Areva NP on 3 March signed a contract with Entergy Nuclear to conduct scheduled inspections of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) internals at unit 1 of the Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO) NPP in Russellville, Arkansas in autumn this year. Areva NP will use non-destructive examination (NDE) techniques, including ultrasonic and visual examinations, to evaluate the RPV internals. The aim is to verify the effectiveness of the facility's ageing management programmes to ensure long-term equipment safety, performance and reliability. Areva NP will complete this work in accordance with the Electric Power Research Institute's Materials Reliability Program (MRP)-227.
For more than 40 years, the low-carbon electricity generated by the ANO facility's two pressurized water reactors has supplied more than 60% of the total energy demand of Entergy's customers in Arkansas.
On 2 March Areva NP said it had completed reactor coolant pump refurbishments at Dominion's two-unit Surry NPP in southeastern Virginia. The company said it had renovated and qualified four pumps, including two from the single-unit Kewaunee NPP in Wisconsin, which was shut down permanently in May 2013. Teams from Areva replaced the shafts, impellers, couplings, bearings and the pumps' turning vane bolts.
