Complexities of Unique Generation Plants: The Nuclear Option

Testing

Unlike other parts of the world, there is no government regulation on typical electric power utilities to test and commission earthing facilities when installing new substations and transmission and distribution lines. However, nuclear power is its separate category. However, the nuclear power industry is highly regulated by the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) and directed by INPO (the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations). There are strict regulations regarding the proper design, installation and operation of nuclear facilities. A particular regulation of interest is the requirement to regularly test the earthing facilities on-site. What is the definition of regularly? What is the test that needs to be completed regularly? There is some vagueness written in the regulations to allow some freedom to the nuclear operators to make decisions about what is the proper route of testing and verifying that the electrical facilities on-site are in proper condition. How do the nuclear facilities respond to the requirements? Sometimes, a fall-of-potential test is taken at the subject substation on-site that verifies the grid resistance measured is lower than the estimated resistance from the grounding model of the stand-alone ground grid. Is the entirety of the nuclear power plant footprint considered? When current injection testing and integrity testing is completed at a nuclear facility, there are many complexities that make planning the testing considerably difficult. The GSU (Generator Step-Up) Transformers are typically located in highly secure facilities. Access to the secure area is distanced by security fences, proximity sensors, razor wire and even the authorization of deadly force. The security between areas of the nuclear facility makes it difficult for integrity testing to verify continuity between locations. This paper will look at the difficulty of solving issues when completing an integrity test and current injection test unique to a nuclear power plant. Issues that will be looked at are verification of point-to-point continuity between locations on-site, determining proper distances for the fall-of-potential measurements, reliably capturing the fault current distribution between static wires connected to buildings in the secure area and crossed between different locations. Mitigating all the issues that might be encountered when testing a nuclear facility, is critical for ensuring reliable and confident results from integrity testing and current injection testing.