Bruce Heavy Water Plant Performance - ACS Symposium Series (ACS

2 Bruce Heavy Water Plant Performance G. D. DAVIDSON

Downloaded by UNIV OF SYDNEY on May 3, 2015 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: June 1, 1978 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1978-0068.ch002

Bruce Heavy Water Plant, Ontario Hydro, Box 2000, Triverton, Ontario, CanadaN0G2T0

To satisfy the Canadian demand f o r heavy water which is used as a moderator and heat t r a n s p o r t medium in CANDU r e a c t o r s , Atomic Energy o f Canada L i m i t e d c o n t r a c t e d the Lummus Company o f Canada L i m i t e d in 1969 t o d e s i g n and c o n s t r u c t Bruce Heavy Water P l a n t ' A ' a t the Bruce N u c l e a r Power Development. The 9.5 square k i l o m e t e r (2300 a c r e s ) s i t e had p r e v i o u s l y been p u r c h a s e d by O n t a r i o Hydro f o r the Douglas P o i n t N u c l e a r G e n e r a t i n g S t a t i o n . I t is l o c a t e d in the County o f Bruce on the e a s t e r n shore o f Lake Huron, midway between the towns o f K i n c a r d i n e and P o r t Elgin, a p p r o x i m a t e l y 240 k i l o m e t e r s (150 m i l e s ) northwest o f T o r o n t o . O n t a r i o Hydro was r e s p o n s i b l e f o r commissioning and o p e r a t i n g the p l a n t which has a d e s i g n c a p a c i t y o f 96.6 k g / h o f 99.75% purity heavy water (D2O). Commissioning o f P l a n t ' Α ' commenced in 1971 and proceeded w i t h o u t any major difficulty t h r o u g h 1972 and 1973. On 28 June, 1973, O n t a r i o Hydro p u r c h a s e d the p l a n t from AECL and d e c l a r e d the p l a n t in-service. D e s i g n p r o d u c t i o n c a p a c i t y was r e a c h e d in April, 1974 after e l e v e n months o f o p e r a t i o n . Production rates and c a p a c i t y f a c t o r s have s t e a d i l y been i n c r e a s e d such t h a t the official capacity was i n c r e a s e d t o 100.6 k g / h in 1976. As a r e s u l t o f t h e e a r l y o p e r a t i n g s u c c e s s o f BHWP A, O n t a r i o Hydro announced t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h r e e a d d i t i o n a l and e s s e n t i a l l y i d e n t i c a l heavy water p l a n t s a t Bruce (BHWP B, C and D ) . A c u t b a c k in t h e N u c l e a r G e n e r a t i o n c o n s t r u c t i o n program in 1976 r e s u l t e d in one o f t h e s e , BHWP C, b e i n g c a n c e l l e d and the s c h e d u l e f o r a n o t h e r , BHWP D, b e i n g d e f e r r e d by two y e a r s . ©

0-8412-0420-9/78/47-068-027$05.00/0

In Separation of Hydrogen Isotopes; Rae, H.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1978.

28

SEPARATION O F H Y D R O G E N

ISOTOPES

Bruce Heavy Water Plant uses the proven Dual Temperature Hydrogen Sulphide - Water Exchange Process to separate deuterium. This process has been in use on a commercial scale in North America f o r 25 years. Following a b r i e f d e s c r i p t i o n of the production process, BHWP A performance from in-service to the end of 1976 is described in terms of the following key performance c r i t e r i a : Employee Safety, Care of the Environment, R e l i a b i l i t y and Manpower Development. F i n a l l y , commissioning progress to date of BHWP Β is described.


