Equipment qualification
Our breadth of key contacts through government, developers, licensees, research institutions, test houses and the supply chain on a global scale, allows us to provide suppliers and manufacturing companies the unique and decisive support needed throughout their EQ projects in respect of localised regulation and safety requirements.
Our team of EQ specialists is adept in qualifying safety-related electrical and mechanical components, including valves, cables, actuators, switches, relays, breakers, transmitters and transducers. Our engineers are skilled in obsolescence management and can also assess commercial grade items for safety related applications.
NEW in 2017 – The EQ Alliance, a new UK based consortium comprised of Arexis, Assystem, Lloyd’s Register and Rolls-Royce, is working with the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) to support the UK’s nuclear new build programme through Equipment Qualification.
CONSULTING SERVICES
Through various international EQ projects, our engineers have developed a solid expertise in Equipment Qualification (EQ).
UTILITIES
Arexis provides specialized engineering consulting services to assist with your qualification process and throughout the life cycle of your NPP.
• Preparation of Qualification Procedures (detailed installation checklists)
• Preparation and verification of EQ related Quality Procedures (EQ list, application of standards/guidelines, ageing assessment, failure modes/mechanisms and effects analysis, condition monitoring)
• Verification of your EQ List (traceability to safety functions, operational requirements, mission times, mild and harsh environments…)
• Preparation of Strategy Notes
• Preparation of Test Specifications
• Assessment of Test Reports (existing and new)
• Preparation of EQ Assessments
• Preparation of EQ preservation notices (maintenance and procurement)
• Disposition of Anomalies
• Design Modification Evaluations
• Construction packages verification
• Obsolescence management (equipment selection for replacement of obsolete EQ items)
• Peer Review
SUPPLIERS
Arexis provides engineering consulting services that guarantee the support you need for your qualification processes. Our expertise enables us to advise on solutions for components that are failing or showing poor performance during testing, and to perform analytical calculations to adequately illustrate environmental conditions at the equipment’s location.
Where required, our engineers can identify location specific conditions, as opposed to relying on overly conservative envelopes, to establish the particular conditions to which a piece of equipment will be exposed. Arexis can, for example, provide time dependent environment profile specifics within a given room with the aid of adapted engineering calculations in order to reduce potential conservatisms and margins.
Arexis can also provide guidance for the qualification of commercial grade items.
TRAINING
Arexis proposes specialised and dedicated EQ training for both utility personnel and consultants:
• Familiarisation with EQ procedures
• Material ageing evaluation with System 1000TM (thermal and radiation ageing)
• Introduction to nuclear plants operation (EPR, PWR & CANDU)
• Introduction to EQ related reference documents (EPRI, RCC-E, IEC, IEEE…)
• Quality assurance
QUALITY AND EQ STANDARDS
Arexis’ EQ experts are familiar with the details of specific standards and have been actively involved in drafting international industry guidelines.
Our EQ works can be performed according to the following standards:
• IEEE 323/344/382
• ASME QME-1
• EPRI 3002002982
• RCC-E
• RCC-M
• IEC 60780/60790
• IEC/IEEE 60780-323
• CSA N289/N290.13
• ISO 9001 (Quality Assurance)
• NQA-1 (Quality Assurance)
TESTING
Our core competencies in electrical engineering give us the edge in differentiating what works from what does not, hence optimising the performance of required functional tests:
• Baseline (reference) tests
• Thermal and radiation ageing
• Steam Event Simulations (LOCA / MSLB / HELB)
• Electromagnetic / Radio Frequency Interference (EMI / RFI)
• Seismic and vibration simulations
• Cyclic ageing
TYPICAL EQUIPMENT QUALIFIED BY OUR ENGINEERS
• Valves (ball valves, relief valves, butterfly valves, gate valves, pneumatic actuators, positioners, PRV…)
• Electrical Equipment (cables, relays, diodes, connectors, splices, ion chambers, flux detectors, motors, switches, sensors, transmitters, solenoid valves, electrical actuators…)
• Mechanical Equipment (shutdown rods, flexible conduits, heat exchangers, airlock doors…)
• Pumps