Deploying the Advanced EPR in the US

Cassie R. Hagan, Director, Marketing Operations and B2B Communications, AREVA NP, Inc.

AS ELECTRICITY DEMAND, CLEAN AIR concerns and energy prices increase in the US, interest in new nuclear reactors is also on the rise. These factors—along with decades of outstanding performance of the nation's existing nuclear fleet—have contributed to a favorable market for new nuclear power in the US.

Although no US company has declared it actually will buy and build new reactors, many have actively expressed their interest through investment and regulatory interaction. By January 2008, the NRC had received five applications for new nuclear power plants, and expected to receive a total of 21 applications for 32 new units by the end of 2009.

These submitting companies also have awarded a number of contracts for Combined Operating License (COL) support and environmental site studies, representing a significant investment to support new plant construction that would deliver power in the 2015-18 timeframe. Constellation Energy and AmerenUE have also procured the large components for potential new nuclear plant projects using the AREVA EPR™ design through UniStar Nuclear, the jointly developed business model of Constellation Energy and AREVA.

The numbers reflecting public opinion perhaps are just as significant. A recent national survey for the Nuclear Energy Institute finds that 67 percent of Americans believe global warming could become, or is already, a serious problem and that actions should be taken now to address it. To that end, 80 percent of Americans believe the US should employ all low-carbon energy sources, including nuclear power, to produce electricity, and that nuclear energy will play an important role in meeting the nation's electricity needs in the future. Two-thirds would find it acceptable to add a new reactor at the nearest, existing nuclear plant site to meet new electricity needs. However, only 10 percent of the public recognizes that nuclear energy, which accounts for 20 percent of the nation's power supply, is already a major source of electricity today.

AREVA EPR Design Overview

The EPR is a 1600+ MWe standard PWR plant design based on the Olkiluoto 3 (OL-3) project under construction in Finland and scheduled for commissioning in 2011, and France's Flamanville 3 (FA-3) project, already under construction and expected online in 2012. At least two EPR units will be operating when the first US EPR goes online in 2015. AREVA has committed $250 million and almost 400 engineers and support staff to convert the European reference plant design to meet US codes, standards, regulatory requirements, climates, and the 60 Hz cycle frequency and grid voltages.

The EPR provides robust safety margins with respect to protection from external hazards such as airplane crashes, including double-walled concrete shield buildings to protect the reactor containment building, fuel building, two of the four safeguard buildings, the main control room and the remote shutdown station. The thickness (each wall is 4.3'-5.8' thick) and the reinforcement of the outer shell alone have sufficient strength to absorb the impact of a military or large commercial aircraft. The EPR is comprised of four sub-systems or "trains," each capable of performing the entire safety function on its own and each physically located in a separate building.

Advanced digital instrumentation and control (I&C) systems are used to automate most plant functions and reduce the burdens on the plant operators. The designs of the control and protection systems are such that no operator action is required prior to 30 minutes to mitigate any plant upsets. Furthermore, the plant components have been sized to slow the response to upset conditions, supporting this design objective. Relieving the time-pressure from the operator significantly enhances the overall safety of the plant by reducing error-likely situations. However, unlike other Gen III reactors that use passive safety features that cannot be turned off once they actuate, the operator maintains a certain level of control in the US EPR to recover the plant from complex events through the use of the emergency operating procedures (EOPs). Unlike many operating plants, the EOPs are symptom-based for US EPR, which is consistent with allowing the operators to systematically mitigate an event without rushing to identify the type of accident to enter the appropriate event-based procedure. EOPs and other plant procedures are available electronically in the control room on the display screens. Layout of the main control room has been optimized to incorporate lessons-learned from the N4 generation of plants in France and AREVA implementation of digital controls throughout the world, while still meeting US NRC and US utility requirements. Participation of plant operators was key to an efficient layout.

