCM approaches require that system reliability data be updated as more component failures and operation time are acquired. Systems reliability and the likelihood of component failures can be calculated by Bayesian statistical methods, which can update these data. The DATMAN computer code has been developed at Penn State to simplify the Bayesian analysis by performing tedious calculations needed for RCM reliability analysis. DATMAN reads data for updating, fits a distribution that best fits the data, and calculates component reliability. DATMAN provides a user-friendly interface menu that allows the user to choose from several common prior and posterior distributions, insert new failure data, and visually select the distribution that matches the data most accurately

Development of an Improved Process for Installation Projects of High Technology Manufacturing Equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quintana, Sarah V. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2014-04-30

High technology manufacturing equipment is utilized at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to support nuclear missions. This is undertaken from concept initiation where equipment is designed and then taken through several review phases, working closely with system engineers (SEs) responsible for each of the affected systems or involved disciplines (from gasses to HVAC to structural, etc.). After the design is finalized it moves to procurement and custom fabrication of the equipment and equipment installation, including all of the paperwork involved. Not only are the engineering and manufacturing aspects important, but also the scheduling, financial forecasting, and planning portions that take place initially and are sometimes modified as the project progresses should requirements, changes or additions become necessary. The process required to complete a project of this type, including equipment installation, is unique and involves numerous steps to complete. These processes can be improved and recent work on the Direct Current Arc (DC Arc) Glovebox Design, Fabrication and Installation Project provides an opportunity to identify some important lessons learned (LL) that can be implemented in the future for continued project improvement and success.

Applications of Human Performance Reliability Evaluation Concepts and Demonstration Guidelines

Science.gov (United States)

1977-03-15

ship stops dead in the water and the AN/SQS-26 operator recommends a new heading (000°). At T + 14 minutes, the target ship begins a hard turn to...Various Simulated Conditions 82 9 Hunan Reliability for Each Simulated Operator (Baseline Run) 83 10 Human and Equipment Availabilit / under

Seismic fragility levels of nuclear power plant equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bandyopadhyay, K.K.; Hofmayer, C.H.

1987-01-01

Seismic fragility levels of safety-related electrical and mechanical equipment used in nuclear power plants are discussed. The fragility level is defined as the vibration level corresponding to initiation of equipment malfunctions. The test response spectrum is used as a measure of this vibration level. The fragility phenomenon of an equipment is represented by a number of response spectra corresponding to various failure modes. Analysis methods are described for determination of the fragility level by use of existing test data. Useful conversion factors are tabulated to transform test response spectra from one damping value to another. Results are presented for switch-gears and motor control centers. The capacity levels of these equipment assemblies are observed to be limited by malfunctioning of contactors, motor starters, relays and/or switches. The applicability of the fragility levels, determined in terms of test response spectra, to Seismic Margin Studies and Probabilistic Risk Assessments is discussed and specific recommendations are provided

Qualification of Programmable Electronic System (PES) equipment based on international nuclear I and C standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Grosbois, J.; Hepburn, G. A.; Olmstead, R.; Goble, W.; Kumar, V.

2006-01-01

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) are increasingly faced with the challenge of qualifying procured equipment, sub-components, and systems that contain digital programmed electronics for use in safety-related applications. Referred to as a 'programmable electronic system' (PES), such equipment typically contains both complex logic that is vulnerable to systematic design faults, and low voltage electronics hardware that is subject to random faults. Procured PES products or components are often only commercial grade, yet can offer reliable cost effective alternatives to custom-designed or nuclear qualified equipment, provided they can be shown to meet the quality assurance, functional safety, environmental, and reliability requirements of a particular application. The process of confirming this is referred to as application-specific product qualification (ASPQ) and can be challenging and costly. This paper provides an overview of an approach that has been developed at Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL) and successfully applied to PES equipment intended for use in domestic Candu R 6 nuclear power plants and special purpose reactors at Chalk River Laboratories. The approach has evolved over the past decade and has recently been adapted to be consistent with, and take advantage of new standards that are applicable to nuclear safety-related I and C systems. Also discussed are how recognized third-party safety-certifications of PES equipment to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards, and the assessment methods employed, may be used to reduce ASPQ effort. (authors)

Finite element reliability analysis of fatigue life

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harkness, H.H.; Belytschko, T.; Liu, W.K.

1992-01-01

Fatigue reliability is addressed by the first-order reliability method combined with a finite element method. Two-dimensional finite element models of components with cracks in mode I are considered with crack growth treated by the Paris law. Probability density functions of the variables affecting fatigue are proposed to reflect a setting where nondestructive evaluation is used, and the Rosenblatt transformation is employed to treat non-Gaussian random variables. Comparisons of the first-order reliability results and Monte Carlo simulations suggest that the accuracy of the first-order reliability method is quite good in this setting. Results show that the upper portion of the initial crack length probability density function is crucial to reliability, which suggests that if nondestructive evaluation is used, the probability of detection curve plays a key role in reliability. (orig.)

A comparison of manual anthropometric measurements with Kinect-based scanned measurements in terms of precision and reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Bragança, Sara; Arezes, Pedro; Carvalho, Miguel; Ashdown, Susan P; Castellucci, Ignacio; Leão, Celina

2018-01-01

Collecting anthropometric data for real-life applications demands a high degree of precision and reliability. It is important to test new equipment that will be used for data collectionOBJECTIVE:Compare two anthropometric data gathering techniques - manual methods and a Kinect-based 3D body scanner - to understand which of them gives more precise and reliable results. The data was collected using a measuring tape and a Kinect-based 3D body scanner. It was evaluated in terms of precision by considering the regular and relative Technical Error of Measurement and in terms of reliability by using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient, Reliability Coefficient, Standard Error of Measurement and Coefficient of Variation. The results obtained showed that both methods presented better results for reliability than for precision. Both methods showed relatively good results for these two variables, however, manual methods had better results for some body measurements. Despite being considered sufficiently precise and reliable for certain applications (e.g. apparel industry), the 3D scanner tested showed, for almost every anthropometric measurement, a different result than the manual technique. Many companies design their products based on data obtained from 3D scanners, hence, understanding the precision and reliability of the equipment used is essential to obtain feasible results.

Estimation of reliability of a interleaving PFC boost converter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gulam Amer Sandepudi

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Reliability plays an important role in power supplies. For other electronic equipment, a certain failure mode, at least for a part of the total system, can often be employed without serious (critical effects. However, for power supply no such condition can be accepted, since very high demands on its reliability must be achieved. At higher power levels, the continuous conduction mode (CCM boost converter is preferred topology for implementation a front end with PFC. As a result, significant efforts have been made to improve the performance of high boost converter. This paper is one of the efforts for improving the performance of the converter from the reliability point of view. In this paper, interleaving boost power factor correction converter is simulated with single switch in continuous conduction mode (CCM, discontinuous conduction mode (DCM and critical conduction mode (CRM under different output power ratings. Results of the converter are explored from reliability point of view.

Reliability engineering. Theory and practice. 6. ed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Birolini, Alessandro

2010-07-01

This book shows how to build in, evaluate, and demonstrate reliability and availability of components, equipment, systems. It presents the state-of-the-art of reliability engineering, both in theory and practice, and is based on the author's 30 years experience in this field, half in industry and half as Professor of Reliability Engineering at the ETH, Zurich. The structure of the book allows rapid access to practical results. Besides extensions to cost models and approximate expressions, new in this edition are investigations on common cause failures, phased-mission systems, availability demonstration and estimation, confidence limits at system level, trend tests for early failures or wearout, as well as a review of maintenance strategies, an introduction to Petri nets and dynamic FTA, and a set of problems for home-work. Methods and tools are given in a way that they can be tailored to cover different reliability requirement levels and be used for safety analysis as well. This book is a textbook establishing a link between theory and practice, with a large number of tables, figures, and examples to support the practical aspects. (orig.)

An improved probit method for assessment of domino effect to chemical process equipment caused by overpressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Mingguang, Zhang; Juncheng, Jiang

2008-10-30

Overpressure is one important cause of domino effect in accidents of chemical process equipments. Damage probability and relative threshold value are two necessary parameters in QRA of this phenomenon. Some simple models had been proposed based on scarce data or oversimplified assumption. Hence, more data about damage to chemical process equipments were gathered and analyzed, a quantitative relationship between damage probability and damage degrees of equipment was built, and reliable probit models were developed associated to specific category of chemical process equipments. Finally, the improvements of present models were evidenced through comparison with other models in literatures, taking into account such parameters: consistency between models and data, depth of quantitativeness in QRA.

French power system reliability report 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tesseron, J.M.

2009-06-01

The reliability of the French power system was fully under control in 2008, despite the power outage in the eastern part of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region on November 3, which had been dreaded for several years, since it had not been possible to set up a structurally adequate network. Pursuant to a consultation meeting, the reinforcement solution proposed by RTE was approved by the Minister of Energy, boding well for greater reliability in future. Based on the observations presented in this 2008 Report, RTE's Power System Reliability Audit Mission considers that no new recommendations are needed beyond those expressed in previous reliability reports and during reliability audits. The publication of this yearly report is in keeping with RTE's goal to promote the follow-up over time of the evolution of reliability in its various aspects. RTE thus aims to contribute to the development of reliability culture, by encouraging an improved assessment by the different players (both RTE and network users) of the role they play in building reliability, and by advocating the taking into account of reliability and benchmarking in the European organisations of Transmission System Operators. Contents: 1 - Brief overview of the evolution of the internal and external environment; 2 - Operating situations encountered: climatic conditions, supply / demand balance management, operation of interconnections, management of internal congestion, contingencies affecting the transmission facilities; 3 - Evolution of the reliability reference guide: external reference guide: directives, laws, decrees, etc, ETSO, UCTE, ENTSO-E, contracting contributing to reliability, RTE internal reference guide; 4 - Evolution of measures contributing to reliability in the equipment field: intrinsic performances of components (generating sets, protection systems, operation PLC's, instrumentation and control, automatic frequency and voltage controls, transmission facilities, control systems, load

Reliability theory for repair service organization simulation and increase of innovative attraction of industrial enterprises

Science.gov (United States)

Dolzhenkova, E. V.; Iurieva, L. V.

2018-05-01

The study presents the author's algorithm for the industrial enterprise repair service organization simulation based on the reliability theory, as well as the results of its application. The monitoring of the industrial enterprise repair service organization is proposed to perform on the basis of the enterprise's state indexes for the main resources (equipment, labour, finances, repair areas), which allows quantitative evaluation of the reliability level as a resulting summary rating of the said parameters and the ensuring of an appropriate level of the operation reliability of the serviced technical objects. Under the conditions of the tough competition, the following approach is advisable: the higher efficiency of production and a repair service itself, the higher the innovative attractiveness of an industrial enterprise. The results of the calculations show that in order to prevent inefficient losses of production and to reduce the repair costs, it is advisable to apply the reliability theory. The overall reliability rating calculated on the basis of the author's algorithm has low values. The processing of the statistical data forms the reliability characteristics for the different workshops and services of an industrial enterprise, which allows one to define the failure rates of the various units of equipment and to establish the reliability indexes necessary for the subsequent mathematical simulation. The proposed simulating algorithm contributes to an increase of the efficiency of the repair service organization and improvement of the innovative attraction of an industrial enterprise.

Planning of maintenance of electrical equipment in nuclear plants/laboratories [Paper No.: VB-3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narasinga Rao, S.N.; Bhattacharyya, A.K.

1981-01-01

Satisfactory operating performance of electrical systems ensures continuous availability of power to the various plants and machinery in nuclear plant and laboratories. For effective optimal functioning of the electrical equipment and to reduce their down time, scheduled planning of maintenance to the equipment is essential. Maintenance of power plant, nuclear or fossil, and industrial plant and research laboratories demands essential ingredients such as right type of trained and motivated technical personnel, adoption of standard procedures for maintenance, adequate safety and protection for equipment, safety procedures adopted in the installation to prevent hazards to the workers, provision of adequate stores and inventories, facilities for quick repairs and testing of equipment and effective planning of procedures for their maintenance. While breakdown maintenance allows equipment to operate before it is repaired or replaced, preventive maintenance makes use of scheduled inspection and periodical equipment overhaul and has little value for predicting future continuous performances of equipment. The engineered maintenance is most advantageous and offers maximum operating time to reduce down time of the equipment while adding predictive testing technique to aid in determining the frequency of overhaul of equipment. The important checks to be conducted and preventive maintenance programme to be scheduled are discussed in this paper. The safety and reliable functioning of the electrical equipment depend on proper optimal design, selection of equipment, their installation, subsequent maintenance and strict compliance with safety regulations. (author)

Materials reliability in the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-05-01

Operating experience of nuclear fuel cycle facilities has proved that the performance and availability of key equipment largely depend on the reliability of its construction materials. In general, the materials of construction have performed well in accordance with the design criteria of equipment. In some cases, however, materials failure problems have been encountered, the causes of which are related to their corrosion and mechanical degradation. In response to the growing interest in these topics, the IAEA convened the Technical Committee Meeting on ''Materials Reliability in the Back-End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle'' at its Headquarters from September 2 to 5, 1986. This Technical Document contains the 15 papers presented during the Meeting. Material aspects of the following fields of the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle are covered: interim and long-term storage of spent fuel; final disposal of spent fuel; storage and vitrification of High Level Liquid Wastes (HLLW); long-term storage of High Level Wastes (HLW); and spent fuel treatment

Engineering of electrical systems of nuclear power stations for improved reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narasinga Rao, S.N.; Ramanathan, K.; Choudhary, N.N.

1977-01-01

Operational problems experienced in electrical systems/equipment of the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) and the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) and their solutions are dealt in detail. This experience has led to new design concepts which are being introduced for improved reliability in design of the Madras Atomic Power Project (MAPP) and the Narora Atomic Power Project (NAPP). Saline pollution on switchyard equipments was the major problem of the TAPS due to its coastal location. Saline pollution resulted in flash over of insulators and failure of clamps. The problem was solved by suitable changes in insulators, conductors, transformers, switches and arranging portable live line washing of the switchyard equipment. In MAPP which is also located on coast, an indoor switchyard is built. NAPP is located in a seismic zone, therefore, all equipment is specified for appropriate seismic duty. Various other improvements are described. (M.G.B.)

