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First Commercial AP1000, EPR Reactors Connected to Grid

July 9, 2018

Two nuclear energy milestones were reached in the past week, as the world’s first commercial AP1000 and EPR reactors were connected to China’s power grid.

Westinghouse announced Sanmen 1, the first AP1000 unit, was connected to the grid June 30, one day after Électricité de France (EDF) connected the first EPR reactor—Taishan 1—to the system. The EPR is a third-generation pressurized water reactor, with technology by EDF and France’s Framatome. Taishan 1 is the first of two, 1.7-GW reactors at the site, which is owned by TNPJVC, a joint venture of China General Nuclear (CGN), which owns 51%; EDF, which owns 30%; and Yuedian, a Chinese electric company that owns 19%.

The 1.1-GW Sanmen 1 reactor is the first of four new AP1000 plants under construction in eastern China. The AP1000, also a pressurized water reactor, is the technology being used for two new reactors at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia. Unit 3 at Vogtle is scheduled to come online in November 2021, with Unit 4 following a year later.…

Congratulations to the Connected Plant Game Changers

March 3, 2018

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The Connected Plant Game Changer Award recognizes those people who are leading the charge in implementing digital technologies in their field: either in the chemical process industries or in power generation.

Nominations are open to individuals who have used tools associated with digitalization to contribute to innovation, solve a problem or make improvements, as well as those who are fast risers or champions in this area. Out of the many nominations received this year, a total of 12 winners were chosen by a committee comprised of staff members from POWER and Chemical Engineering. The winners were honored with the award during a luncheon at this year’s Connected Plant Conference (February 27–28, Charlotte, N.C.; www.connectedplantconference.com).

The 2018 Connected Plant Game Changer Winners

Matt Peters, Manufacturing Engineer from 3M

Matt has been involved in numerous projects leveraging WirelessHART and remote analytics to improve process uptime, asset reliability, worker safety and energy efficiency. He helped create a corporate strategic vision for wireless and integrated smart technologies.…

Cybersecurity a Main Concern for Connected Plants, but Tech is Improving

February 21, 2017

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Security issues are second only to cost concerns when energy generators consider the risks related to implementing connected technology at their power plants, according to a February 15 poll of the audience at POWER’s Connected Plant Conference.

However, continued improvements in available cybersecurity systems are quickly reducing those risks, Stan Schneider, CEO of Real-Time Innovations, told the audience in his keynote address.

“Security is a huge problem, everybody knows,” he said. “I think it’s getting better because security is a layer game.”

Using the most common security technology, such as air gap and firewalls, is not sufficient, but new technologies have the potential to greatly reduce the threat of a cybersecurity attack, according to Schneider. “If you’re dependent on fire walls, realize an insider attack easily breaches a fire wall protection. There’s just so many things that don’t work that people are dependent on for various reasons, but the new technologies [where] you can layer in different levels of security, are definitely making it better,” he said.…