Production Process Water is pumped from Lake Huron (see "Figure 1") with a deuterium i s o t o p i c content of 148 mg/kg. I t is f i l t e r e d to remove s o l i d s and preheated to 29°C. The pH is lowered to 3.8 - 4.2 by the addition of sulphuric acid to decompose carbonates, the water is degassed of oxygen and carbon dioxide, and then the pH is raised to 6.0 - 6.5 by the addition of caustic to avoid corrosion to carbon s t e e l processing equipment. This treated water is then fed to the Enriching Units. Each of the heavy water plants consists of two i d e n t i c a l enriching units and one f i n i s h i n g u n i t . Each Enriching Unit can be divided broadly into three sections: the absorption and desorption section, the extraction section and the enriching section. The absorption and desorption section serves two functions: removal of H2S from the depleted water be fore i t is returned to the lake, and removal of H2S in the purge gas before i t is f l a r e d . As the feed water passes through t h i s section, i t is p a r t i a l l y saturated with H2S. In the extraction section (see "Figure 2") water passes counter-current to a r e c i r c u l a t i n g stream of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas in three large sieve tray towers operating in p a r a l l e l which are the f i r s t stage. By making use of a two temperature exchange reaction (see "Figure 3") between hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and water - at 30°C deuterium is concentrated in the l i q u i d phase and a t 130°C deuterium is concentrated in the gas phase. The three f i r s t stage towers (see "Figure 2") each have two d i s t i n c t process temperature sections the top being a cold section and the bottom being a hot section. Deuterium is c a r r i e d forward to the second stage only in the gas phase while anything not extracted from the water is returned to the lake from the f i r s t stage a f t e r i t has been stripped of H2S and cooled. I f H2S in the e f f l u e n t is not within the


2.

DAVIDSON

Bruce

Heavy Water Plant

29

Performance

Water Treating

D

2

0

Enrichingj 20-30% D

2

0

Finishing 99.73% Product


Treating

Candu Reactors

Figure 1.

BHWP-AD 0

Figure 2.

2

production

Enriching section

30°C H

2

0

(i> +

P D S (g) ^

±

P D O

(£) +

H

2

S

(g)

130°C

Figure 3.

GS process


SEPARATION OF HYDROGEN ISOTOPES


30

r e g u l a t o r y l i m i t s i t is d i v e r t e d t o a e r a t e d lagoons where the gas is removed and the water is s e n t t o t h e lake. One p a r t in 7000 coming o u t o f t h e l a k e is deuterium. But i t is o n l y e c o n o m i c a l t o remove about 20% or one p a r t in 35000. The second and t h i r d s t a g e s o n l y e n r i c h o r conc e n t r a t e t h e d e u t e r i u m which has been e x t r a c t e d . The second s t a g e is a s i