challenges & successes of candu energy (former aecl) · pdf filechallenges & successes...

Challenges & Successes of Candu Energy (former AECL)

in Nuclear Construction: Case Study of China and

Romania

IAEA Workshop on Construction Technologies for Nuclear

Power Plants: A Comprehensive Approach

Paris, France

12 – 16 December, 2011

Azhar KhanManager, Design & Layout

Candu EnergyCanada

Official Use Only | À Usage Exclusif

Scope of Presentation

• Qinshan CANDU Nuclear Power Plant

– Salient contract details and construction responsibilities

– Site Quality Assurance (QA)

– Major construction contracts

– Challenges

– Important construction decisions

– Major issues during construction

– Localization

– Major achievements

– Reasons for success of project

– Future CANDU Projects in China

1 Official Use Only | À Usage Exclusif

Scope of Presentation (Cont’d)

• Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant

– Unit 1 and 2

– Salient contract details and construction responsibilities

– Challenges

– Important construction decisions

– Localization

– Major achievements

– Reasons for success of project

– Future CANDU projects in Romania


Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant



5

Qinshan III CANDU NPP: 2 Unit 728 MWe by AECL and TQNPC

International Project with financing from China, Canada, Japan and USA

Qinshan, Zhejiang Province, PR of China

Contract effective: 1997 Feb 12

First Concrete: 1998 June 8

In Service:

Unit 1

Planned: 2003 Feb 12

Actual: 2002 Dec 31

Days Ahead of

Schedule: 43

Unit 2

Planned: 2003 Nov 12

Actual: 2003 Jul 24

Days Ahead of

Schedule: 112



6

Major Participants


Salient Contract Details and Construction

Responsibilities

7

In-Service Unit 1: 72 months from start of excavation (February 12, 1997-February 12, 2003): Unit 2: 9 months later

Contract was between Third Qinshan Nuclear Power Company(TQNPC)-AECL

TQNPC Responsibilities:

Site Preparation Prepare Permanent Site Facilities Manage Balance of Plant (BOP) construction

AECL as General Contractor and was completely responsible for:

Overall Project Management Manage Nuclear Steam Plant (NSP) Construction at Site Site Quality Assurance


Salient Contract Details and Construction

Responsibilities

8

Bechtel was responsible for BOP Engineering and provided technical assistance at site for BOP construction

Hitachi was responsible for T/G Contract and Accessories

Construction contractors were responsible for:

NSP construction BOP construction Responsible for preparing Level 3 Schedules Quality Control of all construction activities

Major Contractors:

CNI-23 Construction Company Huaxing (HXCC) Construction Company CNI-22 Construction Company Zhejiang Thermal Power Company (ZTPC)

TQNPC was responsible for all payments


Site Quality Assurance (QA)

9

AECL - Quality a priority

AECL set QA requirements for all construction

AECL initiated non-conformance reporting culture:

Non-Conformance Report (NCR) process to control work, including Stop Work Orders

for major NCRs

Field Change Request Process to control design changes at site

TQNPC had own Quality Surveillance Team

AECL had own Quality Surveillance Branch

Construction Contractors responsible for Quality Control


Major Construction Contracts

10

Site Excavation (HXCC)

NSP Civil Construction (HXCC)

NSP Mechanical/Electrical Installation (CNI-23)

BOP Civil Construction (CNI-22)

BOP Mechanical/Electrical Installation (ZTPC) (Zhejiang Thermal Power Co.)

Piping Fabrication (CNI-23)

Supply of Concrete (CNI-22)


Challenges

11

Site:

Very restricted site; small peninsula on which plant was placed

Required considerable reclamation from sea to locate full plant

Required considerable detailed planning in early stages of construction

Very high silt content in water, divers of no use

Cultural differences/sensitivities: AECL, Chinese, Bechtel, Hitachi

Experience:

Young Chinese commissioning staff with first time on CANDU station

Construction contractors had no previous CANDU construction experience, but had

significant experience of nuclear power plant construction

Work to Canadian quality standards not previously performed in China


Challenges (Cont’d)


Challenges (Cont’d)

13

Complex execution model:

Owner manages BOP construction

AECL manages NSP contractors - Owner pays

First time use of open top construction and modularization on a CANDU 6

Maximization of localization


Important Construction Decisions

14

Dedicated Concrete Batch Plant and concrete testing laboratory at Site

Confirmation of major concrete design mixes completed months prior to First Concrete

Establishing Welding Procedures and Welder Training Program very early in Construction Phase

AECL Sole Source for Procurement of NSP Material

Localization of HVAC, Electrical Conduits, Cable Trays

Open Top Method of Construction

Upgrading of Very Heavy Lift (VHL) Crane for Open Top Method of Construction

Maximize parallel works between Civil / Mechanical / Electrical Construction


Major Issues during Construction

15

Coordination between Construction Contractors

Hot Weather Concreting

Structural Steel, Unavailability of Heavier Sections

Lack of Structural Steel Shop Drawing Detailers in China


Localization

16

• General– Upgrading of Very Heavy Lift Crane with crane with manufactories supervision

• Civil– Execution-100% localized– Structural steel with fabrication and erection with expatriate supervision– Concrete with expatriate supervision– Architectural works -100% localized

