Nuclear Design Engineering.par.12219.File

7/28/2019 Nuclear Design Engineering.par.12219.File

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www.bentley.com

DesignEngineering

A Bentley White Paper

Hilmar Retie

product manager

AssetWise


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Design Engineering 2

Striving to maintain the nuclear design basis: What to lookfor in an electronic design engineering solution

The SituationWhen owner-operators rst opened the doors to their newly constructed nuclear plantsyears ago, many had no system or nding and retrieving their plants design basisinormation. As a result, they had to spend huge sums o money to reconstitute theirrespective plants design basis. Unortunately, most o these eorts ended up in adusty back room, never to be seen again. O course, to be ecient and sae, plantconguration management must be maintained, and doing so eectively means theplant design basis must be an active part o the design change process.

In the 1970s and 80s, architectural rms created literally millions o pages o hardcopy documentation on the design bases o nuclear plants while under construction.These documents contained valuable inormation, including plant congurations,

specications, calculations, and drawings. In many cases owner-operators were notgiven ree and unrestricted access to these sources, but rather had to specicallyrequest and pay or the inormation.

The inormation the owner-operators received oten was in ragmented pieces, storedonly on paper or in illegible proprietary ormats. During and right ater start-up, mostplant owner-operators could contact the design engineers who worked on the plant toget inormation. Through this tribal knowledge, a second generation o engineers couldnd and use the design basis inormation. But as time passed, this knowledge typicallydegenerated, and nuclear plant owner-operators struggled to teach new engineers howto nd and use the design basis inormation.

One remedy many owner-operators used was to extract the pertinent inormationand create their own applications to make the applicable design basis inormationavailable. This ensured their plant conguration would be maintained and accessibleor personnel to use in everyday plant operation. As a result, almost every plant had itsown proprietary applications and repositories o inormation, spread across multiplesotware platorms.

Finding and consolidating this inormation into a single ocused dataset is complex andlabor-intensive. Moreover, it is extremely error prone and completely depends on theconsumer o the inormation to ensure that it is complete and accurate.

From a plant perspective, these actors create many ongoing enterprise inormationmanagement issues, including rework, project delays, and potential adverse ndings

rom industry regulatory agencies. While the inormation management revolutionis already in its second iteration, it isnt really at the top o most plant operatorspriority lists. An industry oversight organization has ound multiple areas orimprovement items, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has identiedndings or various aspects relating to inormation accuracy and usage.


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Sometimes nuclear plant managers ail to see the orest or the trees. Day-to-dayinormation management challenges seem overwhelming, and the obvious strategyo implementing a well-dened and managed enterprise inormation system is otenneglected. The main challenge is the ability to comprehensively manage changing

inormation throughout the acilitys liecycle. The operational goal is to enableengineers to easily access accurate, up-to-date design basis inormation and makenecessary document changes to maintain plant conguration. Superior enterpriseinormation management results in seamless business processes that support plantpersonnel to eectively manage the acility.

This white paper ocuses specically on the design engineering process and how aconsolidated inormation management practice can increase eciency, while reducingrework due to eld change notices (FCNs) and regulatory ndings.

This inormation access challenge applies to various processes in the daily operation oa nuclear plant, including the origination (training and qualication), creation, approval,and closeout processes involved in design change packages (DCPs). DCPs dene the

scope o work and consolidate the engineering products necessary to eect changes inthe physical plant, manage material equivalency, and apply administrative changes andcorrections. (Continued on page 4.)

Regulatory Agency Standards for Design Engineering

10CFR 50 Appendix B

Quality Assurance Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants and Fuel Reprocessing Plants

10CFR 50 Appendix B is the Code o Federal Regulations that establishes the Qualityrequirements or various aspects o the Commercial Nuclear Power Program. Withinthis regulation, Criterion III specically addresses design control and includes the

ollowing measures: Applicable regulatory requirements and the design basis must be correctly translated

into specications, drawings, procedures, and instructions.

Provisions must be included to assure that appropriate quality standards are

specied and included in design documents and that deviations rom these standardsare controlled.

