The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has presented AmerenUE’s Callaway Plant with a Top Industry Practice (TIP) Award for successfully completing a first-of-its-kind pipe replacement project. Callaway was honored with the TIP Materials and Services Process Award for being the first U.S. nuclear plant to use high-density polyethylene piping in a safety-related system. Unlike carbon steel pipe which the new pipe replaced, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is not subject to corrosion, and it eliminates the need for system cleaning that increases cost and decreases system availability.
NEI presented the award May 19 at the organization’s annual Nuclear Energy Assembly in Washington, D.C. Callaway shared the award with Duke Energy’s Catawba Station in York County, S.C., which was the first U.S nuclear plant to use HDPE piping for replacement of a water system. The Catawba project was in a non-safety related system.
The Callaway project involved replacing the original 30-inch diameter carbon steel buried piping in the Essential Service Water system with approximately 1,600 feet of new 36-inch-diamater HDPE piping. The system consists of two redundant sets of piping that supply water to certain safety-related equipment. Callaway completed the installation of one set in December 2008 and completed the other set in April 2009.
Special safety review and approval by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was required in order to use the HDPE material.
The Materials and Services Process Award is one of 15 TIP Awards created to highlight the nuclear energy industry’s most innovative techniques and ideas. The awards promote the sharing of fresh ideas and best practices, improving safety, work processes and the competitive position of the industry as a whole.
With a net generating capacity of 1,190 megawatts, the Callaway Plant produces nearly 20 percent of the electricity supplied to AmerenUE customers annually. Its 2008 generation of nearly 9.4 million megawatt-hours was enough to supply the electricity needs of 780,000 average households.
AmerenUE, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation, serves 1.2 million electric customers and 127,000 natural gas customer in a 24,000-square-mile area of north, central and eastern Missouri.
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CONTACT: Mike Cleary, 573.681.7137, of AmerenUE