It is generally accepted that global demand for electricity will steadily rise for the next several decades. Correspondingly, it is reasonable to expect increasing demand for safer and more reliable electricity generating systems. Nuclear power is a well-established electricity production method that can be an integral part of meeting the increasing global electricity demand. Nuclear power plants have made great strides in safety improvement through risk-informed regulation and widespread use of probabilistic risk assessment. A welcomed byproduct of the safety improvements has been improved plant reliability. However, even greater plant reliability, as well as cost reductions, will likely be necessary going forward.Many approaches to minimizing costs, improving reliability, and increasing safe operations have been pursued over the last 40 years. The performance improvements can be seen in Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission performance indicators. Nuclear power plants must continue pursuing activities that improve safety, increase reliability, and reduce costs. The US Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability program is focused on developing the scientific basis, methodologies, and tools needed for safe, economical, long-term operation of the US nuclear power plant fleet. Necessarily, some methodologies and tools, especially those centered on safety, are labor intensive and expensive.Use of methodologies and tools such as probabilistic risk assessment in applications centered on plant reliability and costs, have rightly been met with resistance due to high cost and labor expectations. To decrease generation risk assessment cost and labor requirements, the Light Water Reactor Sustainability program, in conjunction with Idaho State University, has developed a software tool called the Versatile Economic Risk Tool. The tool integrates the fault tree analysis capability of the Idaho National Laboratory developed Systems Analysis Programs for Hands-on Integrated Reliability Evaluations (SAPHIRE) software application and Risk Analysis Virtual Environment (RAVEN). Furthermore, the tool includes generic, but modifiable, reliability models for pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors, historical equipment reliability data, and a simple to use graphical user interface. While in its initial development stages, the Versatile Economic Risk Tool is intended to provide nuclear power plant operators with an effective and simple to use tool to provide meaningful insight and to allow study into equipment reliability impacts on overall plant performance.

U.S. Nuclear Power Plant Performance Assessment Using the Versatile_x000B_Economic Risk Tool (VERT)

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ICONE/ICONE28/volume/85246

2021 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE28)

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