A review and selection process must be put in place to identify suitable materials,

including parts, equipment, and processes that are essential to the saety-relatedunctions o the structures, systems, and components.

Design interfaces must be identied and controlled, and coordinated among

participating design organizations. This includes establishing procedures amongparticipating design organizations or the review, approval, release, distribution,and revision o documents involving design interaces.


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Design control must include a process to verify or check the adequacy of designs,

either through design reviews, by the use o alternate or simplied calculationalmethods, or by the perormance o a suitable testing program. This verication processmay be completed by personnel rom the same organization, but not by those who were

involved in the development o the original design. Design control should be applied to items including: reactor physics, stress, thermal,

hydraulic, and accident analyses; compatibility o materials; accessibility or inserviceinspection, maintenance, and repair; and delineation o acceptance criteria orinspections and tests.

Design changes, including eld changes, must be subjected to design control

measures equivalent to those applied to the original design. They must also beapproved by the organization that perormed the original design unless the applicantdesignates another responsible organization.

ANSI N45.2.11

Developed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)ANSI N45.2.11 is the primary industry standard most plants have adopted andcommitted to, and discusses all aspects o the design control process in general detailrom developing the design inputs and unctional requirements to the implementationand closeout o the change. It discusses the documentation requirements and therequirements o the business relationship between the plant and the many outsideorganizations involved in the design process.

Design Engineering Regulations Establishing the Goals of an Electronic System

Beore the issuance o industry regulations, there was very little specic guidancerelated to the management o engineering changes. Even in todays so-calledinormation age where powerul inormation processing platorms exist, an electronicdesign change process is almost unheard o. While many plant operators claim theyconduct electronic design change packages, the inormation and processing o thesechanges are ragmented, oering very little assistance to the design engineerresponsible or preparing, reviewing, and coordinating the impact o the designchange and perorming the closeout process.

In most cases, drawing management, calculation revisions, system, structureand component (SSC) changes, and the closeout process are contrasting businessprocesses, managed in isolation and by unctionally separate users. Though nuclearplant operators recognize this is a problem, they are continually hampered byinormation that resides in hard copies, images, or in completely segregatedsotware applications.

Even in todays so-called

information age where

powerful informationprocessing platforms

exist, an electronic design

change process is almost

unheard of.


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Nuclear Software Tools

Literally hundreds o sotware tools exist to solve parts o the access-to-inormationproblem. They include 2D and 3D CAD or drawing management tools, documentcontent management tools, and work management tools. While a ew SSC changemanagement tools are available, most ocus on materials management processesor manuacturing acilities. Some o these tools have been customized or nuclearacilities, but with limited success. They try to address the xed asset managementproblems and related design engineering issues.

But tools or more complex engineering challenges are ew and ar between. Indeed,proper modication package and cable management solutions are limited to two orthree commercially available tools and a furry o home-grown applications.

While integration possibilities exist, these applications are designed to work inisolation and any integration normally results in the duplication o inormation and/or business processes. These inormation silos do little to alleviate the inormation

management problems described above. Only sheer willpower and extremely rigorousreview and approval processes can avoid engineering mistakes.

The Design Engineering Change Process

The design engineering change process is not all that dierent rom change processesused in other industries. Essentially the process includes the ollowing basic steps:

Problem Identication and Resolution Process

Problem identication

Analysis

Deploying corrective and perormance improvement actions

Change Request

Change impact analysis and technical reviews

Scoping the problem and determining resource needs

Change Disposition

Resource allocation

Design development and planning coordination

Review and approval

Implementation

Eectiveness reviews, closeout, and baseline

Note that this airly simplistic change process doesnt include more complex issueslike the eect o change, concurrent engineering, ongoing plant maintenance, and theinteraction between engineering design products, such as redline or markup drawings,

Only sheer willpower

and extremely rigorous

review and approvalprocesses can avoid

engineering mistakes.


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calculation change notices, and the as-built products. For the purposes o this whitepaper, we will examine the simplied process, but the additional complexities ound inreal-world situations only enhance the need or eective solutions.

