Plant Life Extension Cable Testing (PLEX)

PLANT LIFE EXTENSION CABLE TESTING

The majority of nuclear power plants in the United States have been granted licenses to continue operating past their initial 40-year period.

Now, many nuclear power plants are considering a subsequent license renewal that will allow them to operate for up to 80 years. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has established guidance for nuclear plant license renewal in NUREG-1801 and NUREG-2191 that includes information for site cable aging management plans to enable long-term operation.

In support of these aging management plans, AMS has developed a comprehensive plant life extension (PLEX) testing program to help nuclear plants meet NRC requirements and also obtain the most comprehensive information possible about the health of cables, connectors, and end devices. For more information, including brochures and white papers, please click here.

AMS PLEX testing satisfies license renewal commitments and identifies any degradation in the cable circuit that could impact plant performance now or in the future. PLEX testing also establishes baseline data for trending and monitoring purposes, which can be crucial when troubleshooting future cable problems and helps avoid premature replacement of components.

The AMS approach to PLEX testing includes a wide variety of cable testing techniques to characterize the bulk health of the cable, connectors, and end device. The acquired data is then compared to acceptance criteria AMS has developed using existing industry guidance, 10 years of laboratory research and development, and 30 years of testing within the nuclear fleet.

As an example, for cables used in high voltage, low-level current signal applications such as nuclear instrumentation, the XI.E2 aging management program applies. To satisfy XI.E2 requirements, AMS has developed a PLEX testing methodology specific to nuclear instrumentation to objectively address this program requirement and support long term operation of nuclear instrumentation circuits.

Cable Aging

Frequency Domain Reflectometry (FDR)
Indenter Measurements

Operability

Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR)
Reverse TDR (Shield Integrity Test)
Impedance (Inductance, Capacitance, AC Resistance)
Insulation Resistance (IR)

Detector Health

Current Voltage
(Plateau Curve or IV Curve)

AMS can also help sites satisfy additional aging management plans such as XI.E1, XI.E3, and others.

AMS recognizes the aging management needs of the nuclear industry and has invested millions of dollars over the past 10 years to develop cutting edge capabilities to support site aging management programs. For more information on cable testing or aging management support for your facility, please contact us.