Asset Management for Sustainable Nuclear Power Plant Operation

By IAEA

Asset management plays an important role in maintaining the competitiveness of nuclear power plants in a challenging and changing electricity market. The value of effective asset management is in providing support to those making decisions seeking the optimum level of financial performance, operational performance and risk exposure. This publication provides information on various methodologies, good practices and approaches to manage assets in nuclear power plants currently in operation or in other operational nuclear facilities. Information relevant to new build and decommissioning environments is also provided.

• Language: English
• Publisher: International Atomic Energy Agency
• Release date: Mar 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9789201269201

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ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR

SUSTAINABLE NUCLEAR POWER

PLANT OPERATION

IAEA NUCLEAR ENERGY SERIES No. NR-T-3.33

ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR

SUSTAINABLE NUCLEAR POWER

PLANT OPERATION

INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY

VIENNA, 2021

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications in printed or electronic form must be obtained and is usually subject to royalty agreements. Proposals for non-commercial reproductions and translations are welcomed and considered on a case-by-case basis. Enquiries should be addressed to the IAEA Publishing Section at:

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© IAEA, 2021

Printed by the IAEA in Austria

March 2021

STI/PUB/1922

IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Names: International Atomic Energy Agency.

Title: Asset management for sustainable nuclear power plant operation / International Atomic Energy Agency.

Description: Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2021. | Series: IAEA nuclear energy series, ISSN 1995–7807 ; no. NR-T-3.33 | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: IAEAL 21-01392 | ISBN 978–92–0–126720–7 (paperback : alk. paper) | ISBN 978–92–0–126820–4 (pdf) | ISBN 978–92-0–126920–1 (epub) | ISBN 978–92–0–127020–7 (mobipocket)

Subjects: LCSH: Nuclear power plants. | Nuclear power plants — Environmental aspects. | Sustainability. | Asset liability management.

Classification: UDC 621.311.25 | STI/PUB/1922

FOREWORD

The IAEA’s statutory role is to seek to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world. Among other functions, the IAEA is authorized to foster the exchange of scientific and technical information on peaceful uses of atomic energy. One way this is achieved is through a range of technical publications including the IAEA Nuclear Energy Series.

The IAEA Nuclear Energy Series comprises publications designed to further the use of nuclear technologies in support of sustainable development, to advance nuclear science and technology, catalyse innovation and build capacity to support the existing and expanded use of nuclear power and nuclear science applications. The publications include information covering all policy, technological and management aspects of the definition and implementation of activities involving the peaceful use of nuclear technology.

The IAEA safety standards establish fundamental principles, requirements and recommendations to ensure nuclear safety and serve as a global reference for protecting people and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation.

When IAEA Nuclear Energy Series publications address safety, it is ensured that the IAEA safety standards are referred to as the current boundary conditions for the application of nuclear technology.

Asset management plays an important role in maintaining the competitiveness of nuclear power plants in a challenging and changing electricity market. Due to the deregulation in energy markets, there is an increased need for asset management. The essence of asset management is providing support to decisions seeking the optimum level of financial performance, operational performance and risk exposure. Decisions have to be made about operating and maintaining assets. Hence, the primary goal of asset management is informed decision making, rather than a focus on technical performance. Therefore, effective asset management facilitates both the competitive operation of nuclear power plants today and their sustainable long term operation.

This publication describes decision making in and implementation of asset management for sustainable nuclear power plant operation. It addresses aspects of asset management in nuclear power plants and presents shared experience and lessons identified, based on operational experience and knowledge. Although the publication is aimed at promoting asset management for nuclear power plants, the approach presented can also benefit other nuclear fuel cycle facilities, as they also constitute nuclear assets.

The IAEA is grateful to the experts and Member States for their valuable contributions in the drafting and review of this publication. The IAEA officer responsible for this publication was H. Delabre of the Division of Nuclear Power.

EDITORIAL NOTE

This publication has been edited by the editorial staff of the IAEA to the extent considered necessary for the reader’s assistance. It does not address questions of responsibility, legal or otherwise, for acts or omissions on the part of any person.

Although great care has been taken to maintain the accuracy of information contained in this publication, neither the IAEA nor its Member States assume any responsibility for consequences which may arise from its use.

Guidance provided here, describing good practices, represents expert opinion but does not constitute recommendations made on the basis of a consensus of Member States.

The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries.

The mention of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered) does not imply any intention to infringe proprietary rights, nor should it be construed as an endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA.

