Analysis and control on highway transportation of nuclear power equipment

Abstract:  Road transportation of nuclear power equipment (hereinafter referred to as transportation),   preceded by manufacture, features strongly in the period prior to installation and operation and is a bridge linking the manufacture value and the installation and operation value. Taking the transportation of 3# pressurizer as an example, the essay analyzes an assortment of potential risks during transportation and puts forward measures to control such risks, in the hope of improving the quality control of transportation.
Key  words： Nuclear power equipment；  Road transportation；   Link；   Risk analysis；   Risk control；   Measure
1 General introduction
At present, the highway network is well developed in China and there are over 80% nuclear equipments are transported by highway. The road transportation can provide door-to-door service and it is fast, flexible, less transfers and is not prone to be limited by geography and weather conditions. Meanwhile, the transport process carries its own characteristic, such as regulators. Some equipment is heavy, large, costly and has some special requirements including temperature, humidity, oil and nitrogen charge as well as acceleration. Risks exist in each stage from factory inspection to on-site delivery and control measures should be taken as necessary. In order to reduce or eliminate risks to a maximum extent, a professional Insurance Company is needed to evaluate the risks and ensure the equipments are transported safely and reliably to the construction site. The regulator of unit 3 of Qinshan Phase II Extending project is manufactured and transported by Xi’an Nuclear Equipment Co, Ltd by highway.

The regulator is one of the important equipments in Reactor Coolant System and it is a vertical cylindrical vessel of high temperature (360) and high pressure (17.2MPa). Its security level includes class 1, RCC-M Regulation class 1, anti-seism class II, cleanliness class A1 and quality class Q1. Some internal heating element is RCC-E class K1. The external dimension of regulator includes: the skirt 2580mm; cylinder external diameter 2215mm; the total length 12103mm; total weight of the bracket 84T. The equipment height after loading is 3750mm; the width is 3300mm and the total weight of the vehicle and truck is 135Tons.
The regulator is full of Nitrogen before delivery, so the horizontal accelerations during transportation should be less than 1.5g and the vertical accelerations is less than 1.2g. The regulator is one of the equipments of high requirements in acceleration of transportation. The distance between Xi’an Nuclear Equipment and Qinshan Phase II Extending project is 1800 kilometers, which spans from Shannxi, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu to Zhejiang provinces. It is a long distance and tight schedule.

