Westinghouse Delivers Two Industry-Firsts at Palo Verde
MADISON, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Westinghouse announced today it has successfully used its Zephyr®
Advanced Acquisition System to examine 100 percent of the tubes in a
steam generator from a single plenum – a first in the nuclear industry.
The Zephyr system uses revolutionary probe delivery to more rapidly
perform high-quality eddy current examinations as part of a plant’s
regular steam generator maintenance program.
This milestone was achieved at Arizona Public Service Company’s Palo
Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Wintersburg, Arizona. It also marked
the first time that an eddy current data acquisition speed of 120 inches
per second was performed on essentially all of the steam generator’s
tubes. Zephyr also contributed to the plant by using the fewest number
of probes ever.
Eddy current testing is a non-destructive evaluation technique used to
meet industry inspection requirements.
Westinghouse’s innovative Zephyr eddy current testing system is proven
to reduce outage schedule, radioactive waste and outage costs. Zephyr is
part of the company’s Long-Term Operations campaign to provide solutions
that help nuclear plant operators solve their most pressing operational
challenges, saving time and costs.
“Westinghouse personnel utilizing the Zephyr system surpassed all
expectations, including scheduling, ALARA and data quality,” said Palo
Verde Senior Consulting Engineer Doug Hansen. “Both primary and
secondary analysis teams noted that they have never seen better and more
consistent data quality. The schedule could not have been met without
Zephyr.”
“This achievement continues our ongoing partnership with Palo Verde to
demonstrate industry leadership in steam generator inspections,” said
Steve Ira, senior vice president, Global Field Services & Plant
Modifications. “This mutual success also aligns to the industry’s goal
of ‘Delivering the Nuclear Promise’ by generating electricity more
efficiently, economically and safely.”
Palo Verde won the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Top Industry Practice
(TIP) Award in 2015 and 2016 for implementation of innovative
Westinghouse steam generator primary acquisition and analysis
technologies.
Contacts
Westinghouse
Sarah Cassella, +1-412-374-4744
Manager, External
Communications
[email protected]