Duke Energy takes top prize for digital upgrades to reactor protection systems at Oconee-1

摘要

Employees of Duke Energy Corporation's Oconee nuclear plant in South Carolina have received this year's B. Ralph Sylvia Best of the Best Award-the most prestigious of the Nuclear Energy Institute's Top Industry Practice (TIP) awards-for completing the first digital upgrades to commercial reactor protection-systems in the United States. The upgrade from the analog instrumentation common to these systems uses digital electronics technology to improve the monitoring and control of reactor safety functions. The new digital system at Oconee-1 also features diagnostic capabilities that increase reactor efficiency and operational reliability. Duke Energy's digital conversion project was begun in 2006, and upgrades to Oconee-2 and -3 are scheduled for completionthis year and next.