• Mechanical/Piping– Installation of piping with expatriate supervision– Welding– Installation of heavy equipment with expatriate supervision– Piping fabrication– Very heavy lifts with 100% local effort– All HVAC materials and fabrications– Fabrication of steel tanks/vessels in BOP

• Electrical– Cable tray fabrication– Conduit fabrication

• Fuel Fabrication– 100 % localized due to use of natural uranium fuel


Major Achievements

17

Shortest construction of any NPP in China from 1st concrete to In-Service (54 months)

Shortest duration to construct perimeter wall (14 days)

Best integrated leak rate of all CANDU 6 nuclear power plants

70 heavy lifts of equipment with the VHL crane

Steam generator installed in 8 hours

Fuel channels installed in 64 days

Excellent performance of Chinese contractors with experience (50% less NCRs for Unit 2 in

comparison with Unit 1)


18

• Unit 1 Declared in service 43 days early.

• Unit 1 Criticality Sept. 20th, 2002, ahead of schedule

• Open Top and on site modularization methods resulted in effective execution.

• Large Civil Modules Fabrication/Installation near work face

• Unit 2 Criticality April 29th, 2003, 52 days ahead of schedule

• Great success with 3D CADDS as a production tool and use of electronic data management system

• Training of Contractor to Western Construction Methods

• Buy in by contractors of Quality philosophy of doing it right the first time. (It made economic sense)

• Aggressive QA & QS programs praised by Chinese Regulator

Qinshan Success


Reasons for Success of the Project

19

Client/Owner was fully 100% behind completion of project and gave full support to AECL

and its sub-contractors

Excellent teamwork between all participants

AECL had available manpower resources with extensive experience of construction

management and engineering expertise on overseas projects

Use of Open Top Method of Construction

Use of Modularization


Future CANDU Projects in China

• China in the last 10 years has matured as a developer of nuclear power plants and can easily achieve 90% localization on future CANDU nuclear power plants in both supply of equipment and construction.


CANDU Construction in China

Ahead of Schedule – Under Budget


Conventional Construction of

CANDU 6 Stations

Conventional Construction Method

Open Top Construction Method

Strategically-placed Openings with Sliding Cover on the Temporary Roof for Heavy Lifting


Skew Truss


Dousing Steel and Lower Dome Formwork Assembly Area at Site (Unit 2)


Qinshan Dousing System Module

on Mobile Crane


Qinshan - Dousing System Modules



Lower Dome Formwork Being Lifted from Assembly Yard


Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant

• Situated off the River Danube in south east Romania

• Units 1 and 2 completed

• Unit 1 in service 1976

• Unit 2 in service 2007

• Unit 3 and 4 partially completed and presently being reviewed for completion


Cernavoda - Site


Unit 1 & Unit 2 Salient Contract Details and

Construction Responsibilities

• NSP Engineering & Procurement was AECL responsibility

• BOP engineering/procurement was ANSALDO responsibility

• Unit 1 owner was RENEL now called SNN

• Unit 1 Construction management was responsibility of AECL and ANSALDO

• Unit 2 Owner is SNN

• Unit 2 Construction Management was responsibility of SNN, AECL and ANSALDO

• All construction was performed by Romanian contractors


Challenges

• Civil– Works had been suspended for some time and exposed to natural conditions– Very limited structural steel industry. Large sections produced in Romania with welded plates

• Mechanical– Equipment had been installed for long time

• Electrical– Unit 1-some electrical equipment installed for some time

• Human Resources– Extensive turn over of staff

43

Maximization of Localization


Important Construction Decisions

• Civil

– Thorough inspections performed, all deficiencies identified, repair methods evaluated– Performed preliminary pressure test of reactor building to find leaks in the building

• Mechanical/piping

– Setting up of welding training program prior to start of mechanical construction process


Localization

45

• All construction performed by Romanian contractors with only some specialty foreign contractors

• Structural steel sections fabricated with plates welded to form required sections

• All civil materials with the exception of epoxy finishes fabricated by Romanian contractors

• Site engineering performed by Romanian with supervision by expatriate staff

• Large number of BOP equipment (tanks, pumps, motors, water treatment plant) provided by Romanian industry

• Fuel Fabrication; 100% localized due to use of natural uranium fuel

• Heavy Water Supply: 100% localized


Major Achievements

• Unit 1 completed on Schedule

• Unit 2 completed on schedule

• Extensive construction experiences gained by Romanian contractors

• Extensive analysis and design experience gained by Romanian engineers

• Extensive management experience gained by Romanian service staff


Reasons for Success of Project

• Both Owner and Project managers determined to bring project to successful closure

• Extensive Romanian experience that began project in the 1980s was available during project completion phase in 1990s and 2000s


Future CANDU Projects in Romania

• In civil engineering, extensive localization is feasible both with respect to construction and domestic industry

• In Mechanical/Piping engineering, extensive localization is feasible for construction but a review is required to estimate extent of domestic industry participation

• In Electrical, Control and Instrumentation engineering, extensive localization is feasible with respect to construction but a review is required to determine the extent of domestic industry participation

• In engineering, procurement and construction, extensive localization can be maintained and further expanded


• New e-mail address:

• [email protected]

THANK YOU


mailto:[email protected]

Thank You


challenges & successes of candu energy (former aecl) · pdf filechallenges & successes...

Documents