Areva lab's research helps extend life for nuclear plants

A $6.5 million chemistry lab is helping scientists at Areva find faster, better ways to service nuclear power plants, which in turn could help the company gain more customers.

While numerous factors have slowed the nuclear industry’s anticipated resurgence in new construction, Areva officials said the lessons learned in the Mt. Athos Road lab could help make existing plants last longer and run better.

“Life extension is an important thing for our customers,” said Joe Zwetolitz, Areva senior vice president and deputy for U.S. reactors and services.

But Areva still believes the nation needs new nuclear plants, such as the 1,600-megawatt U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor, to meet long-term needs for electricity.

“You take the units you have and extend the life, and you build new ones,” Zwetolitz said. “I think they’re two pieces of the same strategy.”

Areva began building the Chemistry and Materials Center in 2008 and opened it just more than a year ago. Six full-time employees work there, using nine labs to diagnose problems in nuclear power plants and find solutions.

In all, Areva has about 2,100 employees in the Lynchburg area.

Most of the lab work centers on reducing the amount of rust that forms as water and steam moves through iron pipes and machines in the plant, said Larry Lamanna, manager of plant chemistry and corrosion engineering.

“You can’t fool Mother Nature. When you put water with metal, you get corrosion,” Lamanna said. The chemistry lab has tools that help determine the chemical makeup of the rust in nuclear plants, which helps chemists devise ways to clean the rust and stop or minimize its occurrence, he said.

The lab also handles other problems that come up.

One practical use of the lab came recently after workers were grinding out irregularities on a metal surface in a nuclear plant. They collected the grindings in a “chip bag” that unexpectedly caught fire, Lamanna said.

Residue from that fire gathered on the heat exchanger — the part of the plant that makes steam to generate electricity — and the residue could have reduced the performance over time, Lamanna said.

“Since I have the lab, I could come up with a way that we can chemically clean that material,” Lamanna said. The lab also will work to invent a new, fireproof chip bag, he said.

Lamanna said the local lab lets Areva tackle problems much more quickly than it once could. The increased speed and capabilities will help Areva get more customers.

He said Areva and its customers are saving money by having the lab open.

The lab also looks toward the future of the nuclear power industry. Lamanna said Areva employees will be able to find ways to make the new nuclear plants more efficient and durable from the beginning.

“It lets them think out of the box and come up with the next generation of technology,” he said.