Framatome ANP Carries Out First CRDM Visual Inspection in Conformance With NRC Alloy 600 Directive

Business Wire, Oct 10, 2001

Business Editors

LYNCHBURG, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2001

Framatome ANP, Inc., has successfully completed the first visual inspection of reactor head control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) nozzle penetrations under the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's new Alloy 600 inspection guidelines at Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit 1.

"Framatome did a good job and we are pleased with the results," said Lew Myers, senior vice president of FENOC at Beaver Valley.

"This is the first inspection executed under the new NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) directive," said Steve Huntington, Framatome ANP, Inc Vice President of Outage and Non-Destructive Examination (NDE) Services. "We are very pleased to be able to deploy new technology to react quickly and effectively and provide great value for our customers."

The inspection, accomplished in conformance with NRC Bulletin 2001-01, utilized video instrumentation delivered to the penetration areas using a robotic delivery system. Use of robotic-crawler delivery for the camera minimized radiation dose for the examination crew. The crawler also enabled the camera system to remain in position on the RV head as real-time evaluations were performed or additional cleaning and insulation removal took place.

Tim Heimel, an NDE Level III Supervisor at Beaver Valley, expressed his satisfaction with the inspection.

"Framatome's performance and deliverables were excellent," he said. "The data collected by Framatome ... enabled us to conclude that we had no vessel head penetration leakage. We will be using the Framatome documentation as a point of reference for future examinations."

"We are gratified to see that our investment in new technologies and tooling is paying off for our customers," said Huntington. "We now know without doubt that we are prepared to effectively inspect the remaining affected PWRs in the U.S. market."

Framatome ANP, Inc. has performed more Alloy 600 inspection, repair, remediation and analysis work than any other vendor, successfully completing repairs on CRDM nozzles at several PWR units during the last year.

Framatome ANP can perform head visual inspection using a variety of methods including the robotic crawler, pole mounted cameras or video probes.

In plants without easy access to the head surface due to insulation interference a high-resolution video probe and tooling delivery package is available from Framatome ANP. Similar to inspections performed on the secondary side of plants' steam generators, this approach can eliminate costly and time-consuming removal of the head's insulation.

Founded in January 2001, Framatome ANP (Advanced Nuclear Power), combines the former nuclear activities of Framatome and Siemens (Framatome S.A. has a 66% stake and Siemens 34%) to form the world's premier nuclear supplier. Framatome ANP's focus includes comprehensive engineering, services, heavy component manufacture, fuel assemblies for many reactor designs, including those supplied by other vendors, and the development and turnkey construction of nuclear power plants and research reactors. As of September 3, 2001 Framatome has been merged into the new French company AREVA and the shares originally held by Framatome S.A. have been transferred to AREVA. Framatome ANP is headquartered in Paris with regional subsidiaries in the U.S. and Germany. Framatome ANP has a total workforce of approximately 13,000 worldwide and posts annual sales totaling about $2.25 billion.

Beaver Valley Power Station is owned by FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron, Ohio, and operated by its subsidiary, FENOC. FENOC also operates the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, and the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry, Ohio. FirstEnergy is a diversified energy services company with more than $18 billion in assets and more than $7 billion in annual revenues. The company's electric utilities - The Illuminating Company, Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison and Penn Power - comprise the nation's 10th largest investor-owned electric system.

For further information, visit: http://www.framatome-anp.com