Developing the Design Change Package

The design change package can be logically divided into three elements:

Change request

Change disposition

Electronic workfow o the modication package and applicable changes that areneeded or the change disposition

In brie, the design change package ollows a prescribed path. The need to use themodication process at a nuclear plant is typically identied through actions needed inthe plants corrective action process or by work request documents generated by the

plant personnel or within the engineering department. These documents describe thenature o the problem, its priority and any other applicable user-dened inormation.The engineering department reviews these documents to conrm whether changes tothe plant are required. In addition to these initiating documents, a change requestsummarizes the reason or the change.

Oten, change requests dene the scope o the proposed change. They are evaluatedby the engineering change board or budgetary concerns and other actors beore thechange package is initiated. Other engineering products such as the written basis orthe acceptance o the change, program review documents, and reerence documentsare then added ater the engineering department approves the change request. It thenbecomes part o the change disposition. This compilation o inormation allows easier

access to relevant inormation and is submitted to an established workfow or review,approval, coordination, and closeout. The inormation is then available electronicallyduring troubleshooting and uture design changes to aid in the research o problems inthat area.

Change Request

The change request also has three key elements:

The reasons or the change, mostly elevated through the corrective action processor requests or inormation, and directed to the engineering department;

The scope o the change, which includes identiying the aected documents,

systems, components, processes, and people;

Change approval.

The information is then

available electronically

during troubleshooting and

future design changes

to aid in the research of

problems in that area.


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A critically important, though typically manual, part o the change request processis identiying related components and documents that are indirectly aected by thechange, but that could signicantly impact the modication. For most plant operatorsand engineers this is an arduous and error-prone process o brute orce research,comprised o a combination o keyword and other database search techniques. Thesearch results oten end up in another data silo, namely the modication summary

orm, which is reviewed, approved, and led away in a document management system.The modication summary orm is generally a paper-based orm where engineerscapture inormation about the aected documents and components, as well as anymarkups and change notices derived rom it.

Engineers

Engineers

Remote Knowledge Sources

Remote Knowledge Sources

Paper Archives

Paper Archives

Resource Intensive Searches

Resource Intensive Searches

Multiple Data Bases

Multiple Data Bases

Collaboration

Collaboration

Domain Experts /Tacit Knowledge

Domain Experts /Tacit Knowledge

Electronic

Design ChangeProcess

Manual vs. Electronic Design Change Process

With a manual process engineers must

search through multiple silos o inormation,

including hard copy les.

With a robust electronic design change

process all relevant search inormation,

including hard copy masters, are

automatically identied and presented

by the application.


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An electronic design change process automates and streamlines these actions, wherethe aected and potentially aected components, documents, and processes areidentied through established relationships and made available as a comprehensivechange eects analysis with a click o a button. In this case the modication summaryorm is a report rendered rom previously captured and related inormation, which couldbe stored away as a quality record.

Lastly, the electronic change request represents the entire population o as-builtdocuments, components, and equipment aected by the proposed modication. Thechange request is then reviewed and approved electronically. The process generates anelectronic approval report, which contains all the inormation identied in the scope othe change, the reviewers, and their electronic signatures.

Change Disposition

The change disposition (also known as the modication package) represents thecollection o engineering products used by the eld during the actual implementationo the modication. These engineering products include construction drawings,

redlines, updated calculations, updated component congurations, new and updatedcable routes, and much more.

Again, at most plants the creation, compilation, and approval o this changedisposition, or modication package, is a manual, mostly paper-based process.Even i the documents end up in electronic orm or the purpose o storing the qualityrecord, the process or creating them is primarily manual and the search toolsavailable are limited.

Clearly, an electronic design change process transorms this eort into a single,simple, and streamlined electronic process. Using an electronic process ully automatesthe creation o the change disposition, including the redlines (markups), updated

components (prototypes), calculations, and change notices. Moreover, a ully automatedprocess does not require engineers to print and manually mark up drawings (thoughthis is still an option). The sotware tool maintains the relationship between theoriginal drawing, the change package, and the markup document. The markup isalways available to anyone with the appropriate security access to view it, and tocollaborate and add value during the markup process.

