LED technology applied to the Ascó Nuclear Power Plant

Project description

The incandescent lighting technology used in the Containment Building of the Ascó Nuclear Power Plant is is affected by a situation of obsolescence derived from the mandatory nature of the compliance by the lamp manufacturers with the European directives and regulations of energy efficiency, which represents a difficult situation for nuclear power plants to supply of this type of lamps.
Given the need to validate an alternative lighting technology, the degree of compliance with the different lighting technologies available today, with the applicable design requirements of the Basis of Design and the Safety Study, choosing the solution consisting of the use of LED technology, which provides relevant improvements when using lamps of much lower electrical power and with a much longer useful life, with the consequent benefits due to the reduction of resources for the activities of substitution of lamps and the accumulated collective dose of exposed workers in recharge, as well as in environmental management by reducing radioactive waste.

The Aussie Group, with its new Galyx brand, developed a specific design of alternative LED lamps to meet all design requirements. (See second table)

The new design features very low aluminum content (between 1 and 2 grams per lamp).

The replacement of the 200W, 100W and 60W incandescent lamps with their 27W, 15W and 10W LED equivalents in the Containment Building has been implemented in CN Ascó 1 in reload 25 (2017) and its implementation is planned in CN Ascó 2 in recharge 24 (2017) and at CN Vandellòs II in recharge 22 (2018), with the forecast of obtaining the following results:

1) Reduction of the electrical consumption of the affected lamps by approximately 86%, which implies greater availability of electrical power generated for their commercialization.

2) Increase in the useful life of the lamp between 25 and 50 times higher than the original, which means:

a) Reduction of the resources needed to replace burnt out lamps
b) Reduction of the collective accumulated dose of exposed workers in recharge, for the replacement of burned out lamps
c) Reduction of radioactive waste from burned out lamps