2 Transportation of nuclear equipments and risk analysis
Main transportation process and potential risk from acceptance to delivery includes:
2.1 Approval of the transportation plan
The main transporter should prepare the nuclear equipment transportation, including design of transport route, choosing of transportation vehicle, equipment lifting and packing, calculation of transportation drawings, dimension and suitability, control measures of special requirements of Nitrogen and oil charge, transportation procedures of overloaded equipment, obstacles elimination during transportation, examination methods during transportation, contact of transporter, quality plan of transporter, insurance purchasing and approval procedure of transportation plan. The main risk factors lie in the feasibility and completion of transportation plan. As of plan of unit 3, template selection and packing methods has been improved after several consultations with Xi’an Nuclear Equipment. NPIC (Nuclear Power Institute of China) has confirmed the allowable acceleration value and type and range of accelerograph.
2.2 Ex-factory acceptance
2.2.1 Quality of the equipment:
There are some special requirements for the nuclear equipment. There are 60 electric heating elements distributed evenly under the regulator. They are placed in horizontal direction and affected its movement and insulation by speed and road conditions during transportation. The regulator is full of Nitrogen before delivery so as to ensure dry conditions of equipments. Therefore, the leakage condition should be checked. 
2.2.2 Package:
The external dimension and quality of package should strictly comply with regulations of transportation administration. Marks should be clearly made on the package, such as, center of gravity, lifting position, rainproof, wet-proof, shockproof and receive/deliver of goods. The most important risk factors lie in tightness and stability of equipment structure. As of the nude equipment, the exposed nozzle and orifice should be sealed. The dissimilar metals joint, exposed instrument and tube should be protected. The regulator should be laid down on saddle and fastened by two steel belts. The protection materials should be placed between the surface of saddle and bottom of the regulator so as to prevent erosion of metal surface of regulator and paint film. It is necessary to check whether the regulator is fixed.
2.3 Transportation tools selection:
Selection of tractor and template should base on the specific conditions of the equipments. The main risk factors lie in economic and reliability of the tools. In addition, it requires that the transporter and driver should have rich experiences in large equipments transportation and good understanding and responsibility of special transportation requirements and deal with emergencies on the way. The total weight of unit 3 vehicle and regulator is 135 tons and it is strictly required the acceleration. The vehicles should be driven steadily and have good damping performance. The latest transportation adopts 600 horsepower triple axis Volvo traction locomotive. The total traction is 150 tons. The flatcar is a vertical 8 axis semi-trailer hydraulic flatcar. The self-weight of flatcar is 40 tons and it can load equipments below 120 tons. The tools and components service truck is available to this transportation and used for obstacle elimination and emergency repair.
2.4 Lifting and packing of equipment
First, a suitable wire rope or sling should be determined by equipment weight. More attention should be paid to the center of gravity and hoisting point and adoption the position or weight of the sling so as to keep balance. Moreover, the center of equipment should be similar to that of the flatcar. The horizontal deviation should be less than 2cm and the vertical deviation should be less than 20cm. The rubber or isolation board should be placed between equipment and surface of steel rope in order to prevent damage to the equipment. The breaking force of rope should be more than traction and impact force of breaking. The thin rubber (3000x300x8mm) should be placed between saddle of the regulator and flatcar in order to increase friction. Both ends of the regulators should be packed with ￠32mm 6×19 steel ropes and then fasten it with chain fall. The rope should also cross the middle of the equipment and make it fastened. The rainproof cloth should be placed on the surface of the equipment. 
2.5 Special control measures of the nuclear equipment
The nuclear equipment is expensive and the transportation distance is long and it has complicated loading process. Therefore, it requires a professional Insurance Company to make a risk assessment and confirm whether the transportation plan is feasible. The transporter should gain insurance in advance. The Nitrogen charge and acceleration is the primary risk of transportation of regulator.
2.5.1 Control measures of the Nitrogen pressure
The bulge test should be conducted before delivery and check the leakage. In addition, the Nitrogen tank can be connected with equipment by valve and pressure gauge. There are two Nitrogen pressure gauges on the equipment and the Nitrogen can be charged as necessary and available on the tool service truck.
2.5.2 Control of acceleration 
(1) First, the accelerograph should be used and it can be divided into two types: mechanical and electronic. The electronic accelerograph is highly accurate in measurement; continuous record of equipment transportation conditions; preset the warning and alarm threshold value; the disadvantage is that it is not visual. The acceleration value cannot be seen during transportation and the vibration amplitude cannot be observed. The mechanical accelerograph can print the vibration conditions and it is easy to observe and adjust the transportation speed. The disadvantage is that the resolution is not good. The acceleration value after the point need be calculated. Moreover, it has high requirements for environment and it requires protection device during snow and rain.  The mechanical accelerograph is used in the latest transportation so that the speed can be adjusted.
(2) The accelerograph should be fixed in a suitable position on the equipment so that it can accurately record the transportation conditions. Especially, it cannot affect the equipment packing, for example, the accelerograph may be touched or shocked during packing of equipment and it may lead to false record of speed. The accelerograph shouldn’t be installed in raised position of the equipment to prevent being crashed. The accelerograph is installed at supporting saddle of regulator.
(3) There are at least two accelerograph on regulator, steam generator, pressure vessel and other large equipment and it should be placed on both ends of the equipment.
2.6 Procedures of the equipments
After the equipments are loaded, it needs take pictures for over weighted equipments and finish the related procedures and purchase insurance. The main risk factors lie in completion of over weighted procedures and familiar with local policies and coordination capacity. It matters whether the equipments are delivered in time.
2.7 Record during transportation
The road transportation, especially the overweight equipment, should strictly comply with Transportation Laws and control the speed and distance. The tool service truck or breacher should make a survey of the road conditions. When the car passes through bridges, tunnels, arch culvert and slope, it should be slowly. The tire pressure, air pressure, hydraulic pressure, Nitrogen pressure, acceleration value, equipment packing and movement conditions should be checked after  a long distance and adjust, charge and fasten it as necessary and fill the record table. It is the longest time, so the main risks lie in the conditions of the equipment and worker. It is prohibited to work overtime.
2.8 Take-over after the equipments arrive at the site
The take-over of equipment includes equipments take-over and documents take-over and the main risks lie in responsibility take-over during delivery. It is necessary to ask the installation company to check and protect the equipments.
2.8.1 Equipment take-over
Before arriving at the site, the arrival time, weight of equipment, external dimension and lifting requirements should be informed to the acceptance party and ask them to make preparations in advance, including lifting facilities, tools and workers.
2.8.2 Documents take-over
The regulator transportation has strict requirements for Nitrogen and acceleration, so the Installation Company, owner, operator and supervisor should present at the delivery site to witness and check the record of Nitrogen and accelerograph and make comparison; finally it will come to a conclusion. All parties should sign on the examination and send each party a copy. 
2.9 Documents filing-up
The transportation plan, approval opinions of owners, evaluation results from Insurance Company, copy of insurance list, record list during transportation, original and copy of the accelerograph record, on-site take-over list, existing problems and experience feedback should be filed. This will ensure unite, complete and true documents and meet requirements of quality insurance system.

