Rosenergoatom JSC (part of the Electric Power Division of Rosatom State Corporation), together with VNIIAES JSC (a subsidiary of the company) and Maintex, have embarked on the last, final stage in implementing the first project of its kind in Russia to create and implement a predictive analytics system in the area of nuclear power.

 

The project is aimed at creating a prototype of a system that will timely, at an early stage, detect hidden defects in the generating equipment of nuclear power plants. Introduction of such an intelligent solution at Russian NPPs will, according to experts, not only improve the safety and reliability of Russian NPPs as a whole, but also reduce the risk of fines in case of unplanned shutdowns, as well as reduce the duration of downtime due to repairs and minimize the number of violations and failures in the operation of the equipment.

 

Let’s remember that specialists started practical implementation of the project back in May 2020, and power unit No. 6 of the Novovoronezh NPP (Novovoronezh, a branch of Rosenergoatom JSC) was the selected site.

 

“The most important part of the project starts now. Developed and verified predictive models of several types of equipment: a turbine generator, a steam turbine unit, and circulation pumps of power unit No. 6 of the NVNPP, have already been launched to analyze the current state of the equipment in real time. The trial operation of the system should demonstrate the effectiveness of the chosen solution,” said Andrey Druzhaev, Head of the Department of Digitalization of Technical Support for the Operation of NPP Power Units of VNIIAES JSC.

 

Oleg Shalnov, Director of Rosenergoatom's IT Project Management and Integration Department, emphasized that predictive analytics of NPP equipment is at present a significant area of digitalization development for the company. “Rosenergoatom, its branches and subsidiaries, including JSC VNIIAES, are currently leading companies that focus on progressive technologies, test the best predictive analytics practices and strive to actively develop in this direction. This solution has proved itself in a good way in the international market, incl. in the energy sector. It can help implement a number of tasks, including analysis of large amounts of data on equipment operation in real time, comparing current parameters with benchmarks, and much more,” - he said.

 

In turn, the head of the project office for the implementation of digital solutions in the operation of NPPs of Rosenergoatom JSC Victor Tsaranu said that the predictive analytics system is currently at the stage of integration into the current business processes of Rosenergoatom. In the coming months, the results of the pilot project are to be be summed up and the prospects for the development of this direction are to be assessed. The developed solutions will then be included in the so-called NPP Operation Template, which is an integrated set of digital platforms and tools that ensures the optimal functioning of processes at NPPs, from the moment of object design to its decommissioning. The template will be implemented at all Russian power plants, and also proposed as a new product for nuclear power plants being built abroad by Rosatom.