9.1. TIMELINE AND TYPICAL SCHEDULE
Nuclear New Build Power Plants (NNB) are typically required to license/authorize Operators using a reference design full scope simulator prior to commercial operation, with the typical milestone for demonstrating the licensing/authorization of the shift crew complement being prior to fuel delivery to Site. The duration of an initial operator training programme, coupled with the volume of licensed/authorized operators required and the need to develop senior operators i.e. supervisors and shift managers, means that the overall programme to achieving the required number of licensed/authorized operators, prior to commercial operation, can be typically 3 or 4 years.
In addition to training the Operators there is a need to first develop a pool of trained operations instructors which can add another 2 or 3 years to this programme time.
Simulator facilities to commence the instructor training programme are therefore potentially required 5 to 7 years ahead of commercial operation.
Unless the NNB is a direct copy of an existing plant, then the availability of reference full scope simulation facilities 5 to 7 years ahead of commercial operation are impractical.
Therefore, it is suggested that a phased approach is adopted which enables effective simulator training. This to commence on reduced scope simulator platforms but schedules periodic upgrades into the plan. It has to incorporate reference design modifications to both the simulator modelling and physical control room environment.
Following a scheduled simulator update, additional training may be required for those operators who have already completed training effected by a later update. This will be based on an assessed training need of the impact to subsequent training as a result of the latest simulator update. Hence Operator licensing/authorization being achieved by completing a base programme on the initial reference design simulator and a series of update training modules designed to capture any additional defined training needs (gaps in the earlier training resulting from later simulator updates).
Since licensing/authorization of Operators is expected prior to the completion of commissioning activities and prior to obtaining feedback from actual plant data, a further scheduled update is typically planned to capture learning from the commissioning and initial commercial operation activities.
Phases of Operator Training for NNB are therefore typically structured as (FIG. 22):
Initial Instructor Training (based on reduced simulator platforms);
Bulk Operator Training (based on initial reference design);
Pre-Operation Update Training & Authorisation (based on updated reference design, during NNB design & delivery phase);
Post Operation Update Training (based on updated reference design following commissioning and Initial Commercial Operation).
FIG. 22. Schedule example of operators training pipeline for NNB. Hinkley Point C, EDF Energy, United Kingdom.
9.2. MANAGING TRAINING NEEDS
The training of Operators needs to be managed effectively during all phases of the programme i.e. Design, Construction, Commissioning and Initial Operation.
The main challenges to ensuring the competence of the Operators prior to Commercial Operation of a New Nuclear Build are:
Availability of a full scope ‘replica’ simulator running the reference design;
Availability and training of Seed instructors;
Incorporation of design modifications resulting from the design validation process, construction and commissioning activities;
Alignment of training simulator modelling with engineering simulator requirements and development;
Lack of real plant data to validate the simulator modelling;
Availability of reference design Operational Documentation;
Insufficient information to conduct an effective Training Needs Analysis and therefore late development of the Simulator training programme, both for the initial programme and subsequent update training;
Lack of field experience to complement simulation training;
Regulatory acceptance of modifications which are postponed to the post operation update phase.
For Initial Instructor Training, consideration should be given to utilising simulator modelling based upon the core reference design for the New Nuclear Plant, coupled with HMI (human machine interface) stations which enable key operator actions to be implemented in accordance with the associated Operational procedures. These HMI interfaces typically take the
form of access to existing international core design simulator facilities or development of computer-based VDU or Soft Panel displays.
For Bulk Operator Training it is anticipated that an initial reference design, both in terms of plant systems and control room environment is available, along with the associated operations procedures, which can be used as the basis for developing and delivering an initial reference plant simulator platform. Depending on the scope of any anticipated updates it may not be practical or cost effective to conduct this training on a ‘replica’ Control room environment simulator, hence consideration may be given to extending the Instructor Training platform(s) or delivering an interim reduced scope platform. The present preferred practice, in the use of simulators on Nuclear Power Plants, is to have the modelling of the initial reference design simulator identical to that used for engineering purposes. Additional trends in control room operation from HMI being based on fixed IO (input/output) panels to computer-based operation, this may influence the type of reduced simulator platform chosen and the extent to which the training needs can be met (FIG. 23).
FIG. 23. Example of Initial Instructor platform. EDF Energy United Kingdom.
For Pre-Operation update training it is expected that there is a step or phased transition from any reduced/interim platform to a replica control room platform, which conforms to a relevant standard After each update, additional training would be provided to capture the training need associated with this update (FIG. 24). Licensing/authorization would be conducted following the last update, prior to commercial operation (FIG. 25) if the Operations training simulator modelling is aligned with the standard (i.e. ANSI-3.5 [6]). After each update, additional training would be provided to capture the training need associated with that particular update. Licensing/authorization would be conducted following the last update prior to commercial operation.
FIG. 24. Updated/Interim Platform to support BULK Operator Training.
FIG. 25. Full Scope Reference Platform for Update Training and Authorization, EDF Energy United Kingdom.
If the Operations training simulator modelling is aligned with the engineering simulator modelling, configuration control requirements and hence planned updates should be managed in an integrated manner, with the expectation that the engineering simulator modelling would incorporate design changes in an evolutionary manner and updates released to the training model at defined design configuration milestones. It may be necessary, to defer known design changes to the Post Operation update phase but it would be expected that any deviations to the relevant standard are justified to the licensing/authorizing body.
For Post Operation Update Training it is expected that the learning from the commissioning phase and initial operations phase, along with any deferred design changes are incorporated in a timely manner (typically within one year) and associated training needs incorporated within the continuing training programme.