From June 5 – 8, 2017, Gene Imbro and Bob Gramm of AdSTM provided a workshop on the “Practical Basics of Mechanical, Welding and Nondestructive Examination, Electrical and Instrumentation and Control, and Civil/Structural” in Bucharest and Cernavoda, Romania. Workshop participants included fourteen (14) staff from the Romanian National Committee for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) and five staff from NuclearElectrica/Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant (NPP).
During the two day classroom portion of the workshop, the AdSTM instructors presented basic information related to nuclear power plant mechanical components, welding techniques and associated weld integrity verification processes, electrical equipment, instrumentation and control components, and civil/structural topics. The workshop was intended to provide a broad overview of basic engineering information and inspection processes for new regulatory body staff and to provide cross-training for more experienced staff knowledgeable in specific disciplines. The workshop content is based primarily from a NPP construction and major modification perspective. Some generic quality assurance and technical verification attributes used by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) were also presented for the various disciplines.
The workshop included an additional day and a half at the Cernavoda NPP. Walkdowns and accompanying discussions were held at the Cernavoda NPP to reinforce the concepts and topics covered during the presentation portion of the workshop. The walkdowns included the Raw Service Water pumps, Raw Service Water system pump discharge check valves and motor operated valves, Raw Service Water system piping and installed components, installed instrumentation devices, manually operated gate, butterfly and globe valves, safety-related battery rooms, electrical cables and raceways, a motor control center, and the main plant generator and turbine. Plant piping and instrumentation diagrams for the Raw Service Water system, a piping isometric drawing for the Raw Service Water System, pipe support drawings associated with the piping isometric drawing, and associated pump and valve installation drawings were examined to discuss suggested potential inspection attributes and were used for field walkdowns. The generic USNRC inspection checklists for various installed equipment were discussed and practical application of the checklists was explained.
The workshop participants were engaged throughout the classroom and field walkdown portions of the training. Very positive feedback was provided by the participants with respect to the usefulness of the workshop with respect to enhancing their ability to perform their regulatory inspection and oversight responsibilities. The participants expressed that the NPP field walkdowns and use of the plant documents was of significant benefit for them.
The support of the NuclearElectrica Cernavoda NPP is gratefully acknowledged for providing the onsite meeting room and allowing the workshop group to tour a number of areas of Cernavoda Unit 2. The ability to examine actual plant equipment using the associated plant drawings greatly increased the effectiveness of the workshop training.