Efforts To Eliminate Raschig Ring Filled Vessels At B&w

摘要

Babcock and Wilcox (B&W) has been using Raschig rings as a criticality safety poison control for solutions contained in large, unfavorable geometry vessels for approximately 40 years at our Lynchburg nuclear processing facility. These rings have been used as both primary and secondary criticality control, depending on the type of application. Issues related to cost (ring cost and maintenance, such as testing, cleaning, inspection, etc.), compliance, safety, and regulatory pressure have combined in such a way that the burden of using Raschig rings for criticality safety has become problematic. (Note: some of these issues are discussed in Reference 1.) A management directive was established to develop and implement suitable replacements for all Raschig ring filled vessels at the plant site by the end of December, 2010. This paper identifies the types of vessels that exist at the plant and proposed replacement strategies.