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Entergy’s Arkansas Nuclear One Wins Global Nuclear Project of the Year
Two Entergy Projects Honored at 2010 Power-Gen
Orlando, Fla. - Entergy employees from Arkansas Nuclear One were honored by Power Engineering magazine as Nuclear Project of the Year in the annual global completion at the 2010 Power-Gen International conference. Working with American Ceramics Technology, the ANO team successfully drove development of a method to attach a flexible shield to various sizes of pipes and surfaces as well as a tungsten vest for a first-in-industry approach to personal shielding.”We are very happy to have our team recognized for the years of work put into the tungsten shielding,” said team leader Jim Bacquet, supervisor of the ANO radiation protection team. “We are proud to have brought this new shielding, now used across the Entergy fleet, to our industry, increasing safety and productivity for nuclear operations.”
At the 2010 Power-Gen International, more than 1,200 companies from all sectors of the power industry and more than 18,000 attended the Orlando event.
About Tungsten Shielding
The Entergy tungsten radiation shielding is a flexible heat-resistant shielding made of tungsten and iron metal powder immersed in a silicone polymer. Lead blankets have been the backbone of shielding applications for years, but in comparison, lead blankets are a less effective and efficient shielding choice. Due to the tungsten properties in this newly created material, it has proven to be up to twice as effective as lead and is more flexible and more quickly installed in the field.
The Entergy tungsten radiation shielding uses a new method of attaching shielding using imbedded magnets. As a polymer material, this shielding becomes form fitting. “We call it snap-and-shield,” noted Bacquet.
Taking this new material a step further to enhance safety, the ANO team designed and produced vests to be worn by workers in the field. Working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the tungsten vests are a new approach for the power industry, one that the ANO team adapted from the medical field.
“This shielding vest is a big plus for the Arkansas Nuclear One work force and for all plants across the country,” said Dan Stoltz, radiation protection coordinator and team member. “It is gratifying to see the vests and tungsten shields so readily adapted by others and to know it came from right here at ANO.”
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $10 billion and more than 15,000 employees.
Accepting the 2010 Nuclear Project of the Year Award are members of the team that developed new tungsten shielding: ( left to right) Dan Stoltz, Arkansas Nuclear One radiation protection team; Richard Culbertson, president and principal of American Ceramics Technology and Jim Bacquet, ANO radiation protection supervisor and team lead. The global award was presented by David Wagman, chief editor of Power Engineering magazine at the annual Project of the Year Awards dinner held at the Power-Gen International conference in Orlando attended by more than 18,000 power industry peers.
Accepting the award as FINALIST in the 2010 Nuclear Project of the Year Award program are Entergy employees from the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert, Mich., for development of the gimbaled head for reactor head inspections: (left to right) Brian Kemp, Design Engineer Manager and Chad Main, team lead for the project. The global award was presented by David Wagman, chief editor of Power Engineering magazine at the annual Project of the Year Awards dinner held at the Power-Gen International conference in Orlando attended by more than 18,000 power industry peers.
From Entergy Nuclear, at www.entergy-nuclear.com
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