Upon creation and collection o the necessary engineering products, the changedisposition is again sent or electronic review and approval with the same rigor anddetail as or the package itsel.

Implementing an Electronic Design Change Process

The single most important actor or implementing an electronic design engineeringprocess is to resolve and avoid the inormation silo problem.

Inormation silos are oten reerred to as rogue databases, created and maintained byindividuals. They include innocent looking items like spreadsheets, Microsot Accessdatabases, and even private copies o controlled documents and procedures. Thesedata sources are not controlled or veried, and are oten the result o an inadequate

The change disposition

(also known as the

modifcation package)

represents the collectionof engineering products

used by the feld during the

actual implementation of

the modifcation.


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construction or plant modications. Other modication documents, like change notices,are documents that dont represent a complete copy o the original, but rather aragment or a partial copy.

Change Package Implementation

Once engineering products, in the orm o drawing redlines, updated calculations,installation instructions, etc., have been created, reviewed, and approved, the changepackage is ready or eld implementation. This process varies rom plant to plant, butor the most part it is a manual process whereby clerks and/or engineers will print theelements o the package and distribute the package to implementation coordinators.The normal practice is to print most or all o the documents on multiple occasionsthe so-called T-week cycle. The intent o this legacy process is to allow eldimplementers and work planners to review the documents beore the modicationsare made. This ensures that the revisions are still applicable and that no changesthat aect the implementation o the change package were made.

Again, this presents a antastic opportunity or improvement. Ideally, the notication orevision changes and concurrent engineering changes should be completely automatedand the planner notied o the individual changes where this overlap might occur. Thisresults in a proactive resolution identiying which changes would take priority, asopposed to a reactive response to a ully printed package.

Another improvement available with current technology is the ability to electronicallydistribute the change package to the eld. In this case, a well-designed electronicdesign change sotware tool will have the ability to push the approved package,including all engineering products, completed orms, and related inormation assets,to an entrenched collaboration tool such as SharePoint. Planners and eld workersare then ree to print, view, or otherwise use and collaborate on the change packagedocuments. In the absence o such a tool, any electronic kiosk serves the samepurpose, such as a web portal or customized web application designed to allowplant workers easy access to controlled inormation like drawings and procedures.

Additionally, with an electronic design change process, the inormation is integrated andvisible to other business processes throughout the plant. The project management aspectso the implementation would allow eld workers to seamlessly navigate the projectschedule, collaborate on ongoing or uture work, and add value to the implementationprocess without needing to understand a plethora o dierent applications.

Change Package Closeout

The change package closeout is oten the most challenging o the design changeprocesses. Change notices (documents that refect the modications as plannedconguration versus the current as-built conguration) are a necessity o themodication process. Until the modication is implemented it does not representthe true conguration o the plant. Correct operation o the plant requires accurateidentication o the plant conguration. However, the ailure to update these changenotices in a timely ashion ater implementation can lead to regulatory ndings.

Planners and feld

workers are then free to

print, view, or otherwise

use and collaborate on

the change packagedocuments.


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Many plants can attest to having received regulatory ndings ranging rom lack o rigorin the design change process and inadequate drawing management disciplines, toexceeding the recommended change notice count on calculations, among other ndings.

These problems stem rom multiple sources, but the cost and eort involved in the

closeout process are the most signicant. Most documents, especially drawings, havevery specic requirements in terms o their turnaround time rom eld implementationto release. For example, drawings with a class o essential, class 1 or A class have amandatory 24-hour turnaround time due to their importance to operations. These documentsare most oten handled according to guidelines and dont get plants in trouble.

The remaining documents in the closeout process have less restrictive closeoutroutines and are prioritized primarily based on cost and resource availability actors.This is where problems typically arise. The conguration department makes judgmentcalls based on whether the incorporation o redlines or change notices into the sourcedrawings are worth prioritizing based on the potentially signicant expense anddedication o sta. In many cases, they leave the change notices attached as a

separate annotation rather than incorporate them into the source document.Unortunately, a drawing with too many attached change notices is prone to causeerrors. This happens because when change notices are not identied, it is dicult todetermine what the as-built conguration is when change notices confict with eachother, or i they are o poor quality, or no longer valid. In this scenario, the usersinterpretation o the inormation becomes extremely challenging, and there is a highrisk o making decisions based on incorrect or incomplete inormation.