n g l e tower whose o p e r a t i o n is s i m i l a r t o t h e f i r s t s t a g e towers. However, t h e r e is no h e a t i n g s e c t i o n a t the bottom o f the h o t tower as the gas is a l r e a d y hot coming forward from the f i r s t stage. To m a i n t a i n l i q u i d c i r c u l a t i o n in the second s t a g e , water is pumped from t h e bottom o f the h o t tower, t h r o u g h a c o o l e r t o t h e top o f the c o l d tower. The t h i r d s t a g e c o n s i s t s o f two s e p a r a t e towers - one c o l d tower, t h e o t h e r a hot tower. T h i r d s t a g e o p e r a t i o n a l s o d i f f e r s from the p r e v i o u s two. Enriched l i q u i d from the bottom o f t h e c o l d tower is t a k e n f o r ward f o r f u r t h e r p r o c e s s i n g . The H 2 S in t h i s e n r i c h i n g u n i t l i q u i d p r o d u c t is s t r i p p e d out and r e t u r n e d t o t h e t h i r d s t a g e gas l o o p . E n r i c h e d water a t 20 - 30% D 0 c o n c e n t r a t i o n from b o t h e n r i c h i n g u n i t s is f e d t o t h e f i n i s h i n g u n i t . The f i n i s h i n g u n i t is a t h r e e s t a g e , f o u r tower steam vacuum d i s t i l l a t i o n system t h a t c o n c e n t r a t e s t h e p r o d u c t from t h e e n r i c h i n g u n i t s i n t o the f i n a l r e a c t o r grade heavy water. A l l f i n i s h i n g u n i t towers c o n t a i n sieve trays. The heavy water is then t r e a t e d in e i t h e r o f two p o t a s s i u m permanganate b a t c h k e t t l e s t o o x i d i z e o r g a n i c impurities. The p r o d u c t is e i t h e r drummed o r s h i p p e d in b u l k t o CANDU r e a c t o r s . T r a n s l a t e d i n t o r e a l i t y , the process u n i t s a r e shown in t h e a e r i a l view o f BHWP (see " F i g u r e 4 " ) . BHWP A water i n t a k e is shared w i t h the Douglas P o i n t Nuclear Generating S t a t i o n . The f i g u r e shows t h e b u i l d i n g h o u s i n g t h e sand f i l t e r s , t h e d e g a s s i n g towe r s , the main s w i t c h y a r d , t h e steam s u p p l y from Douglas P o i n t N u c l e a r G e n e r a t i n g S t a t i o n and t h e Bruce Steam P l a n t , t h e H S s t o r a g e b u l l e t s , t h e f l a r e (145 m or 475 f e e t above g r a d e ) , t h e l a g o o n s , t h e a b s o r p t i o n and d e s o r p t i o n s e c t i o n c o n s i s t i n g o f an Absorber tower, Purge tower and an E f f l u e n t S t r i p p e r tower, t h e t h r e e f i r s t s t a g e towers, the second s t a g e tower, the t h i r d s t a g e and t h e f o u r tower, t h r e e s t a g e F i n i s h i n g U n i t . The f i g u r e a l s o shows the bank o f heat exchangers a c r o s s the f r o n t o f each u n i t , used t o a c h i e v e t h e two p r o c e s s temperatures and o p t i m i z e steam u t i l i z a tion . 2