3 Risk control of each transport stage
3.1 Transportation plan approval
The approval includes transportation route, route conditions exploration and obstacle elimination; tool choice; lifting and packing plan; the manufacturer of equipment also should examine its subcontractor’s transportation methods and plans. The manufacturer also need conduct a simulate test on speed during long distance transportation in order to verify the best speed for transportation.
3.2 Acceptation stages
The main task is to check whether the package of equipment meet requirements; whether the lifting position, center of gravity, forklift point, rainproof and shockproof mark is clear; whether the nozzle and orifice is sealed; whether the equipment and supporting saddle is fastened. As far as the regulator is concerned, shockproof measures should be taken since there are 60 electrical heating components at the bottom of regulator. If the textile belts can be used for each heating component, it will prevent damages to these components and regulators.
3.3 Other stages
The risks control measures of other stages are introduced in above paragraphs, please refer to it. 

4 Conclusions
Risk control is to reduce or eliminate potential risk by means of making prevention and control measures to reduce possibilities or losses. Transport is an important phase from equipment manufacture to installation and it is a necessary stage to transfer the manufacture value to installation value. The maximum horizontal and vertical acceleration is 0.7g during regulator transportation of the unit 3 by means of taking risk control measures. The interior Nitrogen pressure is normal, so that it ensures the installation quality of equipments.
Bibliography and Standards:
[1] GB/T 14507-1993 Weather and environment conditions of road and waterway[S].
[2] GB/T 14508-1993 Mechanical conditions of road transportation[S].
[3] RCC-M F6420、F6430、F6440 Requirements on Pollution Prevention[S].
[4] GB 146-1、GB/T 5600 Dimension and condition of locomotive [S].
[5] Technical specification of the unit 3 regulator of Qinshan Phase II Extending project [S].

Authors:

BAO Wei-dong - China nuclear power engineering Co.Ltd.  Beijing  100840，China；
LIU Ying-qi  -  CNNC nuclear power Qinshan joint venture Co.，Ltd. Haiyan of Zhejiang Prov. 314300，China

Source:

This article was published on CHINA NUCLEAR POWER (No. 2 - 2009), in which the following articles are included

New progress in advanced nuclear energy technology study    -by Ouyang Yu
Fast reactor and sustainable nuclear energy development in China    -by Xu Mi
The relation between maturity and sophistication shall be properly dealt with in nuclear power development    -by Li Yong Jiang
Optimized operation of the primary loop coolant purification system     -by Wang Yuzhou
Manufacturing process and mechanical properties of forged clean steel tubesheets for 1000MW nuclear power plant  
                                                                                                                    -by Deng Lintao, Liu Zhiying, Wang Tao
Technology development tendency and R&D idea of NPP radiation monitoring system     -by Liu Jie, Sun Ming
Management and improvement of fire protection operation in Qinshan Ⅲ    -By Yu Ting
Containment ventilation radioactivity monitoring of WWER-1000 reactors   -by Xie Jiangshan, Yang Haoran
Optimization of technical renovation project management in QNPP    -by Dong Li-dong
Analysis and control on road transportation of nuclear power equipment     -by Bao Wei-dong, Liu Ying-qi
Comparison and analysis on the differences between AP1000 and EPR engineered safety system  -by Guo Jing-ren, Yang Meng-jia
Localization and indigenization of China nuclear power industry   -by Zhang  Xing-fa
The important role of information resources in nuclear power development of China  -by Wu Jie
Technical evolution of leading nuclear power reactor types in the world  -by Zhang Rui-ping, Zhang Xue, Zhang Lu-qing

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