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DOE secretary and New York congressman call for reopening of Indian Point
Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright joined U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.) at the site of the closed Indian Point nuclear power plant on Friday, March 6, as Lawler called for the reopening of the facility. He emphasized that the shutdown of the plant in 2021 has led to higher electricity costs for the people of New York state and increased strain on the state’s electric grid.
Vivek Agarwal, John W. Buttles, Ahmad Al-Rashdan (INL), Ryan Pitcher (Idaho State Univ), Chad J. Kiger (AMS)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 1504-1513
Most operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the United States have received approval to extend their operating licenses to 60 years. Now the nuclear industry is preparing to extend operating licenses to 80 years. While NPPs are preparing for extensions (60 years and beyond), the nuclear industry is facing a unique economic sustainability challenge in the current energy market. This is partly because the domestic nuclear industry is dependent on a high number of skilled workers to perform operation and maintenance activities. This labor-centric business model is cost prohibitive and results in high operations and maintenance costs. One of the activities performed by skilled workers in a NPP on a regular basis is manual concurrent or independent verification of manual valve position. This activity presents human error opportunities, operational and safety challenges, and regulatory compliance impacts, in addition to high labor costs. To address these concerns, a wireless valve position indication sensor technology is developed and matured by Idaho National Laboratory. In this paper, advancements achieved in the design, development, testing, and demonstration of a prototype wireless valve position indication sensor system are presented. The paper presents the electromagnetic interference evaluation of the prototype; design and development of three-dimensional (3-D) adjustable and reconfigurable universal sensor mounting units; improved quality-of-service and reliability of wireless communication; and demonstration of the technology on an experimental flow-loop fitted with nine manual valves for different valve configurations.