MODULAR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES FOR NUCLEAR-POWER-PLANTS

Modularization has been proposed as a nuclear power plant design-fabri cation approach for increasing the quality and reducing the costs of f uture plants. The work reported describes a methodology for making the modular design and construction process more systematic and efficient . This methodology is applied to both the design and fabrication proce sses for power plant modules. The design process is enhanced by the ut ilization of a matrix reordering technique that reveals natural groupi ngs in complex data sets. This technique allows a layout which groups plant systems functionally so that modules increase self-sufficiency a nd minimize inter-module interaction costs. In an illustration of modu lar design the ship fabrication methods of product work breakdown stru cture are applied to a modular nuclear power plant to be built at an o n-site factory facility. A comparison of a new modular power plant and a conventional power plant design is performed. Cost penalty indices are defined in order to guide maximization of the economic benefits of a modular design. Economic analyses, for both modular and conventiona l construction methods, are performed over a range of construction sch edules and monetary interest rates to illustrate the potential savings of modular construction, The results of the analyses reported here in dicate a typical potential savings of 15% in the capital cost of the m odular nuclear power plant versus a conventional one. The most interes ting result of this work is that the potential savings derive equally from the design and construction processes (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S .A.