Epri tool capster5/20/2023 ![]() For plant operators who want to learn more, MTAs include contact information for EPRI experts who can provide information about the relevant vendors and manufacturers as well as about the plants that have deployed the technology. ![]() The costs and savings are ballpark figures actual figures will vary based on each plant’s unique attributes and circumstances. Each MTA is 3-4 pages long and provides a short description of a specific improvement, its potential investment costs, and the potential savings it may deliver over time. When plant operators are ready to consider improvements for their facilities, they can browse through EPRI’s series of Modernization Technology Assessments (MTAs). It guides users through the entire modernization process-from drafting a charter to implementing improvements to tracking the benefits. These plant modifications can yield cost savings in numerous ways, including more efficient use of labor, fewer scheduled maintenance tasks, fewer unplanned outages, avoided component failures, and improved plant performance and personnel safety.Ī good starting point for plant operators is EPRI’s guidance for developing a modernization strategy and establishing and executing a modernization program. There are dozens of potential modernization improvements, such as digital controls, wireless connectivity, continuous equipment monitoring, and data analytics that provide actionable insights on operations and maintenance. Our analyses have demonstrated that a cost savings of 25% can justify significant investment for many sites.” “These tools enable plants to develop the modernization strategy that is right for them-and that can make them competitive. “Stakeholders across the nuclear industry agree that plants may not survive unless they modernize,” said EPRI Senior Program Manager Rob Austin. The tools are comprehensive and can guide users through developing a modernization strategy, identifying a potential suite of improvements, conducting business case studies on proposed improvements, making decisions based on the business case results, deploying improvements, and tracking the benefits. Should a plant embark on a large-scale program with improvements throughout the site that fundamentally alter the facility’s operations and maintenance? Or should a plant pursue a more limited program with focused improvements that address the most significant inefficiencies and the systems in most urgent need of repair? Or focus on a minimal program that upgrades only components and systems at the end of their lifetimes?ĮPRI’s Plant Modernization Toolbox helps plants answer these questions. Now, plant operators need to figure out how to modernize each facility in a way that reflects its unique features and circumstances. If successful, modernization can enable nuclear plants to continue providing carbon-free energy and contribute to cost-effective, reliable decarbonization efforts around the world. Utilities and policy makers view modernizing plants with updated processes and digital technologies as a promising path to make nuclear energy more economically competitive with other generation technologies. With increasing renewable energy deployment, low-cost natural gas, and low electric load growth, nuclear power plants across the world face significant pressure to reduce costs.
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