The effects of root-cause analysis on the utility resource balance

The authors describe the development of a model-based approach to the process of determining the root-cause of component failure in power plants. They define the elements needed to analyze heat exchanger failure scenarios and generalize the structure of the analytic and cause-linking processes to formulate a generic methodology. Case studies are cited that demonstrate the validity and necessity of this structured approach to determining the root cause of component failure. Particular attention is given to the case of a large nuclear central generating facility which experienced a thru-wall (tube to shell) penetration failure in an emergency diesel generator heat exchanger. The methodology described is being expanded and partially automated using artificial intelligence techniques to produce an operations and maintenance (O&M) decision support tool for plants which can guide the user in producing an accurate, fully documented analysis of component failure events