Standardization push for Chinese operator

06 December 2012

The completion of a three-year software project has "laid the foundation" for China Guandong Power Corp (CGNPC) to standardize the way it operates its nuclear fleet and improve efficiency.

The project, carried out in partnership with the Shanghai branch of international professional services company PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC), has worked to standardize and optimize nuclear operations, maintenance, business processes and systems at CGNPC's operational sites at Daya Bay and Lingao I and II, as well as at plants still under construction sites at Hongyanhe, Taishan, Yangjiang, Fangchengang and Ningde. This was achieved through a single integrated software solution known as SAP.

The SAP software brings together all CGNPC plant operations, maintenance, modification engineering, and business management, allowing CGNPC to take better advantage of economies of scale "with everything from purchasing to training to operational benchmarking," according to PwC.

The project process saw CGNPC summarize over 40 reactor years of experience at the Daya Bay site as well as drawing on the experience of other SAP users. "By integrating that experience into our own system, we have laid the foundation for standardized nuclear operations and management, marking the beginning of our eventual standardization management at the different CGNPC nuclear sites," explained former CGNPC general manager Lu Changshen. PwC Shanghai consulting partner Jeff Briner described the project as "a big win for the entire nuclear industry".

CGNPC is one of China's two main nuclear power operators, operating a total of four French-designed PWRs at Daya Bay and Lingao I and two indigenously designed CPR-1000 PWRs at Lingao II. Its current construction projects include CPR-1000s plus the two French-designed EPR units under construction at Taishan.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News