U.S. NRC Approves Westinghouse Risk-Informed, In-Service Inspedction

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Thursday February 4, 11:32 am Eastern Time

SOURCE: Westinghouse Electric Company

U.S. NRC Approves Westinghouse Risk-Informed, In-Service 
Inspection  

Company First to Offer Approved Generic Methodology to Enhance 
Safety, Reduce Costs; Virginia Power Set to Implement Program 
During Upcoming Refueling Outage  

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission has approved Westinghouse Electric 
Company's Risk-Informed, In- Service Inspection (RI-ISI) 
methodology for nuclear plant piping systems, meaning that 
Westinghouse can now market this methodology to virtually every 
operating commercial nuclear power plant in the world.  

In its formal notification of approval, the NRC described RI-ISI as a 
program that ``can enhance overall safety by focusing inspections 
of piping at high-safety-significant locations and locations where 
failure mechanisms are most likely to be present, and by improving 
the effectiveness of inspection components...''  

Westinghouse estimates that its RI-ISI, the first methodology of its 
type to be approved by the NRC for generic use, will pay for itself in 
as little as one refueling cycle. ``Depending on the size of the plant 
and degree of implementation, the Westinghouse RI-ISI program 
can save a plant operator between $150,000 and $300,000 per 
year,'' said Steve Tritch, Vice President and General Manger of the 
Westinghouse Nuclear Services Division. ``More importantly, the RI-
ISI will make nuclear plants even safer as inspection will result in 
earlier detection and correction of potential problem areas.''  

Mr. Tritch also emphasized that the RI-ISI offers significant health 
safety benefits. ``Because the RI-ISI methodology is so
focused, workers can reduce by up to 75 percent the number of 
inspections they must perform in radiological areas when
compared to traditional inspection methodology,'' he said. 
``Therefore, RI-ISI can easily reduce cumulative dose rates by 60
REM or more over a 10-year period.''

Virginia Power will be the first nuclear plant operator to employ the 
Westinghouse RI-ISI during a regularly scheduled refueling
outage at Surry Unit 1. The utility also intends to make use of the 
methodology at other plants, including North Anna in 2001.

Leslie Hartz, vice president of nuclear engineering and services for 
Virginia Power, said RI-ISI is a good example of the
commercial nuclear power industry working cooperatively to reduce 
costs and increase efficiency.

``Use of RI-ISI at Virginia Power will help us enhance plant safety 
by limiting our focus to piping in safety-significant locations,''
she said. ``Using this methodology also will have the added benefit 
of lowering personnel radiation exposure to workers
performing the inspections. This effort was accomplished hand-in-
hand with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.''

Under the RI-ISI approach, inspections are focused more heavily on 
areas with a higher potential for failure, reducing the number of 
required inspections by between 50 percent and 85 percent. 
Additionally, the Westinghouse RI-ISI methodology has the 
potential to eliminate 100 additional exams when compared to 
other RI-ISI approaches that may be entering the marketplace.  

Westinghouse first began researching RI-ISI in 1985 and led a 
major research effort in cooperation with the American Society of 
Mechanical Engineers in 1988. The WOG became involved in the 
early 1990s. The application for RI-ISI approval was  
submitted to the NRC by Westinghouse and the WOG in 1996.

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
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