In response, regulatory agencies enorce an arbitrary cap, such as limiting the allowednumber o change notices per document to ve. However, a more eective and ecientsolution is to implement an electronic design change process based on industry best practices.

An electronic design change process with robust sotware support will provide amethod o minimizing the risk by maintaining a controlled process where anyonecan nd the applicable design basis inormation. Most signicantly, a proper changerequest and change notice inrastructure would allow or an easier and less resourceintensive closeout process. An electronic inrastructure allows the establishment opermanent relationships between change notices and the source documents. Thisway, the outstanding change notices are visible and reportable, ensuring drawing anddocument accuracy and integrity.

Quality Records and Records Management for Change Packages

All nuclear acilities are required to review, approve, and store engineering products

(as well as their revisions) in an approved records management system. The systemmust comply with the NRCs RIS-2000 regulatory requirements or dual storage, recordcontinuity, and ormat changes. An electronic design change process must comply withthese requirements, linking both the change and the requirement within the system.This rees the user rom having to search or the specs in order to ensure compliance.

The remaining documents

in the closeout process

have less restrictive

closeout routines and are

prioritized primarily based

on cost and resource

availability factors.


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Ideally, the design change process solution will be able to leverage the inormationalready present in the records management system. In this way, documents createdoutside the regular engineering process, like training records, qualications, procedureupdates, etc., can also be considered during the modication process as part o the

previously mentioned eects analysis.

Bentleys eB Electronic Design Change Process

Bentleys eB Design Engineering application encapsulates the ull complement o toolsneeded by design engineers to perorm comprehensive electronic design changes.Moreover, this process is designed to ully blend with eB perormance improvement,document control, and records management, as well as asset management modules.This combination provides a powerul platorm or engineers to initiate, process,implement, and close out engineering change packages.

The design change management capability in eB was developed in conjunction withdesign engineers who experienced the very issues identied in this white paper. Assuch, the solutions provided by this application specically and precisely address theseproblem areas. Obviously, plants are all somewhat unique in their approach to designchange, but ultimately the problem set and the regulatory requirements are the sameor everyone. eB congurable workfow allows plant operators to use this robust toolto match their existing nonelectronic processes, and its ability to create relationshiplinks among inormation assets in disparate inormation systems ensures thorough andaccurate change eects analysis.

Through expansive consulting and collaboration with some o the largest utilities in thecountry, Bentleys eB Design Engineering application has been developed as a trulyindustry-wide resolution to a complex problem.

COMPLIANCE

icensing, Requirements

DESIGN ENGINEERING

Design Engineering ManagementCable/Raceway Management

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Controlled Documents, Records Management

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

Corrective Action, Human Performance,Operating Experience

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

TRAINING

NUCLEAR

APPL

ICAT

IONSUITEThe Complete eB Nuclear Application Suite

The applications in the eB Nuclear Application Suite are designed based on industry best practices and

guidelines rom industry regulatory and advisory agencies.


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Bentleys eB Design Change Process: A Summary

The elements o any design change are made up o the ollowing elements: problemidentication, scope determination, package creation, and review and approval. Belowis a graphic depiction o a typical design change package.

A) Problem Identication:In this case we show a request or resolution (also known as engineering request orinormation RFI). eB can either use its own internal corrective action and action tracking capability, or interace

with an external system.

B) Change Request:The change request is used to describe the nature o the problem, its priority, and any additionaluser-dened inormation applicable to this phase o the project.

C) Aected Inormation Assets:These are the documents and components that are directly aected by the proposedchange. They are related to the change request and will eventually describe the ull scope o the change.

