Tokyo Centre sponsors PHWR Operational Performance Improvement Seminar
Event Report
Vol 25 No 2 2018
15 July 2017
By Ronn Smith, Senior Communications Manager, WANO Tokyo Centre
Tokyo Centre, in cooperation with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and the CANDU Owners Group (COG), sponsored a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) Operational Performance Improvement Seminar 30-31 May 2017 in Mumbai, India.
More than 120 nuclear professionals from India, Canada, South Korea, China, Japan, Romania, and the United States attended the meeting, making it the largest PHWR event Tokyo Centre has ever conducted.
The seminar was opened by D. Gawande, director of operations for NPCIL, and Dr. Naoki Chigusa, director of WANO Tokyo Centre.
"PHWR technology is used throughout the world," Chigusa said. "We believe there is an opportunity for even greater interaction among PHWR operators, which will help the industry make meaningful, significant improvements in safety and plant reliability worldwide. This seminar is a step towards increasing that cooperation."
Seminar sessions included discussions of recent PHWR operation experience, PHWR pressure-tube replacement, design engineering and operation issues, recent experience with primary equipment, and post-Fukushima countermeasures in PHWRs. Participants heard more than 26 presentations by some of the world's leading PHWR experts (links to the presentations are provided below). Participants responded enthusiastically to the presentations, with many questions and discussions arising during question-and-answer sessions.
Equally important, the seminar provided an opportunity for participants to establish relationships for longer-term individual interactions and an ongoing exchange of expertise and experience.
The PHWR seminar is an example of the type of WANO activity that can play an increasingly important role in helping members to improve the safety and performance of their plants. Seminars are part of a full suite of WANO products that include peer reviews, workshops, training sessions, the sharing of operating experience and best practices, and monitoring of performance indicators.
"PHWR technology can continue to play a beneficial role in the world's energy future," Chigusa said. "WANO can help the operators of this technology learn from each other, and take advantage of shared experience and expertise to keep these plants operating safely and at the peak of their potential. We are pleased to have worked with NPCIL and COG to organise this international seminar."
WANO members can view presentations from the PHWR seminar on the WANO member website in the Schedules section under PHWR Operational Performance Improvement Seminar.