503-Managing a Nuclear Plant Project
By: James N. Salapatas, PE, PMP
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Course Objective
This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description
This is a Spotlight Course of the Week (Expires: 12/20/24)
The United States of America had 55 operating nuclear plants in 2022 that provided 20% of the nation’s electric power. According to the World Nuclear Association to meet the goal of low carbon emissions, nuclear plants must be built and maintained more efficiently. Nuclear power plants undergo seasonal scheduled refueling outages that result in greater efficiency and reliability. When a unit shuts down for refueling, the outage could last up to two months. Reactor operators typically defer much of the non-critical maintenance work until a refueling outage. They conduct the maintenance in parallel with the refueling.
This is a case study about managing a nuclear plant project during a scheduled refueling outage. The project involves the replacement of two large valves which are part of the Drywell Shutdown Cooling System, a critical system in nuclear plant safety for boiling water reactor plants. The valves are in a radioactive area of the plant. The task of replacing two large valves, weighing almost two tons each, in a contaminated environment involves many complex activities and many people. It involves planning, scheduling, budgeting, coordination, communications, conflict resolution, problem solving, decision making, corrective action. An added challenge to performing work in a nuclear plant is managing and controlling the work in a contaminated environment. The term typically used to describe the process which embraces all these things is called Project Management. At one time or another most of the project management practices were present in this project, some effective some less effective.
This is an actual valve replacement project. Some of the project conditions have been changed for training purposes. A cast of characters has been created to illustrate the project conditions. Any similarity between people working in any nuclear plant and the characters in the case study is purely coincidental. The course is presented in five parts. PART 1 contains the economic analysis decision to replace the valves. PART 2 presents the key team members involved and describes a meeting that occurred during the plant refueling outage to solve unexpected problems. PART 3 contains two technical reports. PART 4 contains a Lessons Learned Overview, Outage Lessons Learned contributions to the Nuclear Industry data base and the project close-out report. PART 5 Appendix contains an overview of the US Nuclear Electricity Generation Industry, describes the US Nuclear Reactors, the nuclear workers who maintain the nuclear plants, and a Glossary of Terms and illustrations.
Review of: Managing a Nuclear Plant Project
Charles Gervasi
03/31/2024
Verified Buyer
I liked how it read like story, keeping you interested.
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Review of: Managing a Nuclear Plant Project
Joe D'Alessandro
09/25/2023
Verified Buyer
I liked the real life example approach.
Appropriate humor was also used.
It brought back memories when I used to do this stuff.
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Review of: Managing a Nuclear Plant Project
Review material that will be beneficial in water and wastewater treatment plants as well as any fossil fuel power plants.
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