Improvement in equipment for initiating combustion of bituminous beds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kleyev, A M; Galimov, R R; Smerkovich, Y S

1981-01-01

An experimental sample of a unit is developed based on the logging lifter PK-2 which was tested with initiation of intrabed combustion at the Sugushlinskiy field (viscosity of bitumen over 10/sup 3/ Pa.s) and Mordovo-Karmal'skiy field (viscosity of bitumen up to 3 Pa.s). Technical characteristics and operating principles of the unit are presented.

Practical application of reliability engineering in detailed design and maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barden, S.E.

1975-01-01

Modern plant systems are closely coupled combinations of sophisticated and expensive equipment, some important parts of which may be in the development stage (high technology sector), and simpler, crude but not necessarily cheap equipment (low technology sector). Manpower resources involved with such plant systems can also be placed in high and low technology categories (i.e. specialist design and construction staff, and production staff, respectively). Neither can operate effectively without the other, and both are equally important. A sophisticated on-line computer controlling plant or analysing fault symptoms is useless, if not unsafe, if the peripheral sensing and control equipment on plant providing input data is poorly designed and inaccurate, and/or unreliable because of inadequate maintenance. Similarly, the designer can be misled and misinformed, and subsequent design evolution can be wrongly directed, if production recors do not accurately reflect what is actually happening on the plant. The application of Reliability Technology can be counter productive if it demands more effort in the collection of data that it save in facilitating quick, correct engineering decisions, and more accurate assessments of resource requirements. Reliability Engineering techniques must be simplified to made their use widely adopted in the important low technology sector, and established in all financial and contractural procedures associated with design specification and production management. This paper develops this theme with practical examples. (author)

Reliability data collection and use in risk and availability assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colombari, V.

1989-01-01

For EuReDatA it is a prevailing objective to initiate and support contact between experts, companies and institutions active in reliability engineering and research. Main topics of this 6th EuReDatA Conference are: Reliability data banks; incidents data banks; common cause data; source and propagation of uncertainties; computer aided risk analysis; reliability and incidents data acquisition and processing; human reliability; probabilistic safety and availability assessment; feedback of reliability into system design; data fusion; reliability modeling and techniques; structural and mechanical reliability; consequence modeling; software and electronic reliability; reliability tests. Some conference papers are separately indexed in the database. (HP)

NDE reliability and advanced NDE technology validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doctor, S.R.; Deffenbaugh, J.D.; Good, M.S.; Green, E.R.; Heasler, P.G.; Hutton, P.H.; Reid, L.D.; Simonen, F.A.; Spanner, J.C.; Vo, T.V.

1989-01-01

This paper reports on progress for three programs: (1) evaluation and improvement in nondestructive examination reliability for inservice inspection of light water reactors (LWR) (NDE Reliability Program), (2) field validation acceptance, and training for advanced NDE technology, and (3) evaluation of computer-based NDE techniques and regional support of inspection activities. The NDE Reliability Program objectives are to quantify the reliability of inservice inspection techniques for LWR primary system components through independent research and establish means for obtaining improvements in the reliability of inservice inspections. The areas of significant progress will be described concerning ASME Code activities, re-analysis of the PISC-II data, the equipment interaction matrix study, new inspection criteria, and PISC-III. The objectives of the second program are to develop field procedures for the AE and SAFT-UT techniques, perform field validation testing of these techniques, provide training in the techniques for NRC headquarters and regional staff, and work with the ASME Code for the use of these advanced technologies. The final program's objective is to evaluate the reliability and accuracy of interpretation of results from computer-based ultrasonic inservice inspection systems, and to develop guidelines for NRC staff to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of inservice inspections conducted on nuclear power reactors. This program started in the last quarter of FY89, and the extent of the program was to prepare a work plan for presentation to and approval from a technical advisory group of NRC staff

Operational reliability of the GPK and the 4PP-2 heading machines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ivanov, N.A.; Demchenko, N.T.

1985-09-01

Reliability of the GPK and 4PP-2 heading machines used in 98 development workings in 40 coal mines is analyzed. Failure analysis was based on records of 199 heading machines after overhauls. The mean-time-between-failures of the GPK and the 4PP-2 was 270 min (93 t) and 155 min (35 t), availability coefficient was 0.83 and 0.77 respectively. Reliability of the GPK on the average was higher than that of the 4PP-2. The mean-time-to-overhaul of the GPK was 17.7 months (54,000 t), of the 4PP-2 - 18 months (59,000 t). Time between overhauls in the case of the GPK was 14 months (47,200 t), in the case of the 4PP-2 it was 14.5 months (38,300 t). During the 17.7 months between overhauls the GPK failed 580 times, the repair operations lasted 530 h. During the 18 month time to overhaul the 4PP-2 failed 1600 times, the repair operations lasted 1300 h. Reliability of major elements of the 2 heading machines is analyzed: cutters, materials handling equipment, electrical equipment, hydraulic systems, dust suppression systems, etc.

Generating project value through design for reliability: on the development and implementation of a potential value framework

OpenAIRE

Woods, K. B. W.

2007-01-01

The current trend to economically exploit deepwater hydrocarbon reserves is to reduce the capital expenditure; accomplished by deploying subsea equipment. The financial benefit afforded is offset by the risk of high operational costs associated with failure. Recognition of the life cycle cost implications of subsea reliability have led to the development of the reliability strategy. This strategy adopts a risk based approach to design for reliability where only analyses (and th...

Reliability of the beam loss monitors system for the large hadron collider at CERN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guaglio, G.

2005-12-01

The energy stored in the Large Hadron Collider is unprecedented. The impact of the beam particles can cause severe damage on the superconductive magnets, resulting in significant downtime for repairing. The Beam Loss Monitors System (BLMS) detects the secondary particles shower of the lost beam particles and initiates the extraction of the beam before any serious damage to the equipment can occur. This thesis defines the BLMS specifications in term of reliability. The main goal is the design of a system minimizing both the probability to not detect a dangerous loss and the number of false alarms generated. The reliability theory and techniques utilized are described. The prediction of the hazard rates, the testing procedures, the Failure Modes Effects and Criticalities Analysis and the Fault Tree Analysis have been used to provide an estimation of the probability to damage a magnet, of the number of false alarms and of the number of generated warnings. The weakest components in the BLMS have been pointed out. The reliability figures of the BLMS have been calculated using a commercial software package (Isograph.). The effect of the variation of the parameters on the obtained results has been evaluated with a sensitivity analysis. The reliability model has been extended by the results of radiation tests. Design improvements, like redundant optical transmission, have been implemented in an iterative process. The proposed system is compliant with the reliability requirements. The model uncertainties are given by the limited knowledge of the thresholds levels of the superconductive magnets and of the locations of the losses along the ring. The implemented model allows modifications of the system, following the measuring of the hazard rates during the LHC life. It can also provide reference numbers to other accelerators which will implement similar technologies. (author)

Reliability improvement methods for sapphire fiber temperature sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Schietinger, C.; Adams, B.

1991-08-01

Mechanical, optical, electrical, and software design improvements can be brought to bear in the enhancement of fiber-optic sapphire-fiber temperature measurement tool reliability in harsh environments. The optical fiber thermometry (OFT) equipment discussed is used in numerous process industries and generally involves a sapphire sensor, an optical transmission cable, and a microprocessor-based signal analyzer. OFT technology incorporating sensors for corrosive environments, hybrid sensors, and two-wavelength measurements, are discussed.

Electrical and control equipment in nuclear power plants. Problems when replacing aging equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nordling, Anna; Haakansson, Goeran

2012-01-01

Interoperability between different technical systems is more complicated when old and new technology meet, such as between analog and digital technology. New electrical and I and C equipment is selected with consideration to simplify and improve the compatibility and interoperability. The original construction of nuclear power plants with electricity and I and C equipment had more natural interfaces. Generally experienced guidance, to the management of interoperability and interfaces, feels insufficient. Skills transfer programs are identified as a major need, as more and more important personnel are retiring and important information is lost with them. Lack of appropriate skills directly affects the ability to produce accurate and complete requirements specification. Failure modes of newer electrical and I and C equipment are perceived as more complex than the older equipment. When choosing equipment, attempts are made to minimize unnecessary features, to reduce the number of potential failure modes. There is a lack of consistent understanding of the meaning of robustness in electrical technology and I and C technology, in the nuclear plant engineering departments. The overall picture is that the robustness has worsened since the facilities were built. The Swedish nuclear power plants have an internal organizational structure with separated client and support organization. This splits the nuclear organization into two distinct parts which threaten to separate the two entities focus. Engineering departments at the Swedish nuclear power plants express a need for increased expertise in the client organization (blocks). Competence requested is for example, system knowledge to facilitate and enhance the quality of the initial analysis performed in the blocks. Suppliers receive more recently larger turnkey projects, both to minimize costs but also to minimize the interfaces and co-function problems. This, however, heightens demands for knowledge transfer between

Revisiting Frequency Reuse towards Supporting Ultra-Reliable Ubiquitous-Rate Communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Park, Jihong; Kim, Dong Min; Popovski, Petar

2017-01-01

One of the goals of 5G wireless systems stated by the NGMN alliance is to provide moderate rates (50+ Mbps) everywhere and with very high reliability. We term this service Ultra-Reliable Ubiquitous-Rate Communication (UR2C). This paper investigates the role of frequency reuse in supporting UR2C...... in the downlink. To this end, two frequency reuse schemes are considered: user-specific frequency reuse (FRu) and BS-specific frequency reuse (FRb). For a given unit frequency channel, FRu reduces the number of serving user equipments (UEs), whereas FRb directly decreases the number of interfering base stations...

Instrument reliability for high-level nuclear-waste-repository applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogue, F.; Binnall, E.P.; Armantrout, G.A.

1983-01-01

Reliable instrumentation will be needed to evaluate the characteristics of proposed high-level nuclear-wasted-repository sites and to monitor the performance of selected sites during the operational period and into repository closure. A study has been done to assess the reliability of instruments used in Department of Energy (DOE) waste repository related experiments and in other similar geological applications. The study included experiences with geotechnical, hydrological, geochemical, environmental, and radiological instrumentation and associated data acquisition equipment. Though this paper includes some findings on the reliability of instruments in each of these categories, the emphasis is on experiences with geotechnical instrumentation in hostile repository-type environments. We review the failure modes, rates, and mechanisms, along with manufacturers modifications and design changes to enhance and improve instrument performance; and include recommendations on areas where further improvements are needed

Hoisting appliances and fuel handling equipment at nuclear facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1988-12-31

The guide is followed by the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) in regulating hoisting and handling equipment Class 3 at nuclear facilities. The guide is applied e.g. to the following equipment: reactor building overhead cranes, hoisting appliances at nuclear fuel storages, fuel handling machines, other hoisting appliances, which because of nuclear safety aspects are classified in Safety Class 3, and load-bearing devices connected with the above equipment, such as replaceable hoisting tools and auxiliary lifting devices. The regulating of hoisting and handling equipment comprises the following stages: handling of preliminary and final safety analysis reports, inspection of the construction plan, supervision of fabrication and construction inspection, and supervision of initial start-up and commissioning inspection. 36 refs. Translation. The original text is published under the same guide number. The guide is valid from 5 January 1987 and will be in force until further notice.

Technology review of commercial food service equipment - final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahbar, S; Krsikapa, S [Canadian Gas Research Inst., Don Mills, ON (Canada); Fisher, D; Nickel, J; Ardley, S; Zabrowski, D [Fisher Consultants (Canada); Barker, R F [ed.

1996-05-15

Technical information on commercial gas cooking appliances was presented. This second volume provided an appliance-by-appliance comprehensive assessment of the energy performance of commercial food service equipment. Energy assessments were made for the following categories of cooking equipment: fryers, griddles, broilers, ranges, Chinese ranges, ovens, steamers, steam kettles, and braising pans. Recommendations were made for improving the energy efficiency and overall performance of gas appliances to support of the Canadian gas utilities marketing and energy conservation initiatives. 71 refs., 37 tabs., 58 figs.

Quality assurance and reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Normand, J.; Charon, M.

1975-01-01

Concern for obtaining high-quality products which will function properly when required to do so is nothing new - it is one manifestation of a conscientious attitude to work. However, the complexity and cost of equipment and the consequences of even temporary immobilization are such that it has become necessary to make special arrangements for obtaining high-quality products and examining what one has obtained. Each unit within an enterprise must examine its own work or arrange for it to be examined; a unit whose specific task is quality assurance is responsible for overall checking, but does not relieve other units of their responsibility. Quality assurance is a form of mutual assistance within an enterprise, designed to remove the causes of faults as far as possible. It begins very early in a project and continues through the ordering stage, construction, start-up trials and operation. Quality and hence reliability are the direct result of what is done at all stages of a project. They depend on constant attention to detail, for even a minor piece of poor workmanship can, in the case of an essential item of equipment, give rise to serious operational difficulties

Equipment support for the implementation of safeguards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arlt, R.; Bosler, G.; Goldfarb, M.; Schanfein, M.; Whichello, J.

2001-01-01

Full text: The provision of effective, reliable, and user-friendly equipment needed for the implementation of safeguards is one of the main objectives of the Division of Technical Services (SOTS) in the Department of Safeguards. As an outcome of a review by an independent external consultant firm, the instrumentation sections of the SGTS were reorganized in January 2001 into two new sections, the Section for NDA Systems and Seals (TNS) and Section for Installed Systems (TIE). Each section has 'cradle-to-grave' responsibilities for development, implementation, maintenance, and decommissioning of safeguards instruments and measurement systems. Unattended assay, monitoring and surveillance instruments are the responsibility of TIE while attended nondestructive assay (NDA) instruments and seals are handled by TNS. The principal goals of both sections are to define equipment requirements based on Departmental needs, to coordinate Support Programme tasks concerning development and implementation activities, to provide system engineering of commercial components, manage laboratory and to do field testing and prove system suitability for defined safeguards applications. In addition both sections coordinate equipment and supply needs for the Department, including acquisition, preparation, servicing, installation, commissioning, troubleshooting, maintenance and repair, ensuring their availability when needed. As required, TIE and TNS provide specialized field support to the Operations Divisions. Each section is working to standardize equipment as much as possible and reduce the number of instruments performing the same function. This reduces both inspector and technician training, required parts inventories, and overall life-cycle costs. Development based on User Needs from the Operations Divisions follows a strict quality control program that includes a thorough qualification testing procedure with the last phase being field-testing under actual facility conditions. A

46 CFR 176.816 - Miscellaneous systems and equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 100 GROSS TONS) INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION Material Inspections § 176.816 Miscellaneous systems and equipment. At each initial and subsequent inspection for certification the owner or managing operator shall be prepared to test and make available for inspection all items in the ship's outfit, such as ground...

