Program for life extension and preserving existing resources for motor control center components [nuclear plants]

Many nuclear power plants have motor control centers (MCCs) installed in a harsh, radiation only, environment. Procurement of safety-related replacement devices for these MCCs is a big economic burden for the stations if these MCCs have become obsolete. Identical replacement components for many MCCs installed in older plants (ITE Gould, Allis-Chalmers, Klockner-Moeller, Cutler-Hammer, etc.) are no longer available. Plants are left with the option of either retrofitting these MCCs or finding ways to extend the qualified lives of the safety-related components to minimize replacement costs. One ComEd nuclear station has embarked on a program to minimize the economic burden for the replacements of Klockner-Moeller (K-M) MCC components. This paper discusses the program adopted by this station and its economic benefits to ComEd