L-3 MAPPS to Deliver Severe Accident Simulator to Westinghouse for Project in Japan

L-3 MAPPS announced that it has won an order from Westinghouse Electric Company to deliver a full-scale 1,000 MWe class pressurized water reactor (PWR) simulator equipped with severe accident simulation capability as part of a larger project that Westinghouse is fulfilling for a customer in Tokyo, Japan. The simulator will be used to teach operators plant responses ranging from normal operations to severe accidents. It will be in service in the first quarter of 2016.

“Westinghouse and L-3 MAPPS have a rich and long history of working together to enable Westinghouse control systems with L-3 MAPPS-developed plant simulators in the U.S. and in Europe,” said Scott Roberts, Director of operator interface for Westinghouse.

“L-3 MAPPS is committed to making a contribution to nuclear safety with this new project,” said Michael Chatlani, Vice President of marketing & sales for L-3 MAPPS Power Systems and Simulation. “The project is L-3 MAPPS’ first sale into the Japanese market and we look forward to further developing our relationships in this region.”

The simulator will be based on L-3’s latest fully integrated Orchid® simulation environment and will operate within a virtual control room implemented using the Orchid Touch Interface and Orchid Sound System solutions, providing a full-scale training environment. The virtual panels and Orchid Instructor Station will be made available in Japanese to facilitate operation of the PWR simulator.

L-3 MAPPS will also connect the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) Modular Accident Analysis Program (MAAP5) to the simulator. The simulator models will include support for the connection of external power and water sources, part of the diverse and flexible (FLEX) response strategy developed by industry to address challenges experienced at the Fukushima Daiichi power station following the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. MAAP5 is a software program that performs severe accident analysis for nuclear power plants, including assessments of core damage and radiological transport.* The simulator will also be equipped with new two-dimensional and three-dimensional animated, interactive visualizations of the reactor vessel, containment building and spent fuel pool to provide trainees with additional insight into the behavior of the plant during severe accidents. With severe accident simulation capabilities, the PWR simulator will support training scenarios relating to degraded reactor core conditions that result in fuel melting, including cladding oxidation and hydrogen generation, vessel failure, containment failure and fission product release.