SPX ClydeUnion Pumps (CUP) has announced an order for two of its unique Turbine Water Lubricated (TWL™) safety pumps for units 1 and 2 of TVO's Olkiluoto NPP in Finland. The steam powered TWL pump operates without any external services and assures emergency reactor cooling in the event of a complete station blackout even when fully submerged in water.
The pumps will be built at the company's facilities in Glasgow, UK, for installation in 2017/18 alongside Olkiluoto's four existing reactor cooling sub-systems as part of TVO's programme of continuous improvement in safety.
Kari Hakala, TVO project manager at Olkiluoto said the SPX TWL pump "well fulfilled our stringent requirements for reactor Alternate Coolant Injection System (ACIS)." Throughout the project feasibility stage CUP and TVO worked closely together to understand the ACIS duty requirements and potential solutions. CUP demonstrated how the TWL could autonomously adapt to meet the system requirements at both Low and High-pressure duties with challenging pump suction and steam turbine conditions.
The TWL cooling water safety pump has been optimised for use within auxiliary feedwater (AFW) or reactor core isolation cooling (RCIC) systems for both new and upgrade applications. It has full nuclear quality assurance and has also been approved by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for use in RCIC systems on advanced BWR (ABWR) plants.
