L-3 MAPPS announced today that the STP Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) has placed an order to replace the reactor core model for the unit 1 and 2 South Texas Project simulator. The replacement model will be used for operator training and is scheduled to be in service at the end of 2008.
STPNOC was L-3 MAPPS’ first customer for a major simulator replacement project awarded in 1991. The customer was also the first to incorporate end-to-end replacement of software models in its simulator, using L-3 MAPPS’ ROSE® Environment (now Orchid® Modeling Environment).
“The L-3 simulation platform has provided us with reliable service for many years,” said Joseph Brodsky, simulator supervisor at South Texas Project electric generating station. “As we expand our generating capacity at STP, we look to L-3 MAPPS for continued support.”
“The South Texas project simulator is one of the most advanced nuclear power plant simulators in the US,” said Michael Chatlani, vice president of marketing and sales for L-3 MAPPS Power Systems and Simulation. “We are pleased to provide the replacement reactor core model for the simulator and to continue our role as a reliable service provider for STPNOC.”
The new real-time reactor core model, based on the nodal expansion method (NEM), will be generated with L-3 MAPPS’ Orchid Core Builder software. With NEM, each node of the reactor core model is represented by a fourth-order polynomial, providing a highly accurate representation of the flux in the reactor core. Orchid Core Builder will also be delivered to STPNOC for adapting the core model to incorporate plant fuel cycle updates, together with L-3 MAPPS’ initial condition (IC) transfer mechanism to automate and ease the process of transferring ICs from one fuel burn-up point to the next.
South Texas Project is located approximately 90 miles southwest of Houston, near Bay City. The plant is managed by the STP Nuclear Operating Company and owned by Austin Energy, CPS Energy and NRG Texas. South Texas Project’s twin reactors went online in August 1988 and June 1989, respectively. The South Texas Project electric generating station is one of the newest and largest nuclear power plants in the country.
STP’s two reactors produce 2,700MW of electricity, enough for more than one million homes and businesses in south central Texas. STP will be the site of one of the first new nuclear power plants built in the US in nearly three decades. Each of the new units will hold a 1,350MW advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR), the latest advancement in a plant design with a half-century history of safe and reliable operations worldwide.
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.