WORKSHOP ON COATINGS AND LININGS FOR NUCLEAR PLANTS
This two or three-day seminar is offered on an in-office/on-site basis. We can accommodate a class size of 20 people.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This short course has been created for engineers and supervisors responsible for establishing policies for maintaining and upgrading plant coatings and linings. The course deals with non-metallic coatings used for corrosion protection, to facilitate decontamination, and for aesthetic purposes.
A course text is provided. Substantial background information is furnished. The lecturer format includes presentation of slides, physical specimens, and coating/lining QC instrumentation.
The basis of the need for this course and the topics addressed are described immediately below:
Historical and Regulatory Basis of this Course (Why take this course)
Certain coatings are considered safety-related by virtue of the fact that degraded coatings applied to or within systems, structures and components could compromise the efficacy of such systems in achieving and maintaining safe-shutdown. Historically, safety-related coatings were perceived to be those inside primary containment. Coating-specific standards were developed to ensure that the applicable Appendix B criteria were applied during the containment coating design phase and when maintaining those coatings. The containment coating material selection process had to ensure suitability for application. Such design parameters were committed to in the SAR’s of many plants licensed in the 1970’s and afterward. Older plants, not beholden to explicit licensing commitments, are nonetheless required to demonstrate long term cooling capability. The standard licensing and design posture has been to invoke emerging regulations and standards on a "going forward" basis, regardless of the lack of prior licensing commitments.
Two specific recent events have underscored the need for revisiting coating and lining design and inspection practices. Incidents of improper or ineffective containment coating practices, tracked in a series of Information Notices (IN’s), resulted in Generic Letter 98-04. GL 98-04 required respondents to review the basis for qualifying containment coatings and for documenting such coatings as may not have been qualified. Though the GL is now closed, it has extracted a renewed level of diligence regarding containment coating practices. Plant operators are just now devising action plans to implement those renewed commitments evoked via GL 98-04.
Further, the process of reevaluating coating application and maintenance practices also brought to light instances of inferior performance of organic materials in safety-systems outside containment, such as linings and elastomers for service water systems. ISI within SWS’s resulting from GL 89-13 was the primary source of input regarding performance of organic materials within SWS’s.
As a consequence of the collected reports of a significant number of instances of degraded coating and lining performance, and inadequate or improper maintenance practices, the revised the principal safety-related coatings Regulatory Guide, 1.54. Revision 1 to RG 1.54 was issued in July, 2000. It reflects the necessity that operators recognize that the Maintenance Rule must be applied to all safety-related coatings and linings throughout the facility. At the same time, the primary sources of safety-related coatings standards, ASTM Committee D 33, has extensively revised key standards to reflect the emerging realization that safety-related coatings outside containment warrant the level of process and quality control heretofore applied only to containment coatings.
Day 1 topics of this Workshop address the fundamental design considerations for selecting and applying coatings and linings for safety-related service for use inside and outside containment. Traditional regulations and compliance strategies will be reviewed. The emerging requirements and their compliance implications will also be addressed. Other important engineering and plant design considerations associated with safety-related coatings located within primary containment will be assessed.
Day 2 starts by addressing design bases and application processes unique to safety-related linings , such as service water, that are located outside containment. Participants are then trained in the fundamentals of coating and lining quality control. Trainnig includes hands-on familiarization with inspection instruments and their proper use.
Day 3 topics include discussion of practices and policies required for ISI of safety-related coatings and linings and an overview of corrosion conditions affecting nuclear plants and the role of coatings in corrosion prevention. Essential elements for establishing and implementing a protective coatings program will be addressed. Coatings and linings for non-safety-related systems and applications that are important to plant performance and reliability are also reviewed.
SEMINAR TOPICS
| Day 1: | I REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS FOR
SAFETY-RELATED COATINGS & LININGS II LEVEL I (CONTAINMENT) COATINGS |
| Day 2: | III LEVEL III LININGS (OUTSIDE CONTAINMENT) IV INSPECTING SAFETY-RELATED COATING AND LINING APPLICATIONS |
| Day 3: | V CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND
MAINTAINENCE OF SAFETY -RELATED COATINGS VI BASIC CORROSION THEORY VII COATING AND LINING MATERIALS FOR APPLICATIONS OTHER THAN SAFETY-RELATED (BOP) |
George V. Spires is the course director and instructor.
Having design engineering responsibility for nuclear plant non-metallic materials since the inception of the commercial power industry, Mr. Spires served as the corporate coatings and linings specialist for Stone & Webster and Brown & Root’s Power Division. He served on the ANSI committees charged with developing the standards referenced in the original AEC regulations developed in the industry’s construction era. Subsequently, he has been active in the ASTM D33 subcommittees, which have created the standards that replaced the ANSI standards in the regulations bases documents. Recently, he was assigned principal responsibility for drafting EPRI Guideline TR 109937. That Guide was developed at the request of the industry, with active support of NEI and the NRC, with the objective of providing a basis for implementing Generic Letter 98-04 and the then pending revision to Regulatory Guide (1.54, Rev. 1). His recent field assignments have been as a member of plant recovery and compliance project teams in the US and Canada. He holds a Masters Degree in Engineering Management, is a registered PE in several states, is a Registered Nuclear Safety-Related Coatings Engineer, and is a Society of Protective Coatings (SSPC) Protective Coatings Specialist.
If you are interested in this courses please send email to: courseinfo