The IAEA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third party Internet web sites referred to in this book and does not guarantee that any content on such web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

The authoritative version of this publication is the hard copy issued at the same time and available as pdf on www.iaea.org/publications. To create this version for e-readers, certain changes have been made, including a the movement of some figures and tables.

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background

1.2. Objective

1.3. Scope

1.4. Structure

2. ASSET MANAGEMENT

2.1. Asset management and value

2.2. Definitions

2.3. Benefits of asset management to an organization

2.4. Asset management and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

3. ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT OWNER/OPERATOR

3.1. Key terminology

3.2. Benefits of asset management for the nuclear power plant owner/operator

3.3. Challenges for the nuclear power plant owner/operator

3.4. Stakeholder impact on asset management

3.5. Limitations of asset management for the nuclear power plant owner/operator

4. ASSET MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK FOR the NUCLEAR POWER PLANT OWNER/operator

4.1. Nuclear asset management

4.2. Asset management policy and strategy

4.3. Nuclear power plant asset management objectives

4.4. Asset management plans

4.5. Assessments

5. ASSET MANAGEMENT ENABLERS

5.1. Strategic planning

5.2. Leadership

5.3. Structure, authority and responsibilities

5.4. Training, awareness and competence

5.5. Asset risk management

5.6. Decision analysis

6. SUPPORTING METHODS and processes FOR ASSET MANAGEMENT

6.1. Financial optimization principles

6.2. Life cycle costs

6.3. Capital investment

6.4. Replacement cost

6.5. Operation and maintenance costs

6.6. Ageing management

6.7. Maintenance and inspection

6.8. Planning and scheduling

6.9. Fuel management

6.10. Compliance management

6.11. Management for safety

6.12. Supply chain management

6.13. Changes and improvements for long term operation

6.14. Stakeholder involvement

7. ASSESSMENT OF ASSET MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMES

7.1. Purpose and objective

7.2. Self-assessment

7.3. Benchmarking

7.4. External assessment

8. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES

Annex I: CZECH REPUBLIC: ČEZ CASE STUDY

Annex II: FRANCE: ÉLECTRICITÉ DE FRANCE CASE STUDY

Annex III: SWEDEN: VATTENFALL CASE STUDY

Annex IV: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: CASE STUDY

Annex V: ASSET MANAGEMENT BENEFITS FOR THE UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOP MENT GOALS

Annex VI: ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR NUCLEAR NEW BUIL D PROJECTS

Annex VII: ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR DECOM MISSIONING

DEFINITIONS

ABBREVIATIONS

CONTRIBUTORS TO DRAFTING AND REVIEW

STRUCTURE OF THE IAEA NUCLEAR ENERGY SERIES

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background

Nuclear power plants have proven their efficiency in reliably generating clean energy, while maintaining a high level of safety. The proactive management of assets is key to achieving cost effective plant operation. Currently, the utility sector faces the challenge of aligning the management of its assets with corporate objectives. This requires engineering and economic tools as well as value based decision support. The strategic plan of a company defines the high level goals and, based on this, business units set up their operational plans to achieve their targets.

With ageing facilities and a challenging economic situation, there is a need to improve efficiency to keep nuclear power competitive in a changing electricity market, all while maintaining a high level of safety. This has led to initiatives to improve asset management in nuclear power plants or in companies operating and maintaining these plants.

Both nuclear and non-nuclear industries have similar definitions of asset management. For example, the Institute of Asset Management has defined it as a balance of costs, opportunities and risks against the desired performance of assets and assets systems at different levels to achieve organizational objectives. This balancing might need to be considered over different time frames.

Given the increasing interest of Member States in improving the efficiency and sustainability of nuclear power, which can be achieved with nuclear asset management, there is a need to provide information in this area (see Fig. 1). International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard ISO 55000:2014, Asset Management: Overview, Principles and Terminology [2], states that Effective control and governance of assets by organizations is essential to realize value through managing risk and opportunity, in order to achieve the desired balance of cost, risk and performance.

1.2. Objective

The purpose of this publication is to provide best practices for asset management for sustainable plant operation. It offers the latest practices, lessons identified and operating experience associated with the fundamentals of asset management. The publication incorporates the key principles of international standards such as British Standards Institution standard PAS55-1:2008, Specification for the Optimized Management of Physical Assets [1], ISO 55001:2014, Asset Management: Management Systems — Requirements [3], and industry guidelines from the IAEA, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). It is also intended to help Member States to develop strategies and/or plans for the asset management of their plants.

1.3. Scope

This publication provides information on various methodologies, good practices and approaches to manage assets in nuclear power plants currently in operation or