Design and operation of equipment used to develop remote coating capability for HTGR fuel particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suchomel, R.R.; Stinton, D.P.; Preston, M.K.; Heck, J.L.; Bolfing, B.J.; Lackey, W.J.

1978-12-01

Refabrication of HTGR fuels is a manufacturing process that consists of preparation of fuel kernels, application of multiple layers of pyrolytic carbon and silicon carbide, preparation of fuel rods, and assembly of fuel rods into fuel elements. All the equipment for refabrication of 233 U-containing fuel must be designed for completely remote operation and maintenance in hot-cell facilities. Equipment to remotely coated HTGR fuel particles has been designed and operated. Although not all of the equipment development needed for a fully remote coating system has been completed, significant progress has been made. The most important component of the coating furnace is the gas distributor, which must be simple, reliable, and easily maintainable. Techniques for loading and unloading the coater and handling microspheres have been developed. An engineering-scale system, currently in operation, is being used to verify the workability of these concepts. Coating crucible handling components are used to remove the crucible from the furnace, remove coated particles, and exchange the crucible, if necessary. After the batch of particles has been unloaded, it is transferred, weighed, and sampled. The components used in these processes have been tested to ensure that no particle breakage or holdup occurs. Tests of the particle handling system have been very encouraging because no major problems have been encountered. Instrumentation that controls the equipment performed very smoothly and reliably and can be operated remotely

Initiating Events Modeling for On-Line Risk Monitoring Application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simic, Z.; Mikulicic, V.

1998-01-01

In order to make on-line risk monitoring application of Probabilistic Risk Assessment more complete and realistic, a special attention need to be dedicated to initiating events modeling. Two different issues are of special importance: one is how to model initiating events frequency according to current plant configuration (equipment alignment and out of service status) and operating condition (weather and various activities), and the second is how to preserve dependencies between initiating events model and rest of PRA model. First, the paper will discuss how initiating events can be treated in on-line risk monitoring application. Second, practical example of initiating events modeling in EPRI's Equipment Out of Service on-line monitoring tool will be presented. Gains from application and possible improvements will be discussed in conclusion. (author)

Reliable Decentralized Control of Fuzzy Discrete-Event Systems and a Test Algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Fuchun; Dziong, Zbigniew

2013-02-01

A framework for decentralized control of fuzzy discrete-event systems (FDESs) has been recently presented to guarantee the achievement of a given specification under the joint control of all local fuzzy supervisors. As a continuation, this paper addresses the reliable decentralized control of FDESs in face of possible failures of some local fuzzy supervisors. Roughly speaking, for an FDES equipped with n local fuzzy supervisors, a decentralized supervisor is called k-reliable (1 ≤ k ≤ n) provided that the control performance will not be degraded even when n - k local fuzzy supervisors fail. A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of k-reliable decentralized supervisors of FDESs is proposed by introducing the notions of M̃uc-controllability and k-reliable coobservability of fuzzy language. In particular, a polynomial-time algorithm to test the k-reliable coobservability is developed by a constructive methodology, which indicates that the existence of k-reliable decentralized supervisors of FDESs can be checked with a polynomial complexity.

A Study on Performance and Safety Tests of Defibrillator Equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

Tavakoli Golpaygani, A; Movahedi, M M; Reza, M

2017-12-01

Nowadays, more than 10,000 different types of medical devices can be found in hospitals. This way, medical electrical equipment is being employed in a wide variety of fields in medical sciences with different physiological effects and measurements. Hospitals and medical centers must ensure that their critical medical devices are safe, accurate, reliable and operational at the required level of performance. Defibrillators are critical resuscitation devices. The use of reliable defibirillators has led to more effective treatments and improved patient safety through better control and management of complications during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). The metrological reliability of twenty frequent use, manual defibrillators in use ten hospitals (4 private and 6 public) in one of the provinces of Iran according to international and national standards was evaluated. Quantitative analysis of control and instrument accuracy showed the amount of the obtained results in many units are critical which had less value over the standard limitations especially in devices with poor battery. For the accuracy of delivered energy analysis, only twelve units delivered acceptable output values and the precision in the output energy measurements especialy in weak battry condition, after activation of discharge alarm, were low. Obtained results indicate a need for new and severe regulations on periodic performance verifications and medical equipment quality control program especially for high risk instruments. It is also necessary to provide training courses on the fundumentals of operation and performane parameters for medical staff in the field of meterology in medicine and how one can get good accuracy results especially in high risk medical devices.

47 CFR 15.101 - Equipment authorization of unintentional radiators.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... radiators. 15.101 Section 15.101 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL RADIO FREQUENCY... initiation of marketing, as follows: Type of device Equipment authorization required TV broadcast receiver... external switching power supplies Verification. Other Class B digital devices & peripherals Verification...

Maintenance and test strategies to optimize NPP equipment performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayer, S.; Tomic, B.

2000-01-01

This paper proposes an approach to maintenance optimization of nuclear power plant components, which can help to increase both safety and availability. In order to evaluate the benefits of preventive maintenance on a quantitative basis, a software code has been developed for component performance and reliability simulation of safety related nuclear power plant equipment. A three state Markov model will be introduced, considering a degraded state in addition to an operational state and a failed state. (author)

[Fundamental aspects for accrediting medical equipment calibration laboratories in Colombia].

Science.gov (United States)

Llamosa-Rincón, Luis E; López-Isaza, Giovanni A; Villarreal-Castro, Milton F

2010-02-01

Analysing the fundamental methodological aspects which should be considered when drawing up calibration procedure for electro-medical equipment, thereby permitting international standard-based accreditation of electro-medical metrology laboratories in Colombia. NTC-ISO-IEC 17025:2005 and GTC-51-based procedures for calibrating electro-medical equipment were implemented and then used as patterns. The mathematical model for determining the estimated uncertainty value when calibrating electro-medical equipment for accreditation by the Electrical Variable Metrology Laboratory's Electro-medical Equipment Calibration Area accredited in compliance with Superintendence of Industry and Commerce Resolution 25771 May 26th 2009 consists of two equations depending on the case; they are: E = (Ai + sigmaAi) - (Ar + sigmaAr + deltaAr1) and E = (Ai + sigmaAi) - (Ar + sigmaA + deltaAr1). The mathematical modelling implemented for measuring uncertainty in the Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira's Electrical Variable Metrology Laboratory (Electro-medical Equipment Calibration Area) will become a good guide for calibration initiated in other laboratories in Colombia and Latin-America.

Statistical distribution of time to crack initiation and initial crack size using service data

Science.gov (United States)

Heller, R. A.; Yang, J. N.

1977-01-01

Crack growth inspection data gathered during the service life of the C-130 Hercules airplane were used in conjunction with a crack propagation rule to estimate the distribution of crack initiation times and of initial crack sizes. A Bayesian statistical approach was used to calculate the fraction of undetected initiation times as a function of the inspection time and the reliability of the inspection procedure used.

A Model of Intelligent Fault Diagnosis of Power Equipment Based on CBR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gang Ma

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Nowadays the demand of power supply reliability has been strongly increased as the development within power industry grows rapidly. Nevertheless such large demand requires substantial power grid to sustain. Therefore power equipment’s running and testing data which contains vast information underpins online monitoring and fault diagnosis to finally achieve state maintenance. In this paper, an intelligent fault diagnosis model for power equipment based on case-based reasoning (IFDCBR will be proposed. The model intends to discover the potential rules of equipment fault by data mining. The intelligent model constructs a condition case base of equipment by analyzing the following four categories of data: online recording data, history data, basic test data, and environmental data. SVM regression analysis was also applied in mining the case base so as to further establish the equipment condition fingerprint. The running data of equipment can be diagnosed by such condition fingerprint to detect whether there is a fault or not. Finally, this paper verifies the intelligent model and three-ratio method based on a set of practical data. The resulting research demonstrates that this intelligent model is more effective and accurate in fault diagnosis.

Improving the Efficiency of Administrative Decision-Making when Monitoring Reliability and Safety of Oil and Gas Equipment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zemenkova Maria

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Methodology of rapid assessment of reliability index was developed based on system analysis of technological parameters. Within functioning of on-line monitoring system of reliability index of industrial facility this method allows to increase efficiency of making managerial decisions on technical and preventive maintenance. The technique is based on the analysis of technological parameters of operational modes of pipeline transport facilities registered by dispatcher controls. The created technique can be used by the operating, research, design institutes and oil and gas transport enterprises when declaring industrial safety. The received mathematical models allow federal services of supervision, the independent expert organizations to predict the development of reliability in the registered block of dispatching data either in real time mode, or taking into account the dynamics of service conditions of the object.

ECLSS Reliability for Long Duration Missions Beyond Lower Earth Orbit

Science.gov (United States)

Sargusingh, Miriam J.; Nelson, Jason

2014-01-01

Reliability has been highlighted by NASA as critical to future human space exploration particularly in the area of environmental controls and life support systems. The Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) projects have been encouraged to pursue higher reliability components and systems as part of technology development plans. However, there is no consensus on what is meant by improving on reliability; nor on how to assess reliability within the AES projects. This became apparent when trying to assess reliability as one of several figures of merit for a regenerable water architecture trade study. In the Spring of 2013, the AES Water Recovery Project (WRP) hosted a series of events at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) with the intended goal of establishing a common language and understanding of our reliability goals and equipping the projects with acceptable means of assessing our respective systems. This campaign included an educational series in which experts from across the agency and academia provided information on terminology, tools and techniques associated with evaluating and designing for system reliability. The campaign culminated in a workshop at JSC with members of the ECLSS and AES communities with the goal of developing a consensus on what reliability means to AES and identifying methods for assessing our low to mid-technology readiness level (TRL) technologies for reliability. This paper details the results of the workshop.

Waste Handling Equipment Development Test and Evaluation Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

R.L. Tome

1998-01-01

The purpose of this study is to identify candidate Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR) surface waste handling equipment for development testing. This study will also identify strategies for performing the development tests. Development testing shall be implemented to support detail design and reduce design risks. Development testing shall be conducted to confirm design concepts, evaluate alternative design concepts, show the availability of needed technology, and provide design documentation. The candidate equipment will be selected from MGR surface waste handling equipment that is the responsibility of the Management and Operating Contractor (M and O) Surface Design Department. The equipment identified in this study is based on Viability Assessment (VA) design. The ''Monitored Geologic Repository Test and Evaluation Plan'' (MGR T and EP), Reference 5.1, was used as a basis for this study. The MGR T and EP reflects the extent of test planning and analysis that can be conducted, given the current status of the MGR requirements and latest VA design information. The MGR T and EP supports the appropriate sections in the license application (LA) in accordance with 10 CFR 60.2 1(c)(14). The MGR T and EP describes the following test activities: site characterization to confirm, by test and analysis, the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site for housing a geologic repository; development testing to investigate and document design concepts to reduce risk; qualification testing to verify equipment compliance with design requirements, specifications, and regulatory requirements; system testing to validate compliance with MGR requirements, which include the receipt, handling, retrieval, and disposal of waste; periodic performance testing to verify preclosure requirements and to demonstrate safe and reliable MGR operation; and performance confirmation modeling, testing, and analysis to verify adherence to postclosure regulatory requirements. Development test activities can be

Software Reliability Issues Concerning Large and Safety Critical Software Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kamel, Khaled; Brown, Barbara

1996-01-01

This research was undertaken to provide NASA with a survey of state-of-the-art techniques using in industrial and academia to provide safe, reliable, and maintainable software to drive large systems. Such systems must match the complexity and strict safety requirements of NASA's shuttle system. In particular, the Launch Processing System (LPS) is being considered for replacement. The LPS is responsible for monitoring and commanding the shuttle during test, repair, and launch phases. NASA built this system in the 1970's using mostly hardware techniques to provide for increased reliability, but it did so often using custom-built equipment, which has not been able to keep up with current technologies. This report surveys the major techniques used in industry and academia to ensure reliability in large and critical computer systems.

On the safeness of examinees and the reliability of system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kudo, Kazumi; Kanda, Kosuke; Saito, Kazuhiko; Maesawa, Tsuneharu; Idekami, Tomio

1979-01-01

The control technique of the reliability of examination system was investigated from the viewpoint of patient safety and image information, based on the prevention of microshock owing to circulatory organ checking system. As for the equipments in hospitals, the size of rooms, air conditioning system, power source installation, earth and piping arrangements should be fully discussed at the planning stage. EPR system must be introduced for the prevention for microshock. Intensive education and training are required for operators to secure safeness in operation. Thorough care should be taken to prevent bacilli infection. Further examinations were made on the control technique of the reliability of photographing system from viewpoint of image information, and it is necessary to study the factors for obtaining the reliability of compound machinery components and the devices of generating radiation. (Kobatake, H.)

Reliability improvement through alternative designs-A case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Saurabh; Chattopadhyay, Gopi; Kumar, Uday

2007-01-01

In today's competitive world, reliability of equipment is extremely important to maintain quality and delivery deadlines. This is achieved by using proper maintenance and design changes for unreliable subsystems and components of a complex system. It is significant to develop a strategy for maintenance, replacement and design changes related to those subsystems and components. An analysis of down time along with causes is essential to identify the unreliable components and subsystems. This paper presents an analysis of failure data of solenoid coils of automatic internal grinding machine used in a bearing manufacturing plant. It analyses various replacement and change of design options such as introduction of pneumatic system in place of electromagnetic solenoids for improvement of reliability of the plunger movement mechanism

Quality control of repair of equipment for coal preparation plants. Upravlenie kachestvom remonta oborudovaniya ugleobogatitel'nykh fabrik

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Okonishnikov, A I; Neskoromnykh, V M; Surzhenko, V S; Sirichenko, R P; Pavlyuchenko, S G; Lesikov, A V

1984-01-01

The Ukrniiugleobogashchenie, Kalininsk and Sukhodol'sk coal preparation plants have developed the SUKRO system for control of repair quality of coal preparation equipment in the USSR. The system is based on a system of standards used in coal preparation plants. The following systems of standards used by the SUKRO system are analyzed: organization standards (order of repair in a coal preparation plant, repair planning, spare part systems, methods for determining equipment wear, analysis of equipment failures), standards for maintenance and repair (methods for equipment maintenance, service life of each equipment component or system, structure of preventive repair or repair, organizational models of repair operations, lubrication systems), standards for assessment of labor quality during repair operations. Use of the SUKRO system in the Sukhodol'sk coal preparation plant is evaluated. The SUKRO forms a system of standards for repair and maintenance of equipment considering operation conditions in coal preparation plants, requirements for equipment reliability and service life. (4 refs.)

