Entergy Nuclear employees at Palisades Power Plant took home the highest honor at the Nuclear Energy Assembly in the annual Top Industry Practice Awards. Entergy's Palisades team was the maintenance category winner and also earned the top honor, the B. Ralph Sylvia Best of the Best Award, over 14 other category winners at the meeting held in San Francisco by the Nuclear Energy Institute.
The coveted Top Industry Practice awards rank among the nuclear industry's most prestigious recognitions. The employees won for developing a new instrument called a gimbaled head for inspections of the reactor vessel. Working with the vendor AREVA, this team innovation is one that will also be used across the industry since it vastly improves data collection for this important maintenance inspection.
"We are very proud of our Palisades employees and their persistent spirit in building this device over a number of years until it resulted in a breakthrough advance for Entergy that ultimately now benefits the entire industry," said Entergy Nuclear president and CEO, John Herron. Herron also serves as the Chief Nuclear Officer for the Entergy Nuclear fleet, the second largest nuclear fleet in the U.S. operating or providing management services to facilities in Arkansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York and Vermont.
What is a gimbaled head?
The gimbaled head performs inspections on the inside of the reactor head around the mechanisms that lift and lower control rods. The gimbaled head is a flexible assembly for reading and writing information scanned from the surface to a rigid magnetic recording disk called a transducer and the device is delivered to the area needing inspection by a computer-controlled, remotely-operated robot. The information is collected and transmitted to a computer for analysis.
Giving back to the community
The team's monetary reward was donated to the following Michigan area organizations: Harbor Habitat for Humanity in Benton Harbor; the Michigan chapter of the American Nuclear Society to support a local teacher workshop; and the Children Advocacy Center of Ottawa County. A portion of the funds were also donated to Habitat for Humanity in Lynchburg, Va., where AREVA team members reside.
"With hundreds of entries in this nationwide competition, our power plant is very honored to have captured the top award," noted site vice president for Palisades, Chris Schwarz. "Moreover, it points to the fact that our industry is recognizing nuclear professionals who have taken the initiative to develop better practices making the nuclear energy industry one of the safest, most efficient and most productive in the world. Our employees commitment to excellence has helped secure the value of nuclear energy as a green, affordable and safe source of electricity for our country."
Nuclear Energy Institute Awards recognize innovations
Established in 1994, the Nuclear Energy Institute's awards recognize nuclear energy operators for innovations that improve safety, economics or plant performance. Entergy Nuclear has been honored with 20 awards since the program's inception.
"We started working on the new inspection device nearly five years ago. To receive this level of recognition feels great for our team and our plant. Palisades is a place that supports exploring new ideas and implementing the best solutions for our operational challenges," stated Chad Main, project manager and team leader for the Palisades winning effort.
Palisades Nuclear Power Plant is located in Covert, Michigan and has a maximum dependable capacity of 798 MWe becoming operational in 1971.
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $10 billion and more than 15,000 employees.
http://entergy-nuclear.com
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2010 Nuclear Technology Transfer Awardsby EPRIvideos154 views
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