1. LP Feedwater Heater Tube Failure Point Beach Nuclear Plant
Kelly Oetting
System Engineer
FSRUG 2015 Conference
January 26-29, 2015

2. 2011 Power Uprate Westinghouse 2 – Loop PWR, Unit 1 1970, Unit 2 1972
17%
545 MWe to 637 MWe (1540 MWth to 1800 MWth)
Unit 2 – 120 Days (3/1/11 - 6/19/11)
Unit 1 – 75 Days (10/3/11 – 12/17/11)
Approximately 35 Major Modifications for Each Unit
New FWHs 5 Stages, Two Trains (4 LP & 1 HP FWH/Train)

3. New #1 & #2 Duplex LP FWH

4. FWH Design Change Details
Before EPU
After EPU
#1 & #2 LP FWHs
Westinghouse (shell) Southwest Eng. (tube bundle)
Yuba
Length
41 ft 9 in
49 ft
Diameter
68 in
79.25 in
Heat Transfer #1
147,500,000 Btu/hr
141,100,000 Btu/hr
Heat Transfer #2
116,700,000 Btu/hr
126,600,000 Btu/hr

5. #2 FWH Tube Failures April #1&#2 Drain valves started opening more May #1&#2 Dump Valve started to open Step change down in #2 drain temperature Monitored until October 2014 Refueling outage Found 6 tubes leaking in #2 FWH 2 tubes sheared off Stabilizers installed in 14 tubes 16 tubes plugged

8. Motor Bearing Housing Sightglass

9. Potential Causes Water level too low – knee test never performed
Drain piping and/or drain valve sized too small

10. Actions Raised level in all #1, #2, and #3 FWHs Will be pursuing a study of the drain piping.