Reprinted on the development of nuclear power valves in China

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Development of China's Nuclear Power Valve 1. Overview Nuclear power valves refer to valves used in the nuclear island N1, conventional island CI and power plant auxiliary facilities BOP systems in nuclear power plants. From the safety level, it is divided into nuclear safety level I, level II, level III and non-nuclear level. Among them, nuclear safety level I has the highest requirements. Nuclear power valves are a large number of medium transportation control equipment used in nuclear power plants, and are an indispensable and important part of the safe operation of nuclear power plants. According to statistics, a nuclear power plant with two 1 million KW units has 30,000 valves of various types. 　　According to statistics, there are currently 447 nuclear power units in operation around the world, with a total installed capacity of 380 million KW, accounting for approximately 16.2% of the world's total power generation. There are 17 * * The installed capacity of nuclear power plants accounts for more than 25% of the country's total power generation. Among them, France accounts for 77%, South Korea accounts for 38%, Japan accounts for 36%, and the United Kingdom accounts for 28%. The United States has also reached 20%. More than 50% of the operating nuclear power units are pressurized water reactors, followed by heavy water reactors, boiling water reactors, graphite reactors, fast breeder reactors, and high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. 　　The earliest field of application of nuclear power technology in our country is * * industry. In the early 1970s, the Navy's first pressurized water reactor nuclear-powered submarine was officially put into use. Since my country independently designed