Sometimes the right shield for the job involves placing a shield as close to the source as possible as with pipe and valves shields, but other times the best solution is to put as much shielding as possible into a wall and create general area shielding for the workers. Lead panel shield walls and water shields […]
This past spring outage season, NPO collaborated with a plant to provide them with custom shielding for their Conoseals during Core Exit Thermocouple replacement activities. Unit 1 and Unit 2 had different Conoseal structures, and the challenge was to model a shielding package that could be used for both elements interchangeably. The shielding package was […]
In 2013 NPO designed and built a custom Core Barrel Shield for Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert, MI. The shielding was implemented in Palisades’ 23rd refueling outage and was a great success. The story of the project’s success spread in May 2015 when the Palisades plant was recognized during the Nuclear Energy Institute’s best industry practice […]
One year ago we introduced our new ability to simulate complex radiation profiles and thereby design the most effective shielding possible (‘NPO uses MCNP to simulate Dry Cask’, March 2016). Since then we’ve designed and built more than a few shielding systems using this new ability. Now the day has finally come where we can […]
T-Flex is the most versatile shielding material that NPO has to offer. Its ability to be poured as a liquid and cured as a flexible solid makes it ideal for fitting the maximum amount of shielding around a component while keeping space and weight to a minimum. The most common way this is put into […]
Tungsten T-Flex® was selected as the best material to shield divers during a Steam Dryer repair. Approval for use in flood up water required chemical testing for leachables and heavy metals. The end result was an 8 ft x 5 ft (2.44 m x 1.52 m) shield wall constructed by attaching T-Flex panels to a […]
EDF Saint-Alban plant, located in Saint-Maurice-l’Exil, France, collaborated with NPO Europe to address a few opportunities for shielding the steam generators during sludge lancing operations. Saint-Alban wanted to reduce shielding installation and removal time from the benchmark of 5.5 hours, reduce total project dose from 476 mRem (4,760 μSv), and remove the physical clutter of […]
Exelon Braidwood Station recently saw very good dose reduction with their dry cask campaigns by utilizing NPO T-Flex® Annulus Gap Shielding. This was designed to fit in the annulus gap between the canister and transfer cask and had a fire blanket covering specified by Braidwood. The annulus gap shielding, in addition to more NPO dry […]
Limerick Generating Station was in need of custom shielding for their bio-shield doors. Even though shielding was already installed, there was still a gap that continued to be a source of dose. NPO worked closely with ALARA Specialist, Joe Bruno, at Limerick to design a 4-piece magnetic set of custom lead blankets. Each piece had […]
Some NPP’s process Dry Casks in a such a way that the entire cask produces a general area dose concern. To reduce these dose rates NPO developed a shield package that sits on the floor and shields the cask to a height of 9 feet (2.74 m). NPO is currently under contract to provide shield […]