Rolls-Royce boron meters for French reactors
UK-headquartered engineer Rolls-Royce is to supply boron measurement systems for the entire fleet of 900 MWe nuclear reactors in France owned and operated by EDF Group.
Comex Nucléaire, a subsidiary of France's ONET Technologies, will oversee the mechanical design and installation work as well as support licensing with the French safety authority ASN.
Rolls-Royce said its boron meter technology, known as Boronline, complies with the latest French safety regulations. It provides real-time data on boron concentration levels in the reactor coolant through continuous measurement and is essential to control the reactivity of the core and ensure safe operation, the company said in a statement today to announce the new deal.
The contract includes equipment feasibility and supply, on-site activities and long-term support. It is scheduled to run until 2022.
Rolls-Royce provides instrumentation and control systems and solutions to more than 200 nuclear reactors worldwide including all the nuclear reactors in France, through its I&C unit in Grenoble, France.
Debbie Huston, the company's spokesperson for its nuclear business, told World Nuclear News today that Rolls-Royce has more than 30 years of experience in the design of boron meters and Boronline is the company's latest version.
"Boronline is the fourth generation of our Boron measurement technology. Earlier generations of Boron meter developed by Rolls-Royce have been installed in more than 75 reactors worldwide, including all 58 reactors in France. The latest contract involves a new type of boron technology that will be fitted on a different circuit to the existing installations," Huston said.
The boron meters previously installed in France were fitted on the REN - or nuclear sampling system - circuit and used a tank to perform real-time measurements, by permanent sampling, she said. For the present contract, the additional boron meters will be installed on the RCV - or volume controlled system - circuit and will use a surface detector, directly installed on the pipe, she said. The boron meters installed on the REN circuit are still in use.
Huston said the value of the new contract is confidential.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
