SAINT-LAURENT, QUEBEC, CANADA,— L-3 Communications MAPPS, a wholly owned
subsidiary of L-3 Communications, announced today that it has entered into a technical cooperation
agreement with Southern California Edison (SCE) for SCE’s support in benchmarking and validating L-3
MAPPS’ new reactor core model for high-fidelity simulation of light water reactors (LWR). The new
model, under development since last year, will be installed and validated on SCE’s San Onofre Nuclear
Generating Station (SONGS) simulator.
Given the availability of low-cost computing resources today, L-3 MAPPS is currently finalizing the
development of an enhanced LWR core model based on the Nodal Expansion Method (NEM), called
COMET™ Plus and an associated software tool – Chorus™ Plus – for adapting the core model to any
LWR nuclear core. With NEM, each node of the COMET Plus reactor core model will be represented by
a fourth-order polynomial, providing a highly accurate representation of the flux in reactor cores. Chorus
Plus will process any fuel data type regardless of the fuel manufacturer to generate the real-time reactor
core model – COMET Plus. The new model will not require tuning if the input fuel data is accurate
relative to the fuel design data.
Since the early 1990’s, L-3 MAPPS has employed the COMET™ reactor core model, based on the
General Equivalence Theory, and core model generation and cycle-update utility Chorus™. COMET
models are highly accurate; however, the initially generated models have required tuning through the use
of graphical tools provided in Chorus. L-3 MAPPS will continue to maintain and support
COMET/Chorus as well to service the varying needs of power generation utilities.
L-3 MAPPS has been engaged by SCE on numerous upgrade projects for the SONGS simulator since
1991, at which time the SONGS simulator was the first to take advantage of the company’s ROSE®
simulation environment, which is used for simulating all plant process systems except for the reactor. At
the time, L-3 MAPPS replaced the simulator’s secondary system models. Today, the SONGS simulator is
primarily based on L-3 MAPPS technology.
“We appreciate SCE’s pioneering spirit,” said Steve Kantor, president and COO of L-3’s Power &
Control Systems Group. “SCE was the first to partner with us when we introduced ROSE in 1991, which
has become the world’s foremost modeling environment for power plant simulators. It is fitting that SCE
has partnered with us again as we roll out the next generation of high-fidelity reactor core models.”
“L-3 MAPPS has been a reliable and dependable software supplier to SCE for 15 years,” said Vincent
Gagnon, simulator project manager for Southern California Edison. “The company’s determination to
succeed and to deliver first rate simulation products presents a win-win situation for both companies.”
An Edison International company, Southern California Edison is one of the largest utilities in the U.S.,
serving central, coastal and Southern California. SONGS provides nearly 20 percent of the power to more
than 15 million people in Southern California – enough power to serve 2.2 million households. The San
Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is made up of two Combustion Engineering pressurized water reactor
units with combined net output of 2,200 MWe. The SONGS simulator is used to provide operator training
for both units.
L-3 MAPPS has over 20 years of experience in pioneering technological advances in the marine
automation field and over 30 years of experience in delivering high-fidelity power plant simulation to
leading utilities worldwide. In addition, the company has more than three decades of expertise in
supplying plant computer systems for Canadian heavy water reactors. L-3 MAPPS also provides targeted
controls and simulation solutions to the space sector.
To learn more about L-3 MAPPS, please visit the company’s web site at www.L-3Com.com/mapps.
Headquartered in New York City, L-3 Communications is a leading provider of Intelligence, Surveillance
and Reconnaissance (ISR) systems, secure communications systems, aircraft modernization, training and
government services. The company is a leading merchant supplier of a broad array of high technology
products, including guidance and navigation, sensors, scanners, fuzes, data links, propulsion systems,
simulators, avionics, electro optics, satellite communications, electrical power equipment, encryption,
signal intelligence, antennas and microwave components. L-3 also supports a variety of Homeland
Security initiatives with products and services. Its customers include the Department of Defense,
Department of Homeland Security, selected U.S. Government intelligence agencies and aerospace prime
contractors.
To learn more about L-3 Communications, please visit the company’s web site at www.L-3Com.com.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward looking
statements. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to events or
conditions or that include words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,”
“estimates” and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set
forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from any such statement, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the company’s Safe Harbor
Compliance Statement for Forward-looking Statements included in the company’s recent filings,
including Forms 10-K and 10-Q, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these
forward-looking statements.