POWER October 2014 - 45

OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
tection
D.C. Cook Winter Preparation Timeline
March/April: The seasonal readiness
coordinator (SRC) manages the
winterization challenge board, and a
" Historical Freeze List " consisting of
ongoing lists maintained by operations
staff of expected structures, systems,
and components that may be affected
by cold weather conditions. The SRC,
system engineering manager, appropriate
system managers, and operations
and work control representatives
conduct challenge board meetings to
discuss results of material condition
reviews and to evaluate if all needed
reliability improvements have been
identified.
March/April: The SRC performs
the initial winterization walkdown, focusing
on problem areas from the
most recent winter period, and from
previous years, to verify if corrective
actions have been initiated for all
known deficiencies.
April: Systems needed only for
winter are secured during the summer,
such as heating systems. The sysByron,
Ill., consists of two 1,200-MW Westinghouse
four-loop pressurized water reactors
(PWRs). Units 1 and 2 received their operating
licenses in 1985 and 1987, respectively.
The plant is currently owned and operated by
Exelon Corp.
The D.C. Cook Nuclear Plant is located
in Bridgman, Mich., on the eastern shore of
Lake Michigan. This plant also consists of
two Westinghouse four-loop PWRs. Unit 1 is
rated at 1,030 MW and received its operating
license in 1974. Unit 2 is rated at 1,100 MW
and received its operating license in 1977.
The plant is owned by American Electric
Power (AEP) and is operated by its subsidiary
Indiana Michigan Power.
Each winterization program is customized
for the plant and its location.
Although both plants are located in the
Midwest, Byron's cooling water is from
the Rock River, while D.C. Cook draws
water from Lake Michigan.
For Gary Dudek, work management director
at the Byron nuclear plant, the winterization
process starts in April. The work
management department is responsible for
the seasonal readiness program, which covers
both winter and summer seasons for the
site. The system engineering department
identifies systems and components that are
October 2014 | POWER
tem engineers and the SRC perform
walkdowns to identify maintenance
requirements for the systems removed
from service.
March/May: The SRC reviews
open work orders (WOs) for items requiring
completion prior to winter, and
ensures that items identified by these
reviews are incorporated into the work
planning schedule for resolution prior
to Nov. 1. From this point forward, the
SRC continues to screen emergent
issues and WOs for winter readiness
applicability, tracks completion of deficiency
resolutions, and ensures all
items are completed by the Nov. 1
deadline. All identified work must be
added to the schedule, which for winter
readiness is the second week of
May each year.
October/November: The SRC
performs the final winterization walkdown
with engineering, maintenance,
fire protection, security, and facilities
representatives to verify that the site is
ready for the upcoming winter season.
critical to winter operations. Winter and
summer readiness coordinators supervise the
work teams. The D.C. Cook plant has a comparable
schedule (see sidebar " D.C. Cook
Winter Preparation Timeline " ).
Systems of Interest
Bobby Norrick, seasonal readiness coordinator
(SRC) and eSOMS (enterprise Shift Operations
Management System) administrator at the D.C.
Cook plant conducts winterization reviews
in conjunction with the systems engineering
group. The team identifies all actions needed
to ensure systems will function properly and
reliably through the winter (Figure 1). In addition,
the Work Assessment Group identifies
and prioritizes new equipment deficiencies and
resolutions that affect winter readiness during
the daily screening meeting.
The following systems are reviewed for
winter readiness:
■ Auxiliary steam
■ Alternate plant heating boiler
■ Boric acid heat tracing
■ Fire protection
■ Ventilation
■ Circulating water
■ Heating steam
■ Refueling water storage tanks freeze prowww.powermag.com
45
■
Outside heat trace
■ Turbine building
■ Auxiliary building
Additional activities consist of verifying
that all steam heaters in the vicinity of exterior
plant walls, exterior rollup doors, auxiliary
building crane bay, main steam stop enclosures,
and auxiliary building supply ventilation
units are operating during the initial
winterization walkdown (March/April) and
then during the final winterization walkdown
(October/November).
Furthermore, the auxiliary building,
screenhouse, and turbine building are inspected
for damaged doors, windows, and
vent louvers that do not close completely,
including holes, gaps, and cracks in building
siding, and missing weather stripping.
The goal of the heater and building
inspections is to verify that the systems
supporting safe operation of the reactors,
turbines, and generators are protected from
freezing. The SRC and tour operators-at
the discretion of the shift manager-can
increase touring frequencies during severe
winter weather conditions or high summer
heat conditions.
At the Byron plant, the heating system
and multiple ventilation systems are important
for insulating and circulating heat
generated in areas that have little heat load
during normal plant operations. These sys1.
Winter wonderland. While the typical
winter struggles, such as snow and ice in
the parking lot, are common to many plants,
personnel at D.C. Cook also focus on specific
plant systems during winter preparations.
Courtesy: American Electric Power
http://www.powermag.com
POWER October 2014

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