2


2.

DAVIDSON


Employee

Bruce

Heavy

Water

Plant

Performance

31

Safety

One m a j o r d i s a d v a n t a g e o f t h e D u a l T e m p e r a t u r e Hydrogen S u l p h i d e - Water Exchange Process i s t h e t o x i c i t y o f the H2Sgas and the p o t e n t i a l s a f e t y hazards i t poses. The g r e a t e s t d a n g e r f r o m t h e i n h a l a t i o n o f hydrogen sulphide i s from i t s acute e f f e c t s ; i t i s n o tcumulative i n a c t i o n . Exposure t o moderate c o n c e n t r a t i o n s causes headaches, d i z z i n e s s , nausea and vomiting i n that order. C o n t i n u e d e x p o s u r e may c a u s e l o s s o f consciousness, r e s p i r a t o r y f a i l u r e and death i f the gas c o n c e n t r a t i o n i s h i g h enough. Hydrogen S u l phide i s a l s o flammable and i n c e r t a i n mixtures w i t h a i r i t c a nbe e x p l o s i v e . From t h e o u t s e t , O n t a r i o Hydro o p e r a t i n g s t a f f e s t a b l i s h e d rigorous s a f e t y p o l i c i e s and procedures f o r a l l a s p e c t s o f c o m m i s s i o n i n g a n d o p e r a t i n g P l a n t A, w i t h s p e c i a l emphasis on the h a n d l i n g o f H2S and equipment c o n t a i n i n g i t . S a f e t y p e r f o r m a n c e a t B r u c e Heavy Water P l a n t i s p r e s e n t e d i n terms o f "H2S I n c i d e n t s " (see " F i g u r e 5") o r t h e number o f e m p l o y e e s t e m p o r a r i l y a f f e c t e d b y t h e t o x i c o l o g i c a l p r o p e r t i e s o f h y d r o g e n s u l p h i d e , number of l o s t time accidents and l o s t time accident frequency (see " F i g u r e 6"). "H2S I n c i d e n t s " are d e f i n e d as "sub-acute" o r "acute". B r i e f l y , a "sub-acute" i n c i d e n t i s one i n w h i c h a p e r s o n e x p o s e d t o H y d r o g e n S u l p h i d e shows s i g n s of b e i n g a f f e c t e d b u t does n o tr e q u i r e r e s u s c i t a t i o n or a s s i s t a n c e t o e x i t from the area a f f e c t e d by H2S, w h i l e an "acute" i n c i d e n t i s one i n which a person overcome by Hydrogen S u l p h i d e r e q u i r e s r e s u s c i t a t i o n and/or a s s i s t a n c e t o e x i t from the area a f f e c t e d by Hydrogen S u l p h i d e . Only one H2S I n c i d e n t has r e s u l t e d i na l o s t time a c c i d e n t ( i n 1975) when t h e a f f e c t s o f H 2 S c a u s e d a n employee t o f a l l and b r u i s e h i s r i b s . I n t h e t w o y e a r p e r i o d f r o m May 1 9 7 2 t o May 1 9 7 4 , w h i c h c o v e r e d t h e b u l k o f c o m m i s s i o n i n g , t h e r e was n o t a s i n g l e l o s t time accident. The two l o s t t i m e a c c i d e n t s i n 1976 were b o t h b a c k i n j u r i e s c a u s e d b y improper l i f t i n g techniques. F a c t o r s c o n t r i b u t i n g t o BHWP s a f e w o r k p e r f o r m a n c e ( s e e " F i g u r e 7") h a v e b e e n g r o u p e d u n d e r t h e b r o a d h e a d i n g s o f Management P o l i c i e s , S a f e t y T r a i n i n g , General T r a i n i n g , Procedures, Employee R e l a t i o n s , P l a n t I n t e g r i t y , P e r s o n a l P r o t e c t i v e Equipment and S a f e t y Equipment. A l l a r eimportant t o a successful s a f e t y program. A t no t i m e d u r i n g the h i s t o r y o f B r u c e Heavy Water



SEPARATION OF HYDROGEN ISOTOPES

Figure 4. Aerial view of BHWP

1973

74

75

76

Figures. BHWP—History of H S incidents t


2.

3

Bruce

DAVIDSON

Heavy

Water

Plant

Performance

33

·

Lost T i m e

ι:·:·:·:·:.·ι :

Accidents

Frequency (/10

6

Rate

Manhours)


1 ·

Manhours

1973

74

75

76

772,575

737,906

965,870

1,230,626

Figure 6.

1.

Management

BHWP—Safety

4.

Policies

- the b u d d y s y s t e m

environment

- training

- work on H2S systems

- procedural approach

- control of work - equipment inspections.

- plant m o d i f i c a t i o n c o n t r o l - equipment

maintenance

5.

Safety

- communications.

orientation 6.

- emergency procedures

Plant

Integrity

- b u d d y training

- isolating circuits a n d devices

- r e s c u e training

- equipment design

- p r o t e c t i o n training - fire,

- e m e r g e n c y p o w e r , s t e a m , w a t e r a n d air - equipment inspections.

c h e m i c a l , electrical, etc. - W o r k Protection C o d e

7.

Personal Protective

- t a n k c a r repairs

- conventional

- v e s s e l entry

- breathing

- first aid

- rescue stations.

- regular m e e t i n g s . 3.

Relations

- Personal Hygiene

Training

- new employee

Employee - Medicals

- event reporting. 2.

Procedures - plant a c c e s s control

- n u m b e r 1 priority - work

performance

8.

Safety

Equipment

equipment

Equipment

General Training

- fire f i g h t i n g

- science fundamentals

- H2S detectors and monitors

- e q u i p m e n t / s y s t e m s principles

- gas detectors

- plant s y s t e m s

- rescue vehicle

- field skills.

- survey vehicles - first aid r o o m .

Figure 7.