Guideline on dependability management for the power industry: detailed description of international power plant equipment dependability indicators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Procaccia, H.; Silberberg, S.

1997-01-01

Dependability Management involves the management of reliability, availability maintainability and maintenance support, and in the power industry is necessary to ensure that plant meets the Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) targets set by the Utilities. In 1993, a joint Standard on Dependability Programme Management - Part 1: Dependability Programme Management), ISO 9000-': 1993 (Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standards - Part 4: Guide to Dependability Programme Management). UNIPEDE established a group of experts (Nulethermaint) to produce guidelines on its implementation specifically for use in the power industry. The present document comprises Part 2 OF THE UNIPEDE plant performance indicators and can be applied to both nuclear and fossil plant. There are five different equipment dependability indicators, all relating to equipment maintenance activities and the impact that these activities have on the loss of both system function and unit capability. Per year, each of the indicators can be applied separately to both preventive maintenance and corrective maintenance, giving rise to as many as ten indicator values for each item of equipment. Used in this way, the indicators provide a comprehensive picture of the maintenance strategy employed for key pieces of equipment, and its effectiveness. They are, therefore, a valuable managerial tool for improving maintenance activities at the unit level within a utility. This document provides guidance on the division of both nuclear and fossil power plant into their component parts and in each case the types of equipment having the most dominant effect on dependability are identified. These are the items which merit the greatest attention with regard to the equipment dependability indicators. (authors)

Rotary mode system initial instrument calibration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johns, B.R.

1994-01-01

The attached report contains the vendor calibration procedures used for the initial instrument calibration of the rotary core sampling equipment. The procedures are from approved vendor information files

Reliability and Validity of Prototype Diagnosis for Adolescent Psychopathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Haggerty, Greg; Zodan, Jennifer; Mehra, Ashwin; Zubair, Ayyan; Ghosh, Krishnendu; Siefert, Caleb J; Sinclair, Samuel J; DeFife, Jared

2016-04-01

The current study investigated the interrater reliability and validity of prototype ratings of 5 common adolescent psychiatric disorders: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. One hundred fifty-seven adolescent inpatient participants consented to participate in this study. We compared ratings from 2 inpatient clinicians, blinded to each other's ratings and patient measures, after their separate initial diagnostic interview to assess interrater reliability. Prototype ratings completed by clinicians after their initial diagnostic interview with adolescent inpatients and outpatients were compared with patient-reported behavior problems and parents' report of their child's behavioral problems. Prototype ratings demonstrated good interrater reliability. Clinicians' prototype ratings showed predicted relationships with patient-reported behavior problems and parent-reported behavior problems. Prototype matching seems to be a possible alternative for psychiatric diagnosis. Prototype ratings showed good interrater reliability based on clinicians unique experiences with the patient (as opposed to video-/audio-recorded material) with no training.

Optimal placement of switching equipment in reconfigurable distribution systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mijailović Vladica

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a comparative analysis of some measures that can improve the reliability of medium-voltage (MV distribution feeder. Strictly speaking, the impact of certain types of switching equipment installed on the feeder and possibilities of backup supply from the adjacent feeders were analyzed. For each analyzed case, equations for the calculation of System Average Interruption Duration Index and energy not delivered to the customers are given. The effects of certain measures are calculated for one real MV-feeder for radial supply to customers and in cases of possible backup supply to the customers. Installation locations of certain types of switching equipment for the given concept of energy supply are determined according to the criterion of minimum value of System Average Interruption Duration Index and according to the criterion of minimum value of energy not delivered to the customers.

Seismic soil-structure-equipment interaction analysis of unit 5/6, Kozloduy NPP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kostov, M [Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Central Laboratory for Seismic Mechanics and Earthquake Engineering, Sofia (Bulgaria)

1995-07-01

This research project is aimed to analyse problems of soil-structure-equipment interaction under seismic excitation in case of Kozloduy NPP. Reevaluation and upgrading of Kozloduy NPP has started after 1977 Vrancea earthquake. New Safe Shutdown Earthquake (SSE) level was defined, upgrading most of structural equipment was performed, seismic instrumentation was installed. New investigations were initiated after 1990 IAEA mission visited the site. A comprehensive site confirmation project was started with a subsequent structural and equipment reevaluation and upgrading. This work deals with Units 5 and 6 of WWER-1000 type only.

Implementation and Sustainability of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense Nuclear Personnel Reliability Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lata, Vasiliy; Coates, Cameron W.

2010-01-01

Through a cooperative effort between the US Department of Energy and the Russian Federation (RF) Ministry of Defense (MOD) a Personnel Reliability Program (PRP) for the nuclear handlers within the RF MOD is at the stage of implementation. Sustaining the program is of major significance for long term success. This paper will discuss the elements of the RF PRP and the equipment needs for implementation. Program requirements, documentation needs, training, and assurances of appropriate equipment use will be addressed.

Operational experience, availability and reliability of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kueffer, K.

1980-01-01

This lecture - presents a survey on nuclear power production and plant performance in the Western World covering all reactor types and light-water reactors in particular and discusses key parameters such as load factors and non-availability analysis. - outlines the main reasons for the reliable performance of Swiss nuclear power plants - quality equipment - operator qualification and training - engineering know how on site - maintenance philosophy and outage planning - information system and feedback of experience - explains the management functions as applied at the Beznau Nuclear Power Station to ensure high power productivity and reliability - improvement - a feedback control system - analysis of production losses - optimization in shut-down planning - minimizing disturbances during plant operation - optimizing personnel qualification and efficiency. (orig.)

Integrated approach to economical, reliable, safe nuclear power production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-06-01

An Integrated Approach to Economical, Reliable, Safe Nuclear Power Production is the latest evolution of a concept which originated with the Defense-in-Depth philosophy of the nuclear industry. As Defense-in-Depth provided a framework for viewing physical barriers and equipment redundancy, the Integrated Approach gives a framework for viewing nuclear power production in terms of functions and institutions. In the Integrated Approach, four plant Goals are defined (Normal Operation, Core and Plant Protection, Containment Integrity and Emergency Preparedness) with the attendant Functional and Institutional Classifications that support them. The Integrated Approach provides a systematic perspective that combines the economic objective of reliable power production with the safety objective of consistent, controlled plant operation

Automatization of welding for nuclear power equipments and facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamai, Yasumasa; Matsumoto, Teruo; Koyama, Takaichi

1980-01-01

For the requirement of high reliability in the construction of nuclear power plants and the reduction of radiation exposure in the modefying works of existing plants, the automation and remote operation of welding have increased their necessity. In this paper, the present state of the automation of welding for making machines, equipments and pipings for nuclear power plants in Hitachi Ltd. is described, and the aim of developing the automation, the features of the equipments and the state of application to actual plants are introduced, centering around the automation of welding for large structures such as reactor containment vessels and the remote type automatic welding system for pipings. By these automations, the large outcomes were obtained in the improvement of welding quality required for the machines and equipments for atomic energy. Moreover, the conspicuous results were also obtained in case of the peculiar works to nuclear power plants, in which the reduction of the radiation exposure related to human bodies and the welding of high quality are demanded. The present state of the automation of welding for nuclear installations in Hitachi Ltd., the development of automatic welding equipments and the present state of application to actual plants, and the development and application of the automatic pipe working machine for reducing radiation exposure are explained. (Kako, I.)

The constant failure rate model for fault tree evaluation as a tool for unit protection reliability assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vichev, S.; Bogdanov, D.

2000-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the fault tree analysis method as a tool for unit protection reliability estimation. The constant failure rate model applies for making reliability assessment, and especially availability assessment. For that purpose an example for unit primary equipment structure and fault tree example for simplified unit protection system is presented (author)

Reliability tests for reactor internals rejuvenation technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimaki, Katsumi; Hitoki, Yoichi; Otsubo, Toru; Uchiyama, Junichi

1998-01-01

Structural damage due to aging degradation of LWR reactor internals has been reported in several nuclear plants. NUPEC has started a project to test the reliability of the technology for rejuvenating reactor internals which has been funded by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan since 1995. The project follows the policy of a report that the MITI has formally issued in April 1996 summarizing the countermeasures to be considered for aging nuclear plants and equipment. This paper gives an outline of the test plans and results which are directed at preventive maintenance before damage and repair after damage for reactor internals aging degradation. The test results for the replacement methods of ICM housing and BWR core shroud have shown that the methods were reliable and the structural integrity was appropriate based on the evaluation. (author)

EPRI spearheads generic PM recommendations for infrastructure equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Worledge, David H.; Hinchcliffe, Glenn R.; Benak, Mark S.; Bridges, Martin

2007-01-01

All companies have at their core a vast amount of similar equipment that would benefit from solid preventive maintenance (PM) recommendations that are generic and easily adapted to meet operational conditions. The re-emergence of PM optimization methods like Reliability Centered Maintenance, further illustrates that companies in all industries recognize the positive influence that a well-focused maintenance program has on the corporate bottom line. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has long been a leader in providing universally adaptable maintenance solutions to meet the evolving needs of its membership. Nearly ten years ago, EPRI began developing the PM Basis Database, a one-of-a-kind repository of PM recommendations for basic infrastructure components (such as pumps, motors, valves, compressors), derived from equipment experts. EPRI has now made available this comprehensive body of knowledge to all industries. This paper will explore the origins and structure of the database, how these generic PM recommendations benefit every industry, and how they may be obtained. (author)

Increasing the reliability of electric energy supply to consumers in ROMAG-PROD Heavy Water Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barta, Ioan; Hanes, Marian . E-mail electrica@romag.ro

2004-01-01

Full text: This work aims at achieving an analysis of time evolution of the status of electrical installations, their performances and reliability, at describing the refurbishment measures adopted, at assessing the efficiency of these measures and also to suggest solutions for improving the reliability in the electric energy supply of ROMAG-PROD Heavy Water Plant. The analysis started from the original design, the manner the electrical installations were mounted, the technological level of this equipment and gives an evaluation of the deficiencies and the evolution of incidents occurred during the operation period. On the basis of the experience gathered one advances new items for equipment renewing and refurbishment of electric installations which together with the existing ones would ensure an electric energy supply more secure and efficient, leading directly to a more safe and efficient operation of the ROMAG-PROD Heavy Water Plant. In this work the incidents of electric energy nature which occurred are analyzed, the equipment which generated events identified and measures to solve these problems proposed

ASCERTAINMENT OF ELECTRIC-SUPPLY SCHEMES RELIABILITY FOR THE ATOMIC POWER PLANT AUXILIARIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. L. Starzhinskij

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The paper completes ascertainment of electrical-supply scheme reliability for the auxiliaries of a nuclear power plant. Thereat the author considers the system behavior during the block normal operation, carrying out current maintenance, and capital repairs in combination with initiating events. The initiating events for reactors include complete blackout, i.e. the loss of outside power supply (normal and reserve; emergency switching one of the working turbogenerators; momentary dumping the normal rating to the level of auxiliaries with seating the cutout valve of one turbo-generator. The combination of any initiating event with the repairing mode in case of one of the system elements failure should not lead to blackout occurrence of more than one system of the reliable power supply. This requirement rests content with the help of the reliable power supply system self-dependence (electrical and functional and the emergency power-supply operational autonomy (diesel generator and accumulator batteries.The reliability indicators of the power supply system for the nuclear power plant auxiliaries are the conditional probabilities of conjoined blackout of one, two, and three sections of the reliable power supply conditional upon an initiating event emerging and the blackout of one, two, and three reliable power-supply sections under the normal operational mode. Furthermore, they also are the blackout periodicity of one and conjointly two, three, and four sections of normal operation under the block normal operational mode. It is established that the blackout of one bus section of normal operation and one section of reliable power-supply system of the auxiliaries that does not lead to complete blackout of the plant auxiliaries may occur once in three years. The probability of simultaneous power failure of two or three normal-operation sections and of two reliable power-supply sections during the power plant service life is unlikely.

Current trends in small vocabulary speech recognition for equipment control

Science.gov (United States)

Doukas, Nikolaos; Bardis, Nikolaos G.

2017-09-01

Speech recognition systems allow human - machine communication to acquire an intuitive nature that approaches the simplicity of inter - human communication. Small vocabulary speech recognition is a subset of the overall speech recognition problem, where only a small number of words need to be recognized. Speaker independent small vocabulary recognition can find significant applications in field equipment used by military personnel. Such equipment may typically be controlled by a small number of commands that need to be given quickly and accurately, under conditions where delicate manual operations are difficult to achieve. This type of application could hence significantly benefit by the use of robust voice operated control components, as they would facilitate the interaction with their users and render it much more reliable in times of crisis. This paper presents current challenges involved in attaining efficient and robust small vocabulary speech recognition. These challenges concern feature selection, classification techniques, speaker diversity and noise effects. A state machine approach is presented that facilitates the voice guidance of different equipment in a variety of situations.

A Study on Performance and Safety Tests of Electrosurgical Equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

Tavakoli Golpaygani, A; Movahedi, M M; Reza, M

2016-09-01

Modern medicine employs a wide variety of instruments with different physiological effects and measurements. Periodic verifications are routinely used in legal metrology for industrial measuring instruments. The correct operation of electrosurgical generators is essential to ensure patient's safety and management of the risks associated with the use of high and low frequency electrical currents on human body. The metrological reliability of 20 electrosurgical equipment in six hospitals (3 private and 3 public) was evaluated in one of the provinces of Iran according to international and national standards. The achieved results show that HF leakage current of ground-referenced generators are more than isolated generators and the power analysis of only eight units delivered acceptable output values and the precision in the output power measurements was low. Results indicate a need for new and severe regulations on periodic performance verifications and medical equipment quality control program especially in high risk instruments. It is also necessary to provide training courses for operating staff in the field of meterology in medicine to be acquianted with critical parameters to get accuracy results with operation room equipment.

Equipment decontamination: A brief survey of the DOE complex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conner, C.; Chamberlain, D.B.; Chen, L.; Vandegrift, G.F.

