The Limerick Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania in the USA, is a nuclear power plant featuring two boiling water reactors with a combined capacity of 2,317 MW. The first unit entered commercial service in 1986 and the second unit in 1990. They are currently licensed to operate until 2044 and 2049, respectively.
Constellation says the USD167 million Digital Modernization Project will "enhance reliability, diagnostic capability and cyber resilience" and "improve equipment monitoring, provide a broader range of automation and support additional operational flexibility with enhanced reliability".
It will be the first large-scale upgrade to a digital safety system at an operating nuclear plant in the US, supported by the US Department of Energy's Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program.
The installation of the new system will take place in phases, and digital control rooms will be installed during refuelling outages.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its announcement: "As the nuclear industry advances toward next-generation power reactors equipped with state-of-the-art digital instrumentation and control (I&C) systems, much of today’s operating fleet still relies on analogue controls. While reactor operators have leveraged existing regulatory flexibilities to implement targeted digital upgrades, the NRC’s approval of the Limerick amendments represents a broader and more comprehensive approach. Limerick will be the first operating nuclear power plant the NRC has authorised to perform a major digital retrofit that replaces multiple analogue safety systems with a single digital plant protection system.
"The change modernises the control room by replacing legacy equipment with modern digital controls and displays."
It said that the approval of licence amendments for Limerick's modernisation project paves the way for future digital I&C modernisation at other US nuclear power plants.
Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Ted Garrish said: "Upgrading nuclear power plants with advanced digital systems will help ensure that Americans continue to have access to affordable and abundant energy today and in the future."
Joe Dominguez, President and CEO of Constellation, said: "Every dollar we invest to enhance and modernise the nation's largest nuclear fleet will pay dividends for American families and businesses by creating jobs, keeping costs down, improving reliability and adding much-needed capacity to fuel economic growth."
Baltimore-based Constellation operates 14 nuclear power plants in the USA with a combined generating capacity of more than 19,000 MWe. These are: Braidwood, Byron, Calvert Cliffs, Clinton, Dresden, FitzPatrick, LaSalle, Limerick, Nine Mile Point, Peach Bottom, Quad Cities, R E Ginna, Salem and South Texas Project.
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