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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Schulz Electric™ Refurbishes Critical Circulating Water Pump Motor in Only Four Days
Schulz Electric™ was contacted by a nuclear power plant in the New England region that serves a community of over 2 million homes. After five years of service, a 1500 HP, 4 kV, 24-pole circulating water pump motor (measuring approximately 7’ wide, 8’ tall, and weighing several tons) needed refurbishing while the plant was still online. To add to their concern, the power plant is located close to the ocean. The aging motor was not only approaching the end of its serviceable life, but was highly susceptible to moisture intrusion and the salt-laden air, which can build up in air passages within the motor. These environmental conditions can lead to elevated operating temperatures and corrosion developing on the rotor, stator, and shaft components. These factors combined, placed the plant at an increased risk of downtime that could have potentially led to a significant loss of revenue if they were forced into a shutdown event.
Renzo Carta, Stella Dernini, Anna Maria Polcaro, Pier Francesco Ricci, Giuseppe Tola, Giancarlo Pierini
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 15 | Number 1 | January 1989 | Pages 55-63
Technical Paper | Tritium System | doi.org/10.13182/FST89-A25324
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recent studies have given lower and lower values for the solubility of hydrogen isotopes in the eutectic 83Pb-17Li alloy, a candidate breeding material for the blanket of fusion machines. Therefore, thermodynamic stability for the gaseous phase under the high pressure reached at the bottom of the alloy containers can be achieved even for very low tritium concentrations in the liquid phase. A mathematical model to determine when tritium bubble nucleation occurs at an appreciable rate is presented. Considering the design parameters and the operating conditions of the Next European Torus project, it is foreseeable that the tritium generated in the blanket could evolve almost completely in the gaseous phase by forming bubbles at the top of the containers even if acceptable values of the tritium inventory (<100 g) and permeation (∼0,5 g·day−1) are maintained. This situation can be achieved if the molten alloy wets the metallic surface poorly and if the fouling on the exchanger side in contact with the cooling water causes a moderate increase of the resistance to tritium diffusion through the walls. Due to a lack of experimental data, a few assumptions are adopted, but the usefulness of the results obtained is not affected.