Factors contributing to safe work performance


34

SEPARATION

P l a n t has i t s o p e r a t i o n p r e s e n t e d and s a f e t y o f the p u b l i c . Care o f t h e

O F HYDROGEN

a r i s k t o the

health

Environment

Bruce Heavy Water P l a n t has two major e n v i r o n mental c o n s i d e r a t i o n s - H 2 S e m i s s i o n s t o atmosphere and H 2 S e m i s s i o n s t o water. On the f i r s t o f t h e s e , Hydrogen S u l p h i d e i s an odourous m a t e r i a l . I f concent r a t i o n s r e a c h more than 2 0 0 yg/m (micrograms per metre cubed) H 2 S can be s m e l l e d by most p e o p l e and i s c o n s i d e r e d by v i r t u a l l y a l l as an u n a c c e p t a b l e odour. The p l a n t i s s i t u a t e d i n a r u r a l and summer r e s o r t area. C o m p l a i n t s o f odour s t a r t e d t o be r e c e i v e d s h o r t l y a f t e r H S was i n t r o d u c e d i n t o the u n i t s i n 1973. By y e a r end, a t o t a l o f 56 c o m p l a i n t s were r e g i s t e r e d (see " F i g u r e 8"). A t a s k f o r c e was formed to r e c t i f y t h i s u n s a t i s f a c t o r y s i t u a t i o n . Several a c t i o n s were t a k e n : e f f o r t s were d i r e c t e d toward r e d u c i n g the amount o f H 2 S r e l e a s e d ; s t e p s were taken t o i n s u r e a c o m b u s t i b l e m i x t u r e o f s t a c k gas a t a l l t i m e s ; d r a i n water t o be s t r i p p e d o f H 2 S was m i n i m i z e d ; r e l e a s e s o f steam o r n i t r o g e n and o t h e r i n e r t s t o t h e f l a r e were accompanied by i n c r e a s e d propane f l o w s t o the f l a r e . In 1974, t h r e e odour r e p o r t s came i n , i n 1975 f o u r odour r e p o r t s were r e c e i v e d and i n 1976 t h e r e were two. R e l a t i o n s w i t h t h e p u b l i c a r e no l o n g e r a problem as f a r as H 2 S odours a r e c o n c e r n e d . An H 2 S r e c o v e r y system t o m i n i m i z e H 2 S and p r o pane usage i s b e i n g b u i l t as p a r t o f t h e p l a n t expansion. As a r e s u l t , H 2 S r e l e a s e s t o the f l a r e w i l l be f u r t h e r r e d u c e d . On the second e n v i r o n m e n t a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n , H 2 S e m i s s i o n s t o water, a l l water streams c o n t a i n i n g H 2 S must be s t r i p p e d o f i t b e f o r e the water i s r e t u r n e d to the l a k e . " F i g u r e 8" shows the number o f times the r e g u l a t o r y l i m i t f o r hydrogen s u l p h i d e i n water was exceeded by y e a r . U n s t a b l e f l o w s i n the towers were q u i t e f r e q u e n t i n 1973. T h i s i n s t a b i l i t y caused the e f f l u e n t s t r i p p e r operating conditions to f l u c t u a t e d e t e r r i n g i t s e f f e c t i v e n e s s . P h y s i c a l changes t o tower t r a y w e i r s and the a d d i t i o n o f a n t i f o a m t o t h e p r o c e s s water s t e a d i e d o p e r a t i n g c o n d i t i o n s and t h e r e f o r e improved the e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f the s t r i p p e r . Replacement o f u n r e l i a b l e i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n and b e t t e r p r o c e s s c o n t r o l d u r i n g s t a r t u p s and shutdowns have improved performance. A continuous H2S-in-water m o n i t o r which has p r o v e n r e l i a b l e w i t h q u i c k r e s p o n s e was i n s t a l l e d on the s t r i p p e r o u t l e t . This monitor p l u s o t h e r e f f l u e n t s t r i p p e r p r o c e s s parameters o f 3


ISOTOPES

2


2.