1995-03-01

Deactivation at DOE facilities has left a tremendous amount of contaminated equipment behind. In-situ methods are needed to decontaminate the interiors of the equipment sufficiently to allow either free release or land disposal. A brief survey was completed of the DOE complex on their needs for equipment decontamination with in-situ technology to determine (1) the types of contamination problems within the DOE complex, (2) decontamination processes that are being used or are being developed within the DOE, and (3) the methods that are available to dispose of spent decontamination solutions. In addition, potential sites for testing decontamination methods were located. Based on the information obtained from these surveys, the Rocky Flats Plant and the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory appear to be best suited to complete the initial testing of the decontamination processes

Meeting the challenges of managing substation equipment assets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaver, J. [CEA Technologies (Canada)

2005-06-01

Best practices for monitoring and assessing substation equipment are discussed. Scheduled time-based maintenance is the most common, but recent evidence indicates that despite it being the most expensive, it may not always identify potential failures. The author recommends developing decision-making tools that take into account obsolescence, reliability, safety and environmental issues, as well as operating, repair and carrying costs, as absolutely necessary for consistent and intelligent decision-making. Given the high cost of research, the author recommends developing such tools through pooling of skills and collaboration with other utilities, as the preferred way to develop best practices. The Life Cycle Management of Substation Equipment and Apparatus Interest Group of CEA Technologies Inc is one such group that was formed to help utilities facilitate their research and technology development endeavours. The group's current focus is on developing equipment diagnostics and life optimization through the development of validation tools for predicting remaining life and/or extending life. Brief descriptions of these, and other completed project are given. Completed projects described include developing tools for predicting remaining life of transformers, power connectors and disconnect switches, safety protocol for restoration of substations involved with fires/explosions, and compiling a critical review of diagnostic instruments designed to assess transformer conditions.

General technical requirements (GTR) for inventory monitoring systems (IMS) for the trilateral initiative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pshakin, Gennady M.; Kuleshov, I.; Shea, T.; Puckett, J.M.; Zhukov, I.; Mangan, Dennis L.; Matter, John C.; Waddoups, I.; Smathers, D.; Abhold, M.E.; Hsue, S.-T.; Chiaro, P.

2002-01-01

Pursuant to the Trilateral Initiative, the three parties (The Russian Federation, the United States, and the International Atomic Energy Agency) have been engaged in discussions concerning the structure of reliable monitoring systems for storage facilities having large inventories. The intent of these monitoring systems is to provide the capability for the IAEA to maintain continuity of knowledge in a sufficiently reliable manner that should there be equipment failure, loss of continuity of knowledge would be restricted to a small population of the inventory, and thus reinventory of the stored items would be minimized These facility-specific monitoring systems, referred to as Inventory Monitoring Systems (IMS) are to provide the principal means for the M A to assure that the containers of fissile material remain accounted under the Verification Agreements which are to be concluded between the IAEA and the Russian Federation and the lAEA and the United States for the verification of weapon-origin and other fissile material specified by each State as released from its defense programs. A technical experts working group for inventory monitoring systems has been meeting since Feb- of 2000 to formulate General Technical Requirements (GTR) for Inventory Monitoring Systems for the Trilateral Initiative. Although provisional agreement has been reached by the three parties concerning the GTR, it is considered a living document that can be updated as warranted by the three parties. This paper provides a summary of the GTR as it currently exists.

Transuranic package transporter (TRUPACT) system design status and operational support equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johanson, N.W.; Meyer, R.J.; Romesberg, L.E.; Pope, R.B.

1983-01-01

A program was initiated in the late 1970's at Sandia National Laboratories to develop an efficient, safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation packaging system for the carriage of contact-handled transuranic (CH-TRU) waste within the Department of Energy (DOE) complex. It is anticipated that eventually a family of TRUPACT (TRansUranic PACKage Transporter) systems having varied dimensions and weight/volume capacities will be needed by the DOE to transport different CH-TRU waste forms. Each TRUPACT system will be a Type B packaging. Large quantities of CH-TRU wastes having many different forms, isotopic contents, and contained in a variety of waste containers have been, are being, and will continue to be produced and stored for ultimate disposal. Packaging design is being closely coordinated with facility designs to ensure the rapid and economic integration of the TRUPACT system. The first packaging developed for transport by truck or rail (bimodal) is designated TRUPACT-I and will become operational in 1984. This paper provides an overview of progress on the TRUPACT-I design and details of equipment to be used for interfacing with users

Advanced solutions for operational reliability improvements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holmberg, K [VTT Manufacturing Technology, Espoo (Finland)

1998-12-31

A great number of new technical tools are today developed for improved operational reliability of machines and industrial equipment. Examples of such techniques and tools recently developed at the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) are: metallographic approach for steam-piping lifetime estimation, an expert system AURORA for corrosion prediction and material selection, an automatic image-processing-based on-line wear particle analysis system, microsensors for condition monitoring, a condition monitoring and expert system, CEPDIA, for the diagnosis of centrifugal pumps, a machine tool analysis and diagnostic expert system, non-leakage magnetic fluid seals with extended lifetime and diamond-like surface coatings on components with decreased friction and wear properties. A hyperbook-supported holistic approach to problem solving in maintenance and reliability engineering has been developed to help the user achieve a holistic understanding of the problem and its relationships, to navigate among the several technical tools and methods available, and to find those suitable for his application. (orig.)

Advanced solutions for operational reliability improvements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holmberg, K. [VTT Manufacturing Technology, Espoo (Finland)

1997-12-31

A great number of new technical tools are today developed for improved operational reliability of machines and industrial equipment. Examples of such techniques and tools recently developed at the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) are: metallographic approach for steam-piping lifetime estimation, an expert system AURORA for corrosion prediction and material selection, an automatic image-processing-based on-line wear particle analysis system, microsensors for condition monitoring, a condition monitoring and expert system, CEPDIA, for the diagnosis of centrifugal pumps, a machine tool analysis and diagnostic expert system, non-leakage magnetic fluid seals with extended lifetime and diamond-like surface coatings on components with decreased friction and wear properties. A hyperbook-supported holistic approach to problem solving in maintenance and reliability engineering has been developed to help the user achieve a holistic understanding of the problem and its relationships, to navigate among the several technical tools and methods available, and to find those suitable for his application. (orig.)

Process Equipment Failure Mode Analysis in a Chemical Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Nasl Seraji

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Background and aims   Prevention of potential accidents and safety promotion in chemical processes requires systematic safety management in them. The main objective of this study was analysis of important process equipment components failure modes and effects in H2S and CO2  isolation from extracted natural gas process.   Methods   This study was done in sweetening unit of an Iranian gas refinery. Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA used for identification of process equipments failures.   Results   Totally 30 failures identified and evaluated using FMEA. P-1 blower's blade breaking and sour gas pressure control valve bearing tight moving had maximum risk Priority number (RPN, P-1 body corrosion and increasing plug lower side angle of reach DEAlevel control valve  in tower - 1 were minimum calculated RPN.   Conclusion   By providing a reliable documentation system for equipment failures and  incidents recording, maintaining of basic information for later safety assessments would be  possible. Also, the probability of failures and effects could be minimized by conducting preventive maintenance.

Generation of equipment response spectrum considering equipment-structure interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Hoon; Yoo, Kwang Hoon

2005-01-01

Floor response spectra for dynamic response of subsystem such as equipment, or piping in nuclear power plant are usually generated without considering dynamic interaction between main structure and subsystem. Since the dynamic structural response generally has the narrow-banded shapes, the resulting floor response spectra developed for various locations in the structure usually have high spectral peak amplitudes in the narrow frequency bands corresponding to the natural frequencies of the structural system. The application of such spectra for design of subsystems often leads to excessive design conservatisms, especially when the equipment frequency and structure are at resonance condition. Thus, in order to provide a rational and realistic design input for dynamic analysis and design of equipment, dynamic equipment-structure interaction (ESI) should be considered in developing equipment response spectrum which is particularly important for equipment at the resonance condition. Many analytical methods have been proposed in the past for developing equipment response spectra considering ESI. However, most of these methods have not been adapted to the practical applications because of either the complexities or the lack of rigorousness of the methods. At one hand, mass ratio among the equipment and structure was used as an important parameter to obtain equipment response spectra. Similarly, Tseng has also proposed the analytical method for developing equipment response spectra using mass ratio in the frequency domain. This method is analytically rigorous and can be easily validated. It is based on the dynamic substructuring method as applied to the dynamic soil-structure interaction (SSI) analysis, and can relatively easily be implemented for practical applications without to change the current dynamic analysis and design practice for subsystems. The equipment response spectra derived in this study are also based on Tseng's proposed method

78 FR 69018 - Improving the Resiliency of Mobile Wireless Communications Networks; Reliability and Continuity...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-18

... consumers value overall network reliability and quality in selecting mobile wireless service providers, they...-125] Improving the Resiliency of Mobile Wireless Communications Networks; Reliability and Continuity... (Reliability NOI) in 2011 to ``initiate a comprehensive examination of issues regarding the reliability...

Review of methods for the integration of reliability and design engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reilly, J.T.

1978-03-01

A review of methods for the integration of reliability and design engineering was carried out to establish a reliability program philosophy, an initial set of methods, and procedures to be used by both the designer and reliability analyst. The report outlines a set of procedures which implements a philosophy that requires increased involvement by the designer in reliability analysis. Discussions of each method reviewed include examples of its application

Analysis of the extension and reduction method of qualified life used in equipment with ambiental qualification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serrano R, M.L. .e -mail: mlserrano@cnsns.gob.mx

2005-01-01

With the purpose of reducing costs of acquisition, maintenance, design, hour-man, dose, production, etc. or by changes in the temperature of service, diverse Nuclear Plants (NP) in the world have been carried out extensions and reductions of life of equipment and/or components related with the safety. The used methods are mainly tests type on equipment or component aged quickly, tests type on equipment or component aged naturally and use of the Arrhenius model with monitoring of temperatures in place. The present article carries out an analysis of the Arrhenius model with monitoring of temperatures in place, which is presented in two variants, equation (1) and (2), since it is the but used by the NP with extension purposes and reduction of qualified life. As back information, it was made one search of investigations, applied to diverse fields of the science that try about the reliability of the results provided by Arrhenius for the aging case. The results of the analysis indicate: I) that this method make uncertainties in some intervals of temperature and 2) which of the two variants it provides data more reliable. (Author)

Logistical and safeguards aspects related to the introduction and implementation of video surveillance equipment by EURATOM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chare, P.J.; Wagner, H.G.; Otto, P.; Schenkel, R.

1987-01-01

With the growing availability of reliable video equipment for surveillance applications in safeguards and the disappearance of the Super 8 mm cameras, there will be a period of transition from film camera to video surveillance, a process which started two years ago. This gradual transition, as the film cameras come to the end of their useful lives, will afford the safeguards authorities the opportunity to examine in detail the logistical and procedural changes necessary. This paper examines, on the basis of existing video equipment in use or under development, the differences and problems to be encountered in the approach to surveillance. These problems include tamper resistance of signal transmission, on site and headquarters review, preventative maintenance, reliability, repair, and overall performance evaluation. In addition the advantages and flexibility offered by the introduction of video, such as on site review and increased memory capacity, are also discussed. The paper also considers the overall costs and manpower required by EURATOM for the implementation of the video systems as compared to the existing twin Minolta film camera system to ensure the most efficient use of manpower and equipment

9 CFR 590.502 - Equipment and utensils; PCB-containing equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Sanitary Standards and accepted practices currently in effect for such equipment. (c) New or replacement equipment or machinery (including any replacement parts) brought onto the premises of any official plant... equipment and machinery, and any replacement parts for such equipment and machinery. Totally enclosed...

A Study on Performance and Safety Tests of Defibrillator Equipment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tavakoli Golpaygani A.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Nowadays, more than 10,000 different types of medical devices can be found in hospitals. This way, medical electrical equipment is being employed in a wide variety of fields in medical sciences with different physiological effects and measurements. Hospitals and medical centers must ensure that their critical medical devices are safe, accurate, reliable and operational at the required level of performance. Defibrillators are critical resuscitation devices. The use of reliable defibirillators has led to more effective treatments and improved patient safety through better control and management of complications during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR. Materials and Methods: The metrological reliability of twenty frequent use, manual defibrillators in use ten hospitals (4 private and 6 public in one of the provinces of Iran according to international and national standards was evaluated. Results: Quantitative analysis of control and instrument accuracy showed the amount of the obtained results in many units are critical which had less value over the standard limitations especially in devices with poor battery. For the accuracy of delivered energy analysis, only twelve units delivered acceptable output values and the precision in the output energy measurements especialy in weak battry condition, after activation of discharge alarm, were low. Conclusion: Obtained results indicate a need for new and severe regulations on periodic performance verifications and medical equipment quality control program especially for high risk instruments. It is also necessary to provide training courses on the fundumentals of operation and performane parameters for medical staff in the field of meterology in medicine and how one can get good accuracy results especially in high risk medical devices.

A simplified model of natural and mechanical removal to estimate cleanup equipment efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehr, W.

2001-01-01

Oil spill response organizations rely on modelling to make decisions in offshore response operations. Models are used to test different cleanup strategies and to measure the expected cost of cleanup and the reduction in environmental impact. The oil spill response community has traditionally used the concept of worst case scenario in developing contingency plans for spill response. However, there are many drawbacks to this approach. The Hazardous Materials Response Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Cooperation with the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving has developed a Trajectory Analysis Planner (TAP) which will give planners the tool to try out different cleanup strategies and equipment configurations based upon historical wind and current conditions instead of worst-case scenarios. The spill trajectory model is a classic example in oil spill modelling that uses advanced non-linear three-dimensional hydrodynamical sub-models to estimate surface currents under conditions where oceanographic initial conditions are not accurately known and forecasts of wind stress are unreliable. In order to get better answers, it is often necessary to refine input values rather than increasing the sophistication of the hydrodynamics. This paper described another spill example where the level of complexity of the algorithms needs to be evaluated with regard to the reliability of the input, the sensitivity of the answers to input and model parameters, and the comparative reliability of other algorithms in the model. 9 refs., 1 fig

RTE - Reliability report 2016

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-06-01

Every year, RTE produces a reliability report for the past year. This document lays out the main factors that affected the electrical power system's operational reliability in 2016 and the initiatives currently under way intended to ensure its reliability in the future. Within a context of the energy transition, changes to the European interconnected network mean that RTE has to adapt on an on-going basis. These changes include the increase in the share of renewables injecting an intermittent power supply into networks, resulting in a need for flexibility, and a diversification in the numbers of stakeholders operating in the energy sector and changes in the ways in which they behave. These changes are dramatically changing the structure of the power system of tomorrow and the way in which it will operate - particularly the way in which voltage and frequency are controlled, as well as the distribution of flows, the power system's stability, the level of reserves needed to ensure supply-demand balance, network studies, assets' operating and control rules, the tools used and the expertise of operators. The results obtained in 2016 are evidence of a globally satisfactory level of reliability for RTE's operations in somewhat demanding circumstances: more complex supply-demand balance management, cross-border schedules at interconnections indicating operation that is closer to its limits and - most noteworthy - having to manage a cold spell just as several nuclear power plants had been shut down. In a drive to keep pace with the changes expected to occur in these circumstances, RTE implemented numerous initiatives to ensure high levels of reliability: - maintaining investment levels of euro 1.5 billion per year; - increasing cross-zonal capacity at borders with our neighbouring countries, thus bolstering the security of our electricity supply; - implementing new mechanisms (demand response, capacity mechanism, interruptibility, etc.); - involvement in tests or projects

Thermal fatigue equipment to test joints of materials for high heat flux components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Visca, E.; Libera, S.; Orsini, A.; Riccardi, B.; Sacchetti, M.