Nuclear plant operators participated in most facets of the conceptual design upon which US EPR is based. Utilities required incorporation of lessons-learned from the operating fleet. For instance, material and component degradation issues have been solved by using the latest technology, as proven in actual plant operations. High-maintenance problem areas, such as steam turbine-driven pumps and safety-related containment fan coolers are absent from the design. Single-point vulnerabilities have been eliminated, ensuring the reactor remains online while maintenance or repairs are performed on steam conversion or auxiliary systems. Similarly, preventative maintenance and surveillance testing of front-line safety systems may be performed during power operation as planned activities by the day-shift maintenance team. In fact, the US EPR has fewer components to maintain than an existing plant of comparable power output. The digital instrumentation and controls will provide on-line electronic equipment tag-outs via the plant computer, ensuring worker safety during maintenance. Furthermore, safety and non-safety related digital I&C equipment is self-checking, which reduces manual surveillance testing. These are just some examples of how operating experience factors into the design to reduce operating and maintenance costs, simplify operations, and reduce staffing of US EPR as compared with an existing plant of comparable power output.

The economics of new nuclear plants is another key consideration for the US market. There is a range of costs for advanced nuclear plant designs, recognizing that companies will develop cost estimates that reflect their particular projects, investments and regulatory factors. In the case of the EPR, AREVA has an actual cost basis for reliable forecasts of its construction and operating costs because it is actually being built in Europe and will be operating before the first US plant is under construction. But the real key to the EPR's economic competitiveness lies in lower total lifecycle costs. The US EPR uses seven percent less uranium/MWh for a total lifecycle savings of $400-$700 million, depending on the price of uranium. Its four-train safety system allows online maintenance, which supports an anticipated refueling outage duration of 16 days, greatly reducing outage costs and increasing plant availability. The average availability factor is up to 95 percent across a 60-year service life design objective. The high availability factor and cost-saving features of US EPR means the operation and maintenance costs will be more than 10% less on a dollar per MW-hr basis than the upper quartile of operating US plants.

Regulatory Status and Deployment Schedule

In addition to providing a cost basis for US projects, the Finnish and French EPR projects also provide a degree of regulatory certainty because the US EPR design certification and licensing processes leverage design work already done for the European units. AREVA applied for US NRC certification of its US EPR nuclear plant design in December 2007. The application was ahead of schedule and supports the certainty of 2015 completion for the first EPR to be deployed in the US. Certification is expected in 2010.

Safety-grade construction on the first AREVA EPR began in Finland in 2005, and in 2007 in France for the second EPR. The EPR has begun the prelicensing phase in the United Kingdom. The US submittal was AREVA's fourth licensing process for EPR reactor technology worldwide. The fifth licensing process will occur in China, where a contract for two EPRs was signed in November as part of the biggest contract ever in the history of nuclear power.

The COL application for the first US EPR unit is being completed in parallel with the design certification application, which not only accelerates the licensing schedule, but also facilitates continuity of documentation and completeness of both applications. The Environmental Report section of the COLA for US EPR #1 was submitted in July 2007, and the completed application is on schedule for submittal by March 2008.

UniStar Nuclear Business Model

UniStar Nuclear, the Constellation Energy and AREVA joint venture launched in September 2005, is a unique business model enabled by the passage of energy legislation. UniStar Nuclear offers a business framework leading to the development of future project companies that would license, construct, own and operate nuclear power plants as part of a standardized fleet. That framework provides a "one-stop shop" that includes the reactor vendor and supply chain (AREVA); an architect-engineer/constructor (Bechtel); an experienced nuclear fleet operator (Constellation Energy); standardized engineering, procurement and construction contracts; standardized licensing; and a variety of ownership options with risk sharing. UniStar Nuclear's objective is to deploy a fleet of at least four identical US EPR units through project companies whose partners will participate in the COL and the development, construction, ownership, operation and maintenance of each plant project. The key benefit of the UniStar Nuclear business model is the flexibility of commercial terms in the context of highly standardized projects to meet the varied needs of potential partners—including a new class of non-nuclear participants that has emerged for which the "one-stop" UniStar Nuclear business model is ideal.

In 2007, UniStar Nuclear entered into an agreement with AmerenUE, to assist in preparing a COL application. And in December 2007, UniStar Nuclear announced an agreement with an affiliate of PPL Corporation to prepare and submit to the US NRC a COL application for a potential third reactor near PPL's Susquehanna nuclear power plant near Berwick, Pa.

The investment and regulatory interaction of these and other companies demonstrates the reality of the US nuclear resurgence, which will undoubtedly continue to unfold as the American energy market shifts toward a more diversified portfolio of electricity sources to ensure US energy security in the coming decades.