ProductTecnomatix

Business challengesPrepare nuclear sites for new projectsRecover residual uranium in a retired plantDecontaminate and dismantle a large and complex installationTreat nuclear waste for re-use and storageConsolidate and optimally size dismantling workflowsMaintain schedules and control costs

Keys to successUse of Plant Design in the Tecnomatix portfolio Support from Siemens PLM Software partner INOPRODDetailed planning and simulation

ResultsFast evaluation of alternative scenariosImproved decision-makingReduced costs, lead time, and riskOptimized process performance

AREVA and INOPROD use Plant Simulation to optimize workflows, control costs

Preparing nuclear sites for new projectsAn international leader in nuclear and renewable energy, AREVA is the only company in the world with a presence in each industrial activity linked to nuclear energy. These include mining, chemistry, enrichment, fuel assembly, reprocessing, engineering, nuclear propulsion and reactors, treatment, recycling, stabilization and dismantling.

Energy and utilities

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AREVAINOPROD helps nuclear leader prepare site for new projects with Tecnomatix

EURODIF Production, a subsidiary of AREVA, operates the Georges Besse plant located on the AREVA Tricastin nuclear site in France’s Drôme department. For more than 30 years, the plant has supplied enriched uranium to the nuclear reactors of more than 100 nuclear power plants in France and around the world. It has produced one quarter of the world’s requirements for uranium using the gaseous diffusion enrichment process, a highly innovative technology at the time of the site’s construction. The plant ceased commercial production in June 2012.

To renew its industrial facilities, AREVA opted to replace the gaseous diffusion technology used by EURODIF with the gas centrifugation enrichment process, and for that purpose built a new plant named Georges Besse II. The new technology offers significant advantages in terms of competitiveness, energy savings and reduced environmental footprint. The first modules were deployed for production in 2011. The plant will reach full capacity in 2016.

As part of EURODIF’s permanent shutdown of the old plant, rinsing operations commenced in June, 2013 to recover the residual uranium present in the facilities,

“ The digital models help to assess a number of scenarios right from the design phase, well before the installation of actual production systems.”

José Valente Project Leader for Simulations and Flows INOPROD

thereby facilitating future dismantling operations. The first maceration step was completed in October, 2015, allowing for more than 300 metric tons of uranium to be regenerated. The second step for vent-ing the equipment will be completed in 2016.

Following the rinsing operations, the next step is now emerging for EURODIF: the preparation of operations for dismantling and decommissioning installations. A dismantling application was submitted to the French Nuclear Safety Authority at the end of March, 2015, and is currently being examined. The project for the dismantling of the plant and its support installations (uranium annex, mechanical maintenance facility, cooling towers, and others) is currently in the design stage.

A large and complex dismantling project“To effectively grasp the project’s technical and organizational issues, you have to keep in mind the huge scale of these facilities,” says Hervé-Claude Turbatte, EURODIF dismantling project leader with AREVA Dismantling & Services (D&S). “They comprise 1,400 gaseous diffusion stages, including diffusers, heat exchangers, and compressors, the largest of which weighs 140 tons, with an enrichment cascade that contains 28,000 tons of diffusion barriers. Covering a surface area of some 190,000 square meters, the buildings house 160,000 tons of metallic equipment in the processing circuits, or the equivalent of three Arcs de Triomphe.”

The dismantling operation will require five phases: disassembly of large equipment, deconstruction of the diffusers, grinding of the barriers, cutting of metal parts, and conditioning of waste for storage. Given the size and complexity of the facilities to decontaminate and dismantle, the project involves treating – for safety and security – substantial volumes of waste in restrictive conditions. In total, there are more than 200,000 metric tons of low-level waste, part of which could be sent to a facility for re-use by fusion, and to an ANDRA (French

“ During the preliminary design phase, we perform simulations to determine the best cost/lead time/risk scenario.”

Hervé-Claude Turbatte EURODIF Dismantling Project Leader AREVA Dismantling & Services

National Radioactive Waste Management Agency) center for storage. Conventional waste that is not contaminated (electrical control cabinets, cables, and other items) will be recycled.

Optimizing workflowsStudies aimed at optimally consolidating and sizing the dismantling workflows, along with the facilities created for condi-tioning the waste, began in 2013. The project must effectively maintain the schedules and control all costs, from the construction of resources required for the dismantling to the project’s completion, including the dismantling of the facilities and the clean-up of the civil engineering.

To conduct these studies, the project team selected the Plant Simulation solution in the Tecnomatix® portfolio from product lifecycle management (PLM) specialist Siemens PLM Software, and sought the support of INOPROD, a Siemens PLM Software partner specialized in modeling and simulating production flows.