2000-01-01

The activity, carried out in the framework of an ITER divertor task, was aimed at defining a suitable method in order to qualify junctions between armour materials and heat sink of plasma-facing components (PFCs) mock-ups. An equipment able to perform thermal fatigue testing by electrical heating and active water-cooling was constructed and a standard for the sample was defined. In this equipment, during operation cycles, two samples are heated by thermal contact up to a relevant temperature value (350 deg. C) and then the water flow is switched on, thus producing fast cooling with time constants and gradients close to the real operating conditions. The equipment works with a test cycle of about 60 s and is suitable for continuous operation. A complete test consists of about 10000 cycles. After the assembling, the equipment and the control software were optimized to obtain a good reliability. Preliminary tests on mock-ups with flat CFC tiles joined to copper heat sink were performed. Finite-elements calculations were carried out in order to estimate the value of the thermal stresses arising close to the joint under the transient conditions that are characteristic of this equipment

Verification criteria on the reliability of personal dosimetric services from x and gamma radiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borasi, G.; Benco, A.; Kaftal, S.

1990-07-01

The paper presents the methods used by Working Group ENEA-EDP (Experts in Personal Dosimetry) to control the reliability of the Dosimetric Services operating in Italy and asking for the above controls on voluntary basis. Testing and irradiation test methods are explained as well as the evaluation criteria. The paper includes suggestions and guide-lines to gain the status of 'Reliable Service'. Technical equipment and operating procedures needed to pass the test are also illustrated. (author)

Equipment considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

Trace or ultratrace analyses require that the HPLC equipment used, including the detector, be optimal for such determinations. HPLC detectors are discussed at length in Chapter 4; discussion here is limited to the rest of the equipment. In general, commercial equipment is adequate for trace analysis; however, as the authors approach ultratrace analysis, it becomes very important to examine the equipment thoroughly and optimize it, where possible. For this reason they will review the equipment commonly used in HPLC and discuss the optimization steps. Detectability in HPLC is influenced by two factors (1): (a) baseline noise or other interferences that lead to errors in assigning the baseline absorbance; (b) peak width. 87 refs

Protocol for disposition of tank farm equipment lists and tank farm drawings for year 2000 compliance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

ADAMS, M.R.

1999-01-01

A program has been initiated to assess, renovate, document and certify tank farm field equipment for year 2000 compliance. The program is necessary to assure no adverse effects occur in tank farm operations as a result of equipment malfunction due to what is widely known as the ''millennium bug''. This document elaborates the protocols for reviewing field equipment lists and tank farm drawings for the purpose of identifying and resolving year 2000 compliance problems in tank farm equipment

System for remote routine monitoring of power equipment at TPP and NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kantsedalov, V.G.; Samojlenko, V.P.; Doroshenko, V.A.

1988-01-01

A system for remote routine monitoring of TPP and NPP pipeline metals is described. The principal functional unit of the system is the unit of remote routine methods and techniques for studying and monitoring the metal and properties. The system is equipped with 5 types of routine monitoring equipment: robots, remote aggregated complexes, periodical diagnostic monitors, other means of metal diagnostics (endoscopes, introscopes). All current information enters the unit for estimating and forecasting the service life of power unit, where it is compared with the standard indices of reliability, duravility and efficiency. The system considered permits to reduce significantly or minimize the scope of works on metal monitoring during overhauls, increase intermonitoring and interrepairing compaigns to 8 years

System reliability of corroding pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Wenxing

2010-01-01

A methodology is presented in this paper to evaluate the time-dependent system reliability of a pipeline segment that contains multiple active corrosion defects and is subjected to stochastic internal pressure loading. The pipeline segment is modeled as a series system with three distinctive failure modes due to corrosion, namely small leak, large leak and rupture. The internal pressure is characterized as a simple discrete stochastic process that consists of a sequence of independent and identically distributed random variables each acting over a period of one year. The magnitude of a given sequence follows the annual maximum pressure distribution. The methodology is illustrated through a hypothetical example. Furthermore, the impact of the spatial variability of the pressure loading and pipe resistances associated with different defects on the system reliability is investigated. The analysis results suggest that the spatial variability of pipe properties has a negligible impact on the system reliability. On the other hand, the spatial variability of the internal pressure, initial defect sizes and defect growth rates can have a significant impact on the system reliability.

Data Used in Quantified Reliability Models

Science.gov (United States)

DeMott, Diana; Kleinhammer, Roger K.; Kahn, C. J.

2014-01-01

Data is the crux to developing quantitative risk and reliability models, without the data there is no quantification. The means to find and identify reliability data or failure numbers to quantify fault tree models during conceptual and design phases is often the quagmire that precludes early decision makers consideration of potential risk drivers that will influence design. The analyst tasked with addressing a system or product reliability depends on the availability of data. But, where is does that data come from and what does it really apply to? Commercial industries, government agencies, and other international sources might have available data similar to what you are looking for. In general, internal and external technical reports and data based on similar and dissimilar equipment is often the first and only place checked. A common philosophy is "I have a number - that is good enough". But, is it? Have you ever considered the difference in reported data from various federal datasets and technical reports when compared to similar sources from national and/or international datasets? Just how well does your data compare? Understanding how the reported data was derived, and interpreting the information and details associated with the data is as important as the data itself.

Medical Issues: Equipment

Science.gov (United States)

... Information Packets Equipment Pool Living With SMA Medical Issues Palliative Breathing Orthopedics Nutrition Equipment Daily Life At ... curesma.org > support & care > living with sma > medical issues > equipment Equipment Individuals with SMA often require a ...

On-Line Radiation Test Facility for Industrial Equipment needed for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN

CERN Document Server

Rausch, R

1999-01-01

The future Large Hadron Collider to be built at CERN will use superconducting magnets cooled down to 1.2 K. To preserve the superconductivity, the energy deposition dose levels in equipment located outside the cryostat, in the LHC tunnel, are calculated to be of the order of 1 to 10 Gy per year. At such dose levels, no major radiation-damage problems are to be expected, and the possibility of installing Commercial Of The Shelf (COTS) electronic equipment in the LHC tunnel along the accelerator is considered. To this purpose, industrial electronic equipment and circuits have to be qualified and tested against radiation to insure their long term stability and reliability. An on-line radiation test facility has been setup at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) and a program of on-line tests for electronic equipment is ongoing. Equipment tested includes Industrial Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) from several manufacturers, standard VME modules, Fieldbuses like Profibus, WorldFIP and CAN, various electro...

State-of-art report on digital I and C system reliability issues for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, In Koo; Lee, Dong Gyoung; Cha, Kyung Ho; Kwon, Kee Choon; Wood, Richard T.

2000-01-01

As the instrumentation and control (Iand C) equipment suppliers tend to provide digital components rather than conventional analog type components for instrument and control systems of nuclear power plants(NPPs), it is unavoidable to adopt digital equipment for safety I and C systems as well as non-safety systems. However, the full introduction of digital equipment to I and C systems of nuclear power plants raises several concerns which have not been considered for conventional analog I and C systems. The two major examples of the issues of digital systems are electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and software reliability. KAERI invited a technical expert, Dr. Richard T. Wood, from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Unites States and held seminars to recognize the state-of-art of the above issues and to share the information on techniques dealing with the problems. Dr. Wood has been working on the development of EMC guidelines and technical basis in using digital equipment for safety systems in nuclear power plants on the sponsorship of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Being based on his statements and discussions during his visit, this report describes technical considerations and issues on digital safety I and C system application in NPPs, EMC methods, environmental effects vulnerable to digital components, reliability assurance methods, etc. (author)

Offshore compression system design for low cost high and reliability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castro, Carlos J. Rocha de O.; Carrijo Neto, Antonio Dias; Cordeiro, Alexandre Franca [Chemtech Engineering Services and Software Ltd., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Special Projects Div.], Emails: antonio.carrijo@chemtech.com.br, carlos.rocha@chemtech.com.br, alexandre.cordeiro@chemtech.com.br

2010-07-01

In the offshore oil fields, the oil streams coming from the wells usually have significant amounts of gas. This gas is separated at low pressure and has to be compressed to the export pipeline pressure, usually at high pressure to reduce the needed diameter of the pipelines. In the past, this gases where flared, but nowadays there are a increasing pressure for the energy efficiency improvement of the oil rigs and the use of this gaseous fraction. The most expensive equipment of this kind of plant are the compression and power generation systems, being the second a strong function of the first, because the most power consuming equipment are the compressors. For this reason, the optimization of the compression system in terms of efficiency and cost are determinant to the plant profit. The availability of the plants also have a strong influence in the plant profit, specially in gas fields where the products have a relatively low aggregated value, compared to oil. Due this, the third design variable of the compression system becomes the reliability. As high the reliability, larger will be the plant production. The main ways to improve the reliability of compression system are the use of multiple compression trains in parallel, in a 2x50% or 3x50% configuration, with one in stand-by. Such configurations are possible and have some advantages and disadvantages, but the main side effect is the increase of the cost. This is the offshore common practice, but that does not always significantly improve the plant availability, depending of the previous process system. A series arrangement and a critical evaluation of the overall system in some cases can provide a cheaper system with equal or better performance. This paper shows a case study of the procedure to evaluate a compression system design to improve the reliability but without extreme cost increase, balancing the number of equipment, the series or parallel arrangement, and the driver selection. Two cases studies will be

Strategic plan for the development of IAEA safeguards equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khlebnikov, N.

2001-01-01

Full text: The need for a top-down Safeguards Strategy to focus departmental objectives was recognized by the Programme Performance Appraisal System (PPAS) performed on the Equipment Development Project in 1999. The Department of Safeguards prepared at the end of 2000 a 5-year Strategic Plan to identify the changes and improvements expected to take place over the 2001-2005 period. Those Strategic Objectives were supposed to be used to properly plan IAEA Safeguards activities and define appropriate and coherent R and D programmes. The present paper describes the strategic directions that the IAEA will follow in the area of equipment development in order to meet the Safeguards Department long-term objectives for 2001-2005. The paper, which is derived from the IAEA Strategic Equipment Development Plan, prepared by the Division of Technical Support, includes two parts: general principles and policies applicable to all equipment development tasks; specific strategic guidance. The paper will not describe the detailed plans which are prepared based on the strategic plan on a biannual basis. Equipment development activities have been divided in five major projects (NDA, Seals, Surveillance, Unattended Monitoring and Remote Monitoring). Strategic directions for each of these projects will be described in the paper. Separate sections will deal with equipment development strategic guidance in the area of additional protocol inspections, JNFL projects, illicit trafficking and Trilateral Initiative. (author)

Statistical reliability assessment of UT round-robin test data for piping welds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, H.M.; Park, I.K.; Park, U.S.; Park, Y.W.; Kang, S.C.; Lee, J.H.

2004-01-01

Ultrasonic NDE is one of important technologies in the life-time maintenance of nuclear power plant. Ultrasonic inspection system is consisted of the operator, equipment and procedure. The reliability of ultrasonic inspection system is affected by its ability. The performance demonstration round robin was conducted to quantify the capability of ultrasonic inspection for in-service. Several teams employed procedures that met or exceeded with ASME sec. XI code requirements detected the piping of nuclear power plant with various cracks to evaluate the capability of detection and sizing. In this paper, the statistical reliability assessment of ultrasonic nondestructive inspection data using probability of detection (POD) is presented. The result of POD using logistic model was useful to the reliability assessment for the NDE hit or miss data. (orig.)

Reliability tests for reactor internals replacement technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimaki, K.; Uchiyama, J.; Ohtsubo, T.

2000-01-01

Structural damage due to aging degradation of LWR reactor internals has been reported in several nuclear plants. NUPEC has started a project to test the reliability of the technology for replacing reactor internals, which was directed at preventive maintenance before damage and repair after damage for the aging degradation. The project has been funded by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan since 1995, and it follows the policy of a report that the MITI has formally issued in April 1996 summarizing the countermeasures to be considered for aging nuclear plants and equipment. This paper gives an outline of the whole test plans and the test results for the BWR reactor internals replacement methods; core shroud, ICM housing, and CRD Housing and stub tube. The test results have shown that the methods were reliable and the structural integrity was appropriate based on the evaluation. (author)

Creation of reactor's reliable system of emergency energy supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batyrbekov, G.A.; Brovkin, A.Yu.; Petukhov, V.K.; Chekushin, A.I.; Chernyaev, V.P.; Yagotinets, N.A.

