Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, C/Justo Dorado, Madrid, Spain
Abstract
Spain's programme in advanced technologies for water cooled reactors has the objectives to (1) improve performance of currently operating plants, (2) participate in establishment of user requirements, and (3) be informed of advances to support future governmental choices.
Spain has nine water reactors in operation, such as two of them are of "3rd generation" reactors: a Westinghouse PWR at Vandellos II, and a KWU PWR at Trillo I.
In addition, Spain has two modem BWR's at Valdecaballeros (GE BWR-6's) and two modem PWR's at Lemoniz which are partially completed, but which were halted in construction by the Energy Plan's moratorium of 1983 such as have been confirmed recently by a new bill on December 31, 1994 that will make sweeping changes to the country's national electricity supply sector (Ley de Ordenamiento del Sistema Electrico).
At the beginning of the nuclear programme in Spain, a major effort was made to invest in domestic capabilities, including new machinery, new quality assurance practices, and training of engineers. As a result, domestic participation in the civil work and manufacture has risen from 24% in the first generation (1969 with Zorita start up) to 78-80% in the third generation (1988 with Vandellos II). Spanish utilities intend to maintain and increase this participation in the future.
Spain has a very active applying of advanced water reactor technologies aimed at achieving performance from their operating reactors. Their R&D programmes are supported by the 0.3% fund of electric utilities income, and include:
Improvements in control room, man machine interface and post accident monitoring systems
- Probabilistic safety assessments
- Steam generator and secondary side improvements - BWR integrated corrosion programme
- Life extension
- Advanced fuel design and fabrication - Source term.
Spain actually also participates in multinational programmes such as PHEBUS-FP, HALDEN, RASPLAV, CAMP, Post-ACE, ISA, MCAP, Several code validations and benchmarkings, CSAR Programme, IV Framework Programme of the EU, Assistance to Eastern countries and others contributions.
Spain has an effort underway in the participation to design and build Evolutionary and Passives LWR's plants as AP-600 of Westinghouse, ABWR and SBWR of GE and SYSTEM 80+ of ABB-Combustion. Nothing at longer term of concerning Inherent Safety Reactors is being made.
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Spain is also participating in projects to define objectives and requirements of advanced water reactors to be built in the near future in the European Union (EU). We can extract from the 1991 Spanish Energy Plan as pattern of the institutional interest on it the following:
"...Spain must participate in an active way in the consecutions of EU goals, with the aim of reach the harmonization of rules in the nuclear field, giving place to the opening of exportation of technology, equipments and engineering services and to cause the colaboration in the EU for the development of advanced reactors clearly european".
However, Spain is not only following closely the development of others advanced water reactor designs in other countries and intends to be in a position to apply these, but it is actively participating in the EPRI's ALWR Programme and others, both within Spain and for possible export, should circumstances permit. On this regard, the anticipated demand growth within Spain should call for the commissioning of new facilities as from approximately year 2000. Two alternatives being considered to meet this demand growth are: new gas thermal plants and developing and installing advanced light water reactors. When a decision is made among these alternatives, it will be included in the pertinent Energy Plan to be submitted by the Spanish Government for approval by the Legislative Assembly. To explain the position of Spain I choosed seven different topics to be analized:
Underlying Rationale For Advancements
Spain has five reasons for pursuing advanced light water reactors:
- It would be extremely difficult to maintain Spain's existing technological capacity in the nuclear field without new nuclear power projects. Monitoring international efforts to develop advanced light water reactors will assure that Spain's technological capacity is up-to-date and available to benefit the safety and operation of existing reactors as well as those to be built in the future.
- Improved water reactors would result into improved availability factors, decreased operating costs, improved nuclear safety and radiological protection.
- Positive impact on Spanish R&D activities in areas such as robotics, expert systems, welding, etc.
- Obtaining a high degree of technology transfer from multinational firms well recognised in the nuclear field, with the ultimate objective of enabling the future independent development in Spain of competitive designs of nuclear power plants.
- The eventual prospect of exporting the design and equipment of advanced nuclear power plants to developing countries. This might include fuel cycle services as well.
The Spain's Electricity Supply Industry has decided to pursue an Advanced Water Reactor Programme. The Nuclear Safety Council (NSC) is getting involved in the
revision "C" of the European Utility Requirements -in whose redaction the Electricity Sector is participating- and until present moment NSC has presented to a document study of state-of-art of basically the most important designs of Future Reactors, enhace-ments of design objectives, nuclear trends, new NRC's Licensing, European Requirements and Conclusions.
Relevance to Operating Water Reactors
Should Spain decide to go forward with a programmme of Advanced Water Reactors, initially using imported technology and later becoming more self-sufficient, they would not see any conflict with continuing operation and reliance on existing operating light water reactors, as indeed, the completion of four units is presently cancelled. There is a very active programme of research and applying advanced technology to operating plants that continue to assure these plants operate safely, reliably and economically.
The fact that advanced water reactors have even greater capability in the areas of safety, reliability and aconomics, does not in any way detract from the conclusion that those in operation are completely satisfactory in each one of these areas.
Approach to Obtaining Advancements
The most probable systems of future reactors are considered to be the Advanced Pressurised Water Reactor (APWR), the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR), with a potential capacity of about 1000 MWe and Passives Plants (AP-600 and SBWR).
This is largely due to the vast experience obtained by the Spanish nuclear industry in the design and construction of reactors from which these types have originated.
Selection of Plant Size
Should the National Energy Plan call for new nuclear power plants, Spain is interested in advanced nuclear power plants. The size will be based on utility-specific considerations such as demand growth, grid size and economics.
Prospects for Success
The main ingredient influencing the prospects for success of advanced water reactors in Spain is the decisions made on electricity supply choices to be included in the National Energy Plan. In the medium term, the possible further lowering of the price of crude oil, and the dollar would favour continued reliance on gas fuel plants in Spain.
A further consideration in choosing among electricity supply choices is the existence of various current nuclear projects (e.g. Valdecaballeros I and II and Lemoniz I and II) authorized for construction and in different stages of progress, affected by the nuclear moratorium of 1983 and finally cancelled.
In the event that Spain does undertake on a programme for future advanced water reactors in Spain, the following are important ingredients for success:
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1) Cooperation agreements between Spanish firms, or groups of firms and foreign companies that are leaders in their field, with a view towards assimilating and transferring technology.
2) The decisive support of the administration to these agreements, either directly or through the official bodies in R&D and regulation.
3) Support of investing community.
Prospects for Cooperative Efforts
Spanish organisations are participating in various multinational nuclear research programmes such as PHEBUS-FP, HALDEN, RASPLAV, CAMP, MCAP, CSAR Programme, EPRI-ALWR Programme, etc, as we've seem before. With respect to advanced reactors, there are some groups of companies all of them integrated in a common company, called Agrupacion Electrica para el Desarrollo Tecnologico Nuclear (DTN), that are participating in the development of advanced reactors, for possible future application in Spain and also in the redaction of the European Utility Requirements (EUR) and in the European Pressurized Passive Reactor (EPP Project) wich main objective is to assess compliance with the EUR by the AP-600 concept and to present alternatives. Utilities have a great interest in having any design of advanced water reactors pre-licensed, so that licensing effort needed to construct the plant in Spain would be limited to site specific aspects only.
Economics of Advanced Water Reactors
Spain indicates that economics will be a very important consideration in choosing among electric supply options in Spain's next National Energy Plan. Emphasis for nuclear power would be a reduction of construction periods, reduction of capital costs, and stabilization of the licensing process.
PROGRESS W DESIGN, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT