Modular design and construction techniques for nuclear power plants Original Research Article

Modularization has been proposed as a nuclear power plant design-fabrication approach for increasing the quality and reducing the costs of future plants. The work reported describes a methodology for making the modular design and construction process more systematic and efficient. This methodology is applied to both the design and fabrication processes for power plant modules. The design process is enhanced by the utilization of a matrix reordering technique that reveals natural groupings in complex data sets. This technique allows a layout which groups plant systems functionally so that modules increase self-sufficiency and minimize inter-module interaction costs. In an illustration of modular design the ship fabrication methods of product work breakdown structure are applied to a modular nuclear power plant to be built at an on-site factory facility. A comparison of a new modular power plant and a conventional power plant design is performed. Cost penalty indices are defined in order to guide maximization of the economic benefits of a modular design. Economic analyses, for both modular and conventional construction methods, are performed over a range of construction schedules and monetary interest rates to illustrate the potential savings of modular construction. The results of the analyses reported here indicate a typical potential savings of 15% in the capital cost of the modular nuclear power plant versus a conventional one. The most interesting result of this work is that the potential savings derive equally from the design and construction processes.