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Project: International Safety Standards
Client: EDF DT provides a role of integration and design expertise and is the Responsible Designer for the Safety demonstration of the operating NPPs.
Context: As part of the activities of the International Nuclear Safety mission, a “data-centric” database tool has been set up to facilitate access to the international standards requirements. The requirements concern both operating plants and the new build projects.
Role / achievement: In this context, Oakridge is responsible for the completeness of the data, their integration into the tool and the operational maintenance of the tool. Oakridge has been able to digitize more than 15,000 international requirements and has guaranteed the quality of the data provided. Sources: ENSREG, WENRA, IAEA, domestic regulators…
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Project: NESTERS ; a tailor-made software for the spare-parts management of the neutron flux ex-core measurement system (RPN), for the whole nuclear reactors fleet (56 units)
Client: EDF is the sole nuclear power plant operator in France. In 2024, it operates 56 nuclear reactors, on 18 sites (Gravelines, Penly, Paluel, Flamanville, Blayais, Golfech, Tricastin, Cruas, Saint-Alban, Bugey, Cattenom, Chooz, Nogent/seine, Belleville/Loire, Dampierre-en-Burly, St-Laurent-des-Eaux, Chinon, Civaux).
Context: the spare-parts management was time-consuming and inefficient. No shared view was displayed for all the users over the territory, at all the NPPs and at HQ in Paris.
Role: Sharp programming on MS Access and proper connections set with multiple databases within the huge EDF IT infrastructure was challenging and successfully performed by Oakridge. Oakridge was also able to handle the data management with the multiple operator’s applications (SDIN, EPSILON, GPS).
App developed: this app provides a real-time vision of the multi-year needs of maintenance on the RPN system. It centralizes requests, provides budgetary and logistical management to all the concerned users.
Achievement: increased communication between the users’ network, growth of information reliability; real-time vision of the spare parts management (when, where, why) and the multi-year forecast budgets for the whole fleet
- 50% time saved by the EDF national RPN expert, in managing the multi-year RPN maintenance program and budget
- Efficient management of detector mapping (inventory and historical automation)
- Centralization of technical data justifying the requests accessible to the stakeholders
- Efficiency
AWARD: For this accomplishment, Oakridge received the WNE Award in the operational excellence innovation
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Project: International Benchmark – best practices in Periodic Safety Reviews
Client: KHNP is the sole nuclear power plant operator in South Korea. In 2024, it operates 36 reactors.
Context: in 2020 under the Moon administration (nuclear phase out policy), the Korean operator was challenged by the regulator in many aspects, including the PSRs. The project output gave evidence that Periodic Safety Reviews in Korea were performed in the frame of the international standard.
Role and achievement: Oakridge has built and has led an international consortium, to get the best added value to the client. Report was released in 8 months only and gave an actual advantage to KHNP for its talks with the Regulator.
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Project: Radiation protection on site: mapping the hotspots
Client: EDF is the sole nuclear power plant operator in France. In 2024, it operates 56 nuclear reactors, on 18 sites (Gravelines, Penly, Paluel, Flamanville, Blayais, Golfech, Tricastin, Cruas, Saint-Alban, Bugey, Cattenom, Chooz, Nogent/seine, Belleville/Loire, Dampierre-en-Burly, St-Laurent-des-Eaux, Chinon, Civaux).
Context: The regulator has authorized the operator to set the frequency of radiation measurements at the hotspots depending on their importance, instead of doing the measurements every 4 months for all the hotspots. The control period can be longer nowadays, up to 10 months maximum.
The operator has decided to sort the hotspots and to apply a method that defines whether a hotspot must stay controlled every 4 months or is eligible for a 10-month control periodicity.
Achievement: All the reactor building (RB) hotpots are now listed, precisely geographically identified, and visually displayed in the tool, thanks to a picture. All the hotspots are also sorted by importance and noted in the EDF software that plans the field operations and controls.
The same work has been done for the auxiliaries building.
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Project: Full Scope Simulators Upgrade
Client: CORYS
Corys is a French company headquartered in Grenoble. It has been supplying training and engineering simulators for more than 30 years to the nuclear sector, to automotive and process industries, using engineering grade modelling tools, virtual environments and control room replica and/or emulations.
Context: Oakridge has supported Corys on Nuclear Power Plant full scope simulators upgrades and development since 2007.
Main projects: Support to EPR FA3, TSN and UK Full Scope Simulator (FSS) development
Support to EDF PWRs -900 & 1300 Mwe- FSS upgrade according to the VD3 (third decade) & VD4 (fourth decade) modifications.
Role / achievement: SME for each step of the V-engineering cycle of the simulators’ development:
Documentation: specification / test procedures
Modeling: thermohydraulic, neutronic, I&C, Electricity
V&V tests