DAVIDSON

Bruce

Heavy

Water

Plant

Performance

35

f e e d temperature, l e v e l and p r e s s u r e have a l l been interlocked to automatically d i v e r t e f f l u e n t to the lagoons i f a p r e s e t c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f H 2 S i s exceeded o r t h e measured v a r i a b l e s exceed d e f i n e d l i m i t s .


Reliability The r e l i a b i l i t y o f BHWP A has g e n e r a l l y been good f o r a p l a n t o f i t s s i z e w i t h m i n i m a l redundancy i n i t s o p e r a t i n g equipment. " F i g u r e 9" shows downtime e x p e r i e n c e t o d a t e . P l a n n e d u n i t t u r n - a r o u n d s have been r e d u c e d from 10 weeks i n 1973 t o 4 weeks i n 1975. An outage p l a n n e d f o r September, 1976 was advanced t o t a k e advantage o f an unplanned outage i n J u l y . Another f a c t o r o f r e l i a b i l i t y i s production r a t e . " F i g u r e 10" shows i n s t a n t a n e o u s p r o d u c t i o n r a t e s i n k i l o g r a m s p e r hour t h a t t h e p l a n t was o p e r a t i n g , i . e . shutdown p e r i o d s have been e x c l u d e d . The o r i g i n a l Des i g n C a p a c i t y was 48.3 kg/h f o r each e n r i c h i n g u n i t . F o l l o w i n g s t a r t up i n 1973, t r a y f l o o d i n g problems caused by foaminess o f t h e p r o c e s s and a d e f i c i e n c y i n t r a y d e s i g n were e x p e r i e n c e d . C o r r e c t i o n o f these problems by t h e a d d i t i o n o f a n t i f o a m t o t h e feedwater and m o d i f i c a t i o n o f t h e t r a y s r e s u l t e d i n d r a m a t i c improvements i n p r o d u c t i o n r a t e s . P r o d u c t i o n r a t e s have c o n t i n u e d t o improve, r e s u l t i n g i n a r e - r a t i n g o f t h e p l a n t c a p a c i t y i n 1976 t o 100.6 kg/h. C a p a c i t y F a c t o r s (based on D e s i g n C a p a c i t y f o r 1973 t o 1975 and based on Demonstrated C a p a c i t y f o r 1976) and a n n u a l p r o d u c t i o n a r e shown i n " F i g u r e 11". These do n o t i n c l u d e about 99 Mg t h a t were " e n r i c h e d " t o 20% i s o t o p i c p u r i t y d u r i n g 1974/1975/1976, o f which 31 Mg were " f i n i s h e d " t o r e a c t o r grade elsewhere i n 1975 and 42 Mg were " f i n i s h e d " elsewhere i n " 1976. I f t h e s e " f i n i s h e d " q u a n t i t i e s were c o m p l e t e l y c r e d i t e d t o BHWP A, t h e apparent C a p a c i t y F a c t o r s i n 1975 and 1976 would be 71.7% and 90.9% r e s p e c t i v e l y . Manpower Development The purpose o f t r a i n i n g i s t o e n s u r e t h a t each p o s i t i o n i n t h e p l a n t i s f i l l e d by a p e r s o n w i t h a p p r o p r i a t e knowledge and s k i l l s so t h a t t h e p l a n t i s o p e r a t e d s a f e l y , e f f e c t i v e l y and e f f i c i e n t l y . T r a i n i n g i s therefore a part o f the plant's p e r f o r mance o b j e c t i v e s . Formal t r a i n i n g i s p r o v i d e d by l e c t u r e d c o u r s e s and demonstrated s k i l l s i n t h e c l a s s r o o m and t h e f i e l d . F o r each j o b , t h e l e v e l and p r o f i c i e n c y which must be


36

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2.