1998-01-01

System of reliable power supply of the WWR-K reactor complex is described, which completely provides safety operation of reactor equipment in the case of total voltage loss from external power transmission lines as well as under destruction of accumulation batteries by earthquake more than 6 balls. Switching on in operation of diesel-generators and system of constant current supply from accumulator batteries is occurred automatically under cessation of voltage supply from centralized power system. Reliable reactor dampening in case it work on capacity has been ensured. Reactor cooling under its emergency shutdown during both the partial or the total loss of coolant in first counter has been carried out. Under full coolant loss the system of emergency reactor cooling has been switched on in operation

Study on intelligence fault diagnosis method for nuclear power plant equipment based on rough set and fuzzy neural network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yongkuo; Xia Hong; Xie Chunli; Chen Zhihui; Chen Hongxia

2007-01-01

Rough set theory and fuzzy neural network are combined, to take full advantages of the two of them. Based on the reduction technology to knowledge of Rough set method, and by drawing the simple rule from a large number of initial data, the fuzzy neural network was set up, which was with better topological structure, improved study speed, accurate judgment, strong fault-tolerant ability, and more practical. In order to test the validity of the method, the inverted U-tubes break accident of Steam Generator and etc are used as examples, and many simulation experiments are performed. The test result shows that it is feasible to incorporate the fault intelligence diagnosis method based on rough set and fuzzy neural network in the nuclear power plant equipment, and the method is simple and convenience, with small calculation amount and reliable result. (authors)

HUMAN RELIABILITY ANALYSIS DENGAN PENDEKATAN COGNITIVE RELIABILITY AND ERROR ANALYSIS METHOD (CREAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahirah Alifia Maulida

2015-01-01

reliability analysis methods which purposely employed to gain a Cognitive Failure Probability (CFP value which can be conducted with basic and extended method. An application of basic method will result a general value of failure probability whereas a more specific CFP value for every task will be resulted when the extended method is utilized. This study showed that numbers of factors that shall be applied to mitigate error on grinding and welding sector are application of; adequacy of organization, adequacy of Man Machine Interface (MMI & operational support, availability of procedure /plans and adequacy of training and preparation. This study exhibites that planning has the highest erroneous value of cognitive aspect on grinding task (by CFP value of 0.3. Furthermore, CFP value of 0.18 of cognitive aspect is shown for execution on welding task. To summarize, this study suggests numerous method to trim cognitive erroneous value on grinding and welding work, which are by committing a periodical training, applying more detail work instruction and giving education to operate the equipment. Keywords: CREAM (cognitive reliability and error analysis method, HRA (human reliability analysis, cognitive error

Uncertainty in the analysis of the overall equipment effectiveness on the shop floor

Science.gov (United States)

Rößler, M. P.; Abele, E.

2013-06-01

In this article an approach will be presented which supports transparency regarding the effectiveness of manufacturing equipment by combining the fuzzy set theory with the method of the overall equipment effectiveness analysis. One of the key principles of lean production and also a fundamental task in production optimization projects is the prior analysis of the current state of a production system by the use of key performance indicators to derive possible future states. The current state of the art in overall equipment effectiveness analysis is usually performed by cumulating different machine states by means of decentralized data collection without the consideration of uncertainty. In manual data collection or semi-automated plant data collection systems the quality of derived data often diverges and leads optimization teams to distorted conclusions about the real optimization potential of manufacturing equipment. The method discussed in this paper is to help practitioners to get more reliable results in the analysis phase and so better results of optimization projects. Under consideration of a case study obtained results are discussed.

Uncertainty in the analysis of the overall equipment effectiveness on the shop floor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rößler, M P; Abele, E

2013-01-01

In this article an approach will be presented which supports transparency regarding the effectiveness of manufacturing equipment by combining the fuzzy set theory with the method of the overall equipment effectiveness analysis. One of the key principles of lean production and also a fundamental task in production optimization projects is the prior analysis of the current state of a production system by the use of key performance indicators to derive possible future states. The current state of the art in overall equipment effectiveness analysis is usually performed by cumulating different machine states by means of decentralized data collection without the consideration of uncertainty. In manual data collection or semi-automated plant data collection systems the quality of derived data often diverges and leads optimization teams to distorted conclusions about the real optimization potential of manufacturing equipment. The method discussed in this paper is to help practitioners to get more reliable results in the analysis phase and so better results of optimization projects. Under consideration of a case study obtained results are discussed.

Performance test of ex-core high temperature and high pressure water loop test equipment (Contract research)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakano, Hiroko; Uehara, Toshiaki; Takeuchi, Tomoaki; Shibata, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Jinichi; Matsui, Yoshinori; Tsuchiya, Kunihiko

2016-03-01

In Japan Atomic Energy Agency, we started research and development so as to monitor the situations in the Nuclear Plant Facilities during a severe accident, such as a radiation-resistant monitoring camera, a radiation-resistant transmission system for conveying the in-core information, and a heat-resistant signal cable. As a part of developments of the heat-resistant signal cable, we prepared ex-core high-temperature and high-pressure water loop test equipment, which can simulate the conditions of BWRs and PWRs, for evaluating reliability and properties of sheath materials of the cable. This equipment consists of autoclave, water conditioning tank, high-pressure metering pump, preheater, heat exchanger and water purification equipment, etc. This report describes the basic design and the performance test results of ex-core high-temperature and high-pressure water loop test equipment. (author)

Remote operational trials with the ITER FDR divertor handling equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irving, M.; Baldi, L.; Benamati, G.; Galbiati, L.; Giacomelli, S.; Lorenzelli, L.; Micciche, G.; Muro, L.; Polverari, A.; Palmer, J.; Martin, E.

2003-01-01

The ITER divertor test platform (DTP) located at ENEA's Research Centre in Brasimone, Italy is a full-scale mock-up of a 72 deg. arc of the ITER 1998 vessel divertor region--the result of a major initiative over the period 1996-2000. Since the implementation of this facility, the design of the ITER vessel--and therefore much of the remote maintenance equipment--has changed substantially. However, the nature and principles of the remote handling equipment are still very similar, and hence many valuable lessons can yet be learned from the existing equipment for the future. In particular, true remote handling tests of the major maintenance subsystems were seen as an important step in determining their suitability for ITER. This paper describes and documents a series of three, discrete, remote-handling trials carried out using most of the major DTP subsystems, and presents an overview of the conclusions and suggestions for future development of ITER cassette remote handling equipment

An initial reliability and validity study of the Interaction, Communication, and Literacy Skills Audit.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Choueifati, Nisrine; Purcell, Alison; McCabe, Patricia; Heard, Robert; Munro, Natalie

2014-06-01

Early childhood educators (ECEs) have an important role in promoting positive outcomes for children's language and literacy development. This paper reports the development of a new tool, The Interaction Communication and Literacy (ICL) Skills Audit, and pilots its reliability and validity. Intra- and inter-rater reliability was examined by three speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Five skill areas relating to ECE language and literacy practice were rated. The face and content validity of the ICL Skills Audit was examined by expert SLPs (n = 8) and expert ECEs (n = 4) via questionnaire. The overall intra-rater reliability for the ICL Skills Audit was excellent with percentage close agreement (PCA) of 91-94. Inter-rater agreement was PCA 68-80. Expert SLPs and ECEs agreed that the content was comprehensive and practical. Based on this preliminary study, the ICL Skills Audit appears to be a promising tool that can be used by SLPs and ECEs in collaboration to measure the skills of ECEs in the areas of language and literacy support. Future psychometric and outcome research on the revised ICL Skills Audit is warranted.

Reliability analysis techniques for the design engineer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corran, E.R.; Witt, H.H.

1982-01-01

This paper describes a fault tree analysis package that eliminates most of the housekeeping tasks involved in proceeding from the initial construction of a fault tree to the final stage of presenting a reliability analysis in a safety report. It is suitable for designers with relatively little training in reliability analysis and computer operation. Users can rapidly investigate the reliability implications of various options at the design stage and evolve a system which meets specified reliability objectives. Later independent review is thus unlikely to reveal major shortcomings necessitating modification and project delays. The package operates interactively, allowing the user to concentrate on the creative task of developing the system fault tree, which may be modified and displayed graphically. For preliminary analysis, system data can be derived automatically from a generic data bank. As the analysis proceeds, improved estimates of critical failure rates and test and maintenance schedules can be inserted. The technique is applied to the reliability analysis of the recently upgraded HIFAR Containment Isolation System. (author)

Can simple mobile phone applications provide reliable counts of respiratory rates in sick infants and children? An initial evaluation of three new applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Black, James; Gerdtz, Marie; Nicholson, Pat; Crellin, Dianne; Browning, Laura; Simpson, Julie; Bell, Lauren; Santamaria, Nick

2015-05-01

Respiratory rate is an important sign that is commonly either not recorded or recorded incorrectly. Mobile phone ownership is increasing even in resource-poor settings. Phone applications may improve the accuracy and ease of counting of respiratory rates. The study assessed the reliability and initial users' impressions of four mobile phone respiratory timer approaches, compared to a 60-second count by the same participants. Three mobile applications (applying four different counting approaches plus a standard 60-second count) were created using the Java Mobile Edition and tested on Nokia C1-01 phones. Apart from the 60-second timer application, the others included a counter based on the time for ten breaths, and three based on the time interval between breaths ('Once-per-Breath', in which the user presses for each breath and the application calculates the rate after 10 or 20 breaths, or after 60s). Nursing and physiotherapy students used the applications to count respiratory rates in a set of brief video recordings of children with different respiratory illnesses. Limits of agreement (compared to the same participant's standard 60-second count), intra-class correlation coefficients and standard errors of measurement were calculated to compare the reliability of the four approaches, and a usability questionnaire was completed by the participants. There was considerable variation in the counts, with large components of the variation related to the participants and the videos, as well as the methods. None of the methods was entirely reliable, with no limits of agreement better than -10 to +9 breaths/min. Some of the methods were superior to the others, with ICCs from 0.24 to 0.92. By ICC the Once-per-Breath 60-second count and the Once-per-Breath 20-breath count were the most consistent, better even than the 60-second count by the participants. The 10-breath approaches performed least well. Users' initial impressions were positive, with little difference between the

[Application of compression equipment using the "form memory" effect and super-elasticity of titanium nickelide in surgery for rectal cancer].

Science.gov (United States)

Vlasov, A A; Vazhenin, A V; Plotnikov, V V; Spirev, V V; Chinarev, Iu B

2010-01-01

The study is concerned with development of equipment for forming circular compression intestinal anastomosis using the "form memory" effect and super-elasticity of titanium nickelide. A sequence of technological operations is suggested, experimental tests and clinical trials carried out and immediate and end-results for anterior resection in rectal cancer are evaluated. Compression equipment for forming colorectal anastomosis proved reliable in long-term operation.

A methodology for analyzing precursors to earthquake-initiated and fire-initiated accident sequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budnitz, R.J.; Lambert, H.E.; Apostolakis, G.

1998-04-01

This report covers work to develop a methodology for analyzing precursors to both earthquake-initiated and fire-initiated accidents at commercial nuclear power plants. Currently, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sponsors a large ongoing project, the Accident Sequence Precursor project, to analyze the safety significance of other types of accident precursors, such as those arising from internally-initiated transients and pipe breaks, but earthquakes and fires are not within the current scope. The results of this project are that: (1) an overall step-by-step methodology has been developed for precursors to both fire-initiated and seismic-initiated potential accidents; (2) some stylized case-study examples are provided to demonstrate how the fully-developed methodology works in practice, and (3) a generic seismic-fragility date base for equipment is provided for use in seismic-precursors analyses. 44 refs., 23 figs., 16 tabs

Management of spare parts in the obsolescence of equipment. Experiences of TECNATOM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martin Frances, Antonio [Spares Engineering, TECNATOM, Ave. Montes de Oca 1, 28709, Madrid (Spain)

2010-07-01

Since 1957, Tecnatom is giving engineering specialized services to the Electric Power Generation Plants. These activities also extend to other industrial areas like aerospace sector. TECNATOM it's made up of highly qualified specialists with an extensive experience and dedicated spirit and a pool of young people who interact with them to ensure the continuity of the company as a great team. As an important part of our activities, the 'Spares Engineering', complements the reliability and guarantee of a committed company. Nowadays, because of different reasons, there is a growing problematic in the collection of safety equipment and its spares in the NPPs. Tecnatom has set several actions in motion directed to improve the availability of these equipment and spares, by means of life extension of equipment installed, by means of the development of equipment and spares alternatives to the originals, or by means of services in relation with the spare parts. The actions developed until now have provided satisfactory results in technical and economical terms for the Plants. We have developments at present in course, that we hope they will increase this contribution to solve the problems of obsolescence in NPP's. (authors)

Development and initial porcine and cadaver experience with three-dimensional printing of endoscopic and laparoscopic equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

del Junco, Michael; Okhunov, Zhamshid; Yoon, Renai; Khanipour, Ramtin; Juncal, Samuel; Abedi, Garen; Lusch, Achim; Landman, Jaime

2015-01-01

Recent advances in three-dimensional (3D) printing technology have made it possible to print surgical devices. We report our initial experience with the printing and deployment of endoscopic and laparoscopic equipment. We created computer-aided designs for ureteral stents and laparoscopic trocars using SolidWorks. We developed three generations of stents, which were printed with an Objet500 Connex printer, and a fourth generation was printed with an EOSINT P395 printer. The trocars were printed with an Objet30 Pro printer. We deployed the printed stents and trocars in a female cadaver and in vivo porcine model. We compared the printed trocars to two standard trocars for defect area and length using a digital caliper. Paired T-tests and ANOVA were used to test for statistical difference. The first two generations of stents (7F and 9F) were functional failures as their diminutive inner lumen failed to allow the passage of a 0.035 guidewire. The third generation 12F stent allowed passage of a 0.035 guidewire. The 12F diameter limited its deployment, but it was introduced in a cadaver through a ureteral access sheath. The fourth-generation 9F stents were printed and deployed in a porcine model using the standard Seldinger technique. The printed trocars were functional for the maintenance of the pneumoperitoneum and instrument passage. The printed trocars had larger superficial defect areas (pcadaver models. Three-dimensional printing is rapidly advancing and may be clinically viable in the future.

A multiple stage approach to mitigate the risks of telecommunication equipment under free air cooling conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai Jun; Das, Diganta; Pecht, Michael

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Analyze the challenges posed by free air cooling (FAC). ► Present a multi-stage process to mitigate the risks of FAC. ► Propose a prognostics-based method to mitigate risks in data centers in operation. ► Present a case study to show the prognostics-based method implementation. - Abstract: The telecommunication industry is concerned about the energy costs of its operating infrastructure and the associated greenhouse gas emissions. At present, more than half of the total energy consumption of data centers is devoted to the power and cooling infrastructure that supports electronic equipment. One method of reducing energy consumption is an approach called “free air cooling,” where ambient air is used to cool the equipment directly, thereby reducing the energy consumed in cooling and conditioning the air. For example, Intel demonstrated free air cooling in a 10-megawatt (MW) data center, showing a reduction in energy use and savings of US$2.87 million annually. However, the impacts of this approach on the performance and reliability of telecommunication equipment need to be identified. The implementation of free air cooling changes the operating environment, including temperature and humidity, which may have a significant impact on the performance and reliability of telecom equipment. This paper discusses the challenges posed by free air cooling and presents a multi-stage process for evaluating and mitigating the potential risks arising from this new operating environment.