“Used for simulating discrete events, Plant Simulation is a tool that can create digital models of logistical systems and treatment processes to explore their characteristics and optimize their performance,” says José Valente, project leader for simulations and flows with INOPROD. “The digital models

help to assess a number of scenarios right from the design phase, well before the installation of actual production systems.”

The team decided to begin its modeling studies with the facilities that needed to be built for the future processing of the waste. An initial macroscopic model was created using Tecnomatix, then subse-quently enhanced as the study progressed. Now comprising three levels, this model serves to evaluate – fairly precisely – a number of scenarios, and to produce indicators in terms of capacity and time, including quantities processed, processing times, and utilization rates.

The models are dynamic, and integrate decision-making concepts, such as the choice of path and productivity losses due to maintenance, failures, and other events. Using powerful analysis tools in Plant Simulation, such as statistics, graphs and analysis of bottlenecks, the team can readily evaluate alternative scenarios. The results provide the information needed to quickly make sound, reliable decisions right from the initial phases.

“From the project’s kick-off, we identified the importance of logistics and controlled flows,” explains Turbatte. “The software solution is rather like having a ‘justice of the peace’ for our capacity to treat the

“ Used for simulating discrete events, Plant Simulation is a tool that can create digital models of logistical systems and treatment processes to explore their characteristics and optimize their performance.”José Valente Project Leader for Simulations and Flows INOPROD

flows. Given the amounts of money invested (tens of millions of euros) and the repetitiveness of the operations, sizing the flows right from the onset is important. This solution thus helps us realize a controlled budget.”

Firstly, using Plant Simulation helped the team to check the right sizing of the proposed facilities in order to effectively demonstrate controlled costs. Additional studies were subsequently conducted to respond to needs in terms of optimizing costs, and adjusting the resources and production rates. The studies helped to answer many questions, including whether to add another press/shear; what level of reliability could be expected of the conveyor technology between the process-ing facilities; and whether the planning could be reduced, and if so, in return for which adjustments and at what cost.

Using Plant Simulation helped the team confirm the feasibility of a reduction in lead times of between 20 and 30 percent in relation to the schedule defined for the nominal dismantling phase.

Nuclear safety is an ongoing, prevalent concern throughout the duration of the project, and ANDRA imposes stringent quality standards concerning waste management. The waste must be controlled and certified before going into storage. This requires the implementation of quality control together with traceabil-ity of the operations, including records of when a specific material was stocked, when it passed through a given location, and when it was stored in a given place.

The dismantling of a nuclear installation is a very long-term undertaking that involves a preparatory audit phase: assessment of the financial and technical resources required for the dismantling, determina-tion and optimization of waste elimination routes according to a strict regulatory framework, definition of interventions and master plans, compliance with regulatory processes and obtaining authorizations, and so on. Next comes the implementa-tion phase: construction of the facilities, oversight of the dismantling, operation of waste processing and conditioning instal-lations, and finally, cleanup of the building structures.

“ Our guiding principle is to ensure the safety and security of operations while optimizing costs.”

Hervé-Claude Turbatte EURODIF Dismantling Project Leader AREVA Dismantling & Services

Solutions/ServicesPlant Simulation in the Tecnomatix portfolio www.plm.automation. siemens.com/en_us/products/tecnomatix/manufacturing-simulation/material-flow/plant-simulation.shtml

Customer’s primary businessAREVA is a world leader in nuclear power, and is heavily involved in the nuclear fuel cycle, reactor design and related construction and operating services. www.areva.com

Customer locationTricastin Site France

PartnerINOPROD

Turbatte sums up the advantages to be gained from using Plant Simulation: “During the preliminary design phase, we perform simulations to determine the best cost/lead time/risk scenario. Thereafter, once the actual design has been deter-mined, workflow models will be used to optimize the organization of work by factoring in flow variations resulting from dismantling operations and the load factor of the waste processing units. In particular,

these models provide a response to current concerns in relation to the most suitable pace of work for the teams. Lastly, during the operation phase, the tool can help with decisions to reconfigure, when necessary, the organization of the work, and the scheduling of the projects in line with any unknown factors or planning requirements. Our guiding principle is to ensure the safety and security of opera-tions while optimizing costs.”

“ Given the amounts of money invested (tens of millions of euros) and the repetitiveness of the operations, sizing the flows right from the onset is important. This solution helps us realize a controlled budget.”Hervé-Claude Turbatte EURODIF Dismantling Project Leader AREVA Dismantling & Services

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