D) Change Disposition (also known as modication package):The change disposition encapsulates all theengineering products that will be issued to the eld. The change disposition can also be congured to have additional

user-dened attributes, including the engineering impact, whether it is a saety-related package, etc.

E) Engineering Products:These are related or encapsulated by the change disposition and may be independentlytracked through eB in terms o review and approval. Some plant operators preer to only review the package as acomplete entity and approving the package implies that all the engineering products were also reviewed.

F) The Workfow Element:The eB workfow capability is used to track the entire package through creation, review,approval, implementation, and closeout.

eB Design Change Process

D. Change DispositionB. Change Request

E. Engineering ProductsC. Affected Information Assets

Action /ServiceRequest

ChangeRequest

AffectedItem

AffectedDocument

ModificationPackage

PrototypeItem

Mark UpDocument

eBWorkOrder

Mark Up created from Affected Document

Prototype created from Affected Item

A. Problem Identification

AS

BUILT

AS

PLANNED

Electronic Approval

F. WORKFLOW


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What to make of it all

As most design engineers can attest, the design change process can be simple or

very complex, depending on the nature and scope o the change. Moreover, complexengineering elements such as cable and raceway changes, calculations, set-points,and equivalencies can complicate the process even urther.

Bentleys eB Design Engineering design change application was created based oninput and best practices o acilities that ace these challenges every day.

In these trying economic times, organizations seek technologies that lower costo operations, increase operational eciency, and reduce the risk o regulatorynoncompliance to gain competitive advantage. Bentleys eB vastly improves theintegrity, visibility, and access to all relevant inormation at the time it is needed.

Bentley Systems would like to thank the ollowing contributors and reviewers:

Scott Clardy, supervisor, conguration management,AmerenUE - Callaway Nuclear Plant

Janice Hoerber, IT supervisor, development operations,AmerenUE - Callaway Nuclear Plant

Brian Masters, supervisor - design engineering,Wol Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation

Nick Olivia, general supervisor engineering,Constellation Energy Nuclear Group

Laurent Perkins, senior solutions architect,

Enterprise InormaticsBen Scott, supervisor, conguration management,CENG Fleet Engineering, Constellation Energy Nuclear Group

Tom Stotlar, supervising engineer, conguration control,AmerenUE - Callaway Nuclear Plant

Bentleys eB vastly

improves the integrity,

visibility, and access to all

relevant information at the

time it is needed.


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About AssetWise

Bentleys AssetWise platorm combines multiple inormation modeling services toimprove the liecycle management and operational perormance, saety, compliance,and governance o inrastructure assets while increasing the return on investment

or owner-operators. AssetWise enables operations and maintenance to take ulladvantage o inormation modeling and thus realize the potential o intelligentinrastructure assets. The AssetWise platorm encompasses eB Insight, eaturingpowerul asset liecycle inormation management capabilities to manage change andto control inormation throughout the liecycle o inrastructure, and Exor, providingor the management and operations o linear networks including roads, rails, andutilities. AssetWise applications include SUPERLOAD, acilitating intelligent permittingand routing o oversize-overweight vehicles, and Optram, a decision support systemenabling proactive management o railway assets. For additional inormation aboutBentleys AssetWise oerings, visit www.bentley.com/AssetWise.

About Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects, engineers, geospatialproessionals, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive sotwaresolutions or sustaining inrastructure. Bentleys mission is to empower its usersto leverage inormation modeling through integrated projects or high-perormingintelligent inrastructure. Its solutions encompass the MicroStation platorm orinrastructure design and modeling, the ProjectWise platorm or inrastructure projectteam collaboration and work sharing, and the AssetWise platorm or inrastructureasset operations all supporting a broad portolio o interoperable applications andcomplemented by worldwide proessional services. Founded in 1984, Bentley hasgrown to nearly 3,000 colleagues in more than 45 countries and $500 million in annual

revenues. Since 2001, the company has invested more than $1 billion in research,development, and acquisitions.

2011 Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Bentley, the B Bentley logo, eB, and eB Superload are either registered or unregistered trademarks orservice marks o Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one o its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. Other brands and product names are trademarks otheir respective owners.