NEW STEAM GENERATORS FOR BELGIUM’S OLDEST NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

On January 20, Doel 1 was reconnected to the Belgian electricity network

The U tubes of a steam generator are subject to corrosion – over the years, this demands excessive preventive maintenance. Within the framework of the partnership between Electrabel, the plant operator, and Tractebel Engineering, the two companies launched a project in 2005 aimed at replacing the two steam generators at Doel 1.

Thanks to in-depth preliminary studies, Tractebel Engineering demonstrated that the best way to replace the heat exchangers was to pass them through a hole made in the roof. This was carried out in November 2009 and benefitted from our company’s technical guidance and supervision.

The main challenges in this multidisciplinary project involved handling the 270-ton heat exchangers at a considerable height and in difficult weather conditions, removing the insulation that contained asbestos, and the size of the worksite.

The improvement in heat transfer grants Electrabel a 10% power uprate.