AMS’s 5-Day I&C Training Course Was a Success
AMS held a 5-Day I&C Training Course from August 15 – 19, 2022. The course was designed for utilities, vendors, educators, and regulators involved with nuclear power plants, research reactors, fuel fabrication facilities, national and international laboratories, and universities. We had a great turnout this year with over 40 attendees of various backgrounds excited to learn about the state-of-the-art in maintenance, troubleshooting, and aging management techniques for the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems of nuclear power plants.
Our instructors gave presentations on a variety of topics and all lectures were followed by hands-on demonstrations to provide our attendees an opportunity to dive deeper into the topic and to show the various labs, testbeds, and capabilities that we have on-site. Below is an overview of what was covered during the course:
- I&C Fundamentals: On day 1 we discussed the fundamentals of temperature, pressure, level, and flow instrumentation including response time testing, on-line calibration, and examples of field operating experience. These presentations were followed by laboratory demonstrations including resistance temperature detector cross calibration, loop current step response testing, and pressure transmitter ramp / noise testing.
- Rod Control Systems and Electromagnetic Compatibility: After a successful day 1, we kicked off day 2 with an overview of rod position indication systems, troubleshooting, and health monitoring. This was followed by an overview of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and EMC qualification. The hands-on activities on day 2 included rod drop testing and coil diagnostics, control rod drive mechanism testing, and EMC demonstrations involving ferrites, capacitors, oscilloscopes, and electrostatic discharge.
- Electromagnetic Compatibility: On day 3 we talked more about EMC topics, specifically electromagnetic interference troubleshooting and wireless coexistence. Lab demonstrations this day covered spectrum analyzer basics, wireless exclusion zones, and relay suppression techniques.
- Cable Condition Monitoring and Aging Management: Day 4 covered cable testing, fault finding, and aging management. Some of our lab demonstrations included applications of time and frequency domain reflectometry, the use of thermochemical and mechanical tests to identify cable aging, and live cable testing.
- Special Topics: Our special topics this year included the latest developments with next generation reactors, advanced instrumentation, electrical signature analysis (ESA) for condition monitoring of rotating equipment, and artificial intelligence and machine learning in nuclear power plants. Our demonstrations included transit time flow measurement for advanced reactors, a microreactor heat pipe, and ESA testing on a motor test bed.
Of course, the training course wasn’t all business, we enjoyed networking and mingling with our attendees during the cocktail reception after day 1 and during the AMS provided lunches.
We had a great time networking with others in the industry and sharing our expertise on instrumentation and control. We hope to see you at our next Short Course event!
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