DAVIDSON

Bruce

Heavy

Water

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Performance

37

a t t a i n e d are s p e c i f i e d i n each o f the f o l l o w i n g : Management, S c i e n c e Fundamentals, Equipment and System P r i n c i p l e s , F i e l d S k i l l s , S p e c i f i c P l a n t Systems, AECB Operating License, Protection T r a i n i n g . T r a i n i n g i s p r o v i d e d by the N u c l e a r T r a i n i n g De partment o f O n t a r i o Hydro a t R o l p h t o n , by the Manpower Development Department o f O n t a r i o Hydro a t O r a n g e v i l l e , by the Bruce T r a i n i n g C e n t r e a t the s i t e and by the BHWP T r a i n i n g S e c t i o n . BHWP T r a i n i n g S e c t i o n i s s t a f f e d by e i g h t T r a i n i n g T e c h n i c i a n s , two e n g i n e e r s and a T r a i n i n g O f f i c e r . BHWP o p e r a t e s a f i v e s h i f t system i n s t e a d o f t h e t r a d i t i o n a l f o u r , so t h a t o p e r a t o r s , m a i n t a i n e r s and c o n t r o l t e c h n i c i a n s on s h i f t spend t e n t o f o u r t e e n p e r c e n t o f t h e i r time i n t r a i n i n g . I n 1975 t h e r e were 6,822 man c o u r s e s g i v e n and i n 1976 t h e r e were 11,400 man c o u r s e s g i v e n a t BHWP. Commissioning P r o g r e s s Report - BHWP Β A s s e m b l i n g a commissioning team o f e n g i n e e r s , o p e r a t o r s , m a i n t a i n e r s and c o n t r o l t e c h n i c i a n s f o r P l a n t Β began i n 1975. A nucleus o f personnel with o p e r a t i n g e x p e r i e n c e i n P l a n t A i s b e i n g augmented w i t h new employees. The commissioning group i s p r e p a r i n g commissioning e s t i m a t e s and p r o c e d u r e s , and i n s p e c t i n g and w i t n e s s i n g equipment t e s t s as the p l a n t i s being b u i l t . T h i s group i s commissioning and o p e r a t i n g the v a r i o u s p l a n t systems as t h e y a r e t u r n e d o v e r from c o n s t r u c t i o n . The a i r compressor system f o r P l a n t Β and t h e u t i l i t i e s f o r F i n i s h i n g U n i t F2 were t u r n e d o v e r from c o n s t r u c t i o n and commissioned i n the l a s t q u a r t e r o f 1976. The l a s t t u r n o v e r o f the F i n i s h i n g U n i t p r o c e s s system was on 6 J a n u a r y , 1977. P r e - s t a r t u p checks o f equipment and i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n were completed by 18 F e b r u a r y , 1977. O p e r a t i o n o f F2 on d e m i n e r a l i z e d water f o l l o w e d and t h i s program was completed by the end o f A p r i l . Equipment i n s p e c t i o n s f o l l o w i n g t h i s run and minor d e f i c i e n c y c o r r e c t i o n s were completed by 10 May, 1977 and s t a r t u p on i n t e r m e d i a t e p r o d u c t from P l a n t A commenced. F i r s t r e a c t o r grade p r o d u c t from F2 was produced on 23 May, 1977. The p l a n (see " F i g u r e 12") shows l a s t t u r n o v e r o f E n r i c h i n g U n i t E4 equipment f o r commissioning 1 May, 1978. E n r i c h i n g U n i t E3 l a s t t u r n o v e r i s s c h e d u l e d f o r 15 December, 1978. T h i s p l a n a l s o shows P l a n t D F i n i s h i n g U n i t F4 l a s t t u r n o v e r f o r commissioning a t the end o f September, 1979 w i t h E n r i c h i n g U n i t s 7 and


38

SEPARATION

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ISOTOPES

Extraction kg D 0 / h 2

60· Hot Tower

Clarifier Tests Alum Addition June 74

40

Bruce Heavy Water Plant Performance - ACS Symposium Series (ACS

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