Operational planning optimization of steam power plants considering equipment failure in petrochemical complex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, Xianglong; Zhang, Bingjian; Chen, Ying; Mo, Songping

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► We develop a systematic programming methodology to address equipment failure. ► We classify different operation conditions into real periods and virtual periods. ► The formulated MILP models guarantee cost reduction and enough operation safety. ► The consideration of reserving operation redundancy is effective. - Abstract: One or more interconnected steam power plants (SPPs) are constructed in a petrochemical complex to supply utility energy to the process. To avoid large economic penalties or process shutdowns, these SPPs should be flexible and reliable enough to meet the process energy requirement under varying conditions. Unexpected utility equipment failure is inevitable and difficult to be predicted. Most of the conventional methods are based on the assumption that SPPs do not experience any kind of equipment failure. Unfortunately, a process shutdown cannot be avoided when equipment fails unexpectedly. In this paper, a systematic methodology is presented to minimize the total cost under normal conditions while reserving enough flexibility and safety for unexpected equipment failure conditions. The proposed method transforms the different conditions into real periods to indicate normal scenarios and virtual periods to indicate unexpected equipment failure scenarios. The optimization strategy incorporating various operation redundancy scheduling, the transition constraints from equipment failure conditions to normal conditions, and the boiler load increase behavior modeling are presented to save cost and guarantee operation safety. A detailed industrial case study shows that the proposed systematic methodology is effective and practical in coping with equipment failure conditions with only few additional cost penalties

Development of compressor equipment for technologies of hydrocarbons extraction using nitrogen

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. V. Kirik

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article provides an overview of the results of research and development work aimed at the development and implementation of technologies compressor using nitrogen to extract hydrocarbons. Nitrogen as the most affordable gas, is used as a neutral environment while performing a variety of works: gas injection into wells to stabilize the reservoir pressure in the development of oil and gas fields, gas condensate production, as well as the performance of repair work and testing of pipelines. A significant role is played by the use of nitrogen for extinguishing fires in coal mines. The implementation of these technologies requires the design and development of domestic production of the compressor equipment. The article gives some examples of developments of compressor stations based on screw and piston compressors, which meet modern requirements of efficiency, reliability, ergonomics and ecology, equipped with systems of control and regulation on the basis of controllers. The description and characteristics of the compressor equipment, and some results of the implementation compressors and technologies using nitrogen as a neutral environment.

Systems reliability analysis for the national ignition facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Majumdar, K.C.; Annese, C.E.; MacIntyre, A.T.; Sicherman, A.

1996-01-01

A Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) analysis was initiated for the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The NIF is an inertial confinement fusion research facility designed to achieve controlled thermonuclear reaction; the preferred site for the NIF is the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The NIF RAM analysis has three purposes: (1) to allocate top level reliability and availability goals for the systems, (2) to develop an operability model for optimum maintainability, and (3) to determine the achievability of the allocated goals of the RAM parameters for the NIF systems and the facility operation as a whole. An allocation model assigns the reliability and availability goals for front line and support systems by a top-down approach; reliability analysis uses a bottom-up approach to determine the system reliability and availability from component level to system level

Semiconductor Manufacturing equipment introduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Im, Jong Sun

2001-02-01

This book deals with semiconductor manufacturing equipment. It is comprised of nine chapters, which are manufacturing process of semiconductor device, history of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, kinds and role of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, construction and method of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, introduction of various semiconductor manufacturing equipment, spots of semiconductor manufacturing, technical elements of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, road map of technology of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and semiconductor manufacturing equipment in the 21st century.

Vibration aging of diesel-engine mounted electrical equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, B.J.; Morton, W.C.

1994-01-01

The Emergency Diesel Generator (EDG) in a Nuclear Power Plant is considered to be a component which is essential to safe plant operation. Failures of auxiliary equipment directly mounted on the EDG creates costly repairs, and compromises the engine's availability and reliability. Although IEEE-323 requires addressing of safety-related components due to mechanically induced vibration, very few guidelines exist in the nuclear industry to show how this may be accounted for. Most engine vendors rely on the empirical experience data as the basis of their evaluation for vibration. Upgrade of engine controls, addition of monitoring devices and other engine modifications require design and installation of new equipment to be mounted directly on the engine. This necessitates the evaluation for engine-induced vibration which is considered to be one of the most severe design parameters. This paper discusses the engine vibration characteristics, and the acquisition of extensive field vibration data on the diesel engine under operating conditions. The data is then used to develop life cycle vibration qualification test profiles that can be applied with confidence in a laboratory environment to qualify engine-mounted equipment. The intent is to validate a product's ability to survive under worst case, extended service on-engine conditions. This paper describes the procedures and approaches used to achieve those goals, and provides developed profile examples and test results

A model for estimation of potential generation of waste electrical and electronic equipment in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Araújo, Marcelo Guimarães; Magrini, Alessandra; Mahler, Cláudio Fernando; Bilitewski, Bernd

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Literature of WEEE generation in developing countries is reviewed. ► We analyse existing estimates of WEEE generation for Brazil. ► We present a model for WEEE generation estimate. ► WEEE generation of 3.77 kg/capita year for 2008 is estimated. ► Use of constant lifetime should be avoided for non-mature market products. - Abstract: Sales of electrical and electronic equipment are increasing dramatically in developing countries. Usually, there are no reliable data about quantities of the waste generated. A new law for solid waste management was enacted in Brazil in 2010, and the infrastructure to treat this waste must be planned, considering the volumes of the different types of electrical and electronic equipment generated. This paper reviews the literature regarding estimation of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), focusing on developing countries, particularly in Latin America. It briefly describes the current WEEE system in Brazil and presents an updated estimate of generation of WEEE. Considering the limited available data in Brazil, a model for WEEE generation estimation is proposed in which different methods are used for mature and non-mature market products. The results showed that the most important variable is the equipment lifetime, which requires a thorough understanding of consumer behavior to estimate. Since Brazil is a rapidly expanding market, the “boom” in waste generation is still to come. In the near future, better data will provide more reliable estimation of waste generation and a clearer interpretation of the lifetime variable throughout the years.

Safeguards techniques and equipment. 2003 ed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

-destructive analysis (NDA) techniques, and compare their findings with the declared figures and the operator's records. The next level of verification has the aim of detecting whether a fraction of a declared amount is missing (partial defect) and may involve the weighing of items and measurements with NDA techniques such as neutron counting or gamma-ray spectrometry. For detecting bias defects, which would arise if small amounts of material were diverted over a protracted length of time, it is necessary to sample some of the items and to apply physical and chemical analysis techniques having the highest possible accuracy, typically less than one per cent. In order to apply these destructive analysis (DA) techniques, the IAEA requires access to laboratories which use such accurate techniques on a routine basis. Containment and surveillance (C/S) techniques, which are complementary to nuclear material accountancy techniques, are applied in order to maintain continuity of the knowledge gained through IAEA verification, by giving assurance that nuclear material follows predetermined routes, that the integrity of its containment remains unimpaired and that the material is accounted for at the correct measurement points. They also lead to savings in the safeguards inspection effort, e.g. by reducing the frequency of accountancy verification. A variety of C/S techniques are used, primarily optical surveillance and sealing. In remote monitoring, the unattended equipment transmits the data off-site. For unattended and remote monitoring, additional criteria must be met, including high reliability and authentication of the data source. Data communication costs have dropped dramatically in recent years. Data security is an important feature of unattended and remote monitoring systems. Environmental sampling, which allows detection of minute traces of nuclear material, was added to the IAEA's verification measures in the early 1990s as a powerful tool for detecting indications of undeclared

Reliable avionics design for deep space

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Stephen B.

The technical and organizational problems posed by the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) are discussed, and some possible solutions are examined. It is pointed out that SEI poses a whole new set of challenging problems in the design of reliable systems. These missions and their corresponding systems are far more complex than current systems. The initiative requires a set of vehicles and systems which must have very high levels of autonomy, reliability, and operability for long periods of time. It is emphasized that to achieve these goals in the face of great complexity, new technologies and organizational techniques will be necessary. It is noted that the key to a good design is good people. Not only must good people be found, but they must be placed in positions appropriate to their skills. It is argued that the atomistic and autocratic paradigm of vertical organizations must be replaced with more team-oriented and democratic structures.

Assessment of magnetic resonance imaging of the breast using 0.5 T equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vilanova, J. C.; Barcelo, J.; Ferrer, J.; Castaner, F.; Miro, J.; Bassaganyas, R.; Viejo, N.; Albanell, J.; Villalon, M.

2002-01-01

To evaluate the efficacy of a magnetic resonance imaging technique of the breast using half-field equipment (0.5 T). We evaluated 191 magnetic resonance (MRI) studies made at our center from March 1998 to March 2001 using Signa Contour 0.5 T MRI equipment of General Electric. A dedicated bilateral breast made at fat saturation in the coronal plane before administering intravenous gadolinium, then 6 consecutive times after contrast administration. The sequence acquisition time was 70-90 seconds Image post processing included subtraction and analysis of the intensity/time curves in the region of interest (ROI) together with morphological evaluation of the lesion. Additional T2 weighted fast-spin-echo sequences (FSE T2), T1-weighted spin-echo (SE T1), FSE T2 with fat suppression, and STIR with water saturation were made for studies of breast implants. The clinical indications for MRI study of the breast were masses (n=79), microcalcifications (n=7), asymmetry (n=17), cases of indeterminate risk (n=7), postoperative control (n=51), and breast implants (n=25). The histological diagnosis was benign in 31 lesions and malignant in 73 lesions. The sensitivity specificity, and reliability of breast MRI were 93%, 81% and 89% respectively. Multicenter/multifocal neoplasms were found in 8% of patients and bilateral neoplasms in 2%. The therapeutic attitude was modified in 18% of the patients with breast cancer as a result of MRI findings. The results confirm the usefulness of MRI in the management of patients with breast cancer. Likewise, the present study demonstrated that breast MRI can be carried out with half-field equipment with the same reliability as with full-field equipment as long as specific breast cots are used rapid 3D sequences, and image processing with suitable software. (Author) 28 refs

A Study on Performance and Safety Tests of Electrosurgical Equipment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tavakoli Golpaygani A.

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Modern medicine employs a wide variety of instruments with different physiological effects and measurements. Periodic verifications are routinely used in legal metrology for industrial measuring instruments. The correct operation of electrosurgical generators is essential to ensure patient’s safety and management of the risks associated with the use of high and low frequency electrical currents on human body. Material and Methods: The metrological reliability of 20 electrosurgical equipment in six hospitals (3 private and 3 public was evaluated in one of the provinces of Iran according to international and national standards. Results: The achieved results show that HF leakage current of ground-referenced generators are more than isolated generators and the power analysis of only eight units delivered acceptable output values and the precision in the output power measurements was low. Conclusion: Results indicate a need for new and severe regulations on periodic performance verifications and medical equipment quality control program especially in high risk instruments. It is also necessary to provide training courses for operating staff in the field of meterology in medicine to be acquianted with critical parameters to get accuracy results with operation room equipment.

The importance of the reliability study for the safety operation of chemical plants. Application in heavy water plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dumitrescu, Maria; Lazar, Roxana Elena; Preda, Irina Aida; Stefanescu, Ioan

1999-01-01

Heavy water production in Romania is based on H 2 O-H 2 S isotopic exchange process followed by vacuum isotopic distillation. The heavy water plant are complex chemical systems, characterized by an ensemble of static and dynamic equipment, AMC components, enclosures. Such equipment must have a high degree of reliability, a maximum safety in technological operation and a high availability index. Safety, reliable and economical operation heavy water plants need to maintain the systems and the components at adequate levels of reliability. The paper is a synthesis of the qualitative and quantitative assessment reliability studies for heavy water plants. The operation analysis on subsystems, each subsystems being a well-defined unit, is required by the plant complexity. For each component the reliability indicators were estimated by parametric and non-parametric methods based on the plant operation data. Also, the reliability qualitative and quantitative assessment was done using the fault tree technique. For the dual temperature isotopic exchange plants the results indicate an increase of the MTBF after the first years of operation, illustrating both the operation experience increasing and maintenance improvement. Also a high degree of availability was illustrated by the reliability studies of the vacuum distillation plant. The establishment of the reliability characteristics for heavy water plant represents an important step, a guide for highlighting the elements and process liable to failure being at the same time a planning modality to correlate the control times with the maintenance operations. This is the way to minimise maintenance, control and costs. The main purpose of the reliability study was the safety increase of the plant operation and the support for decision making. (authors)

RIO: a program to determine reliability importance and allocate optimal reliability goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poloski, J.P.

1978-09-01

The designer of a nuclear plant must know the plant's associated risk limitations so that he can design the plant accordingly. To design a safety system, he must understand its importance and how it relates to the overall plant risk. The computer program RIO can aid the designer to understand a system's contribution to the plant's overall risk. The methodology developed and presented was sponsored by the Nuclear Research Applications Division of the Department of Energy for use in the Gas Cooled Fast Breeder Reactor (GCFR) Program. The principal motivation behind its development was the need to translate nuclear plants safety goals into reliability goals for systems which make up that plant. The method described herein will make use of the GCFR Accident Initiation and Progression Analyses (AIPA) event trees and other models in order to determine these reliability goals

Welding technologies for nuclear machinery and equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Masahiro; Yokono, Tomomi.

1991-01-01

The main welding methods applied to nuclear machinery and equipment are shielded metal arc welding, submerged arc welding, MAG welding and TIG welding. But in the last 10 years, in order to improve the reliability required for the welding of nuclear machinery and equipment, the welding technologies aiming at the reduction of heat input, the decrease of the number of welding pass and the automatic control of welding factors have been applied for the main purpose of bettering the quality and excluding human errors. The merits and the technology of narrow gap, pulsed MAG welding and melt-through welding are explained. As the automation of TIG welding, image processing type narrow gap, hot wire TIG welding and remote control type automatic TIG welding are described. For the longitudinal welding of active metal sheet products, plasma key-hole welding is applied. Since the concentration of its arc is good, high speed welding with low heat input can be done. For the stainless steel cladding by welding, electroslag welding has become to be employed in place of conventional submerged arc welding. Arc is not generated in the electroslag welding, and the penetration into base metal is small. (K.I.)

Wireless sensors for predictive maintenance of rotating equipment in research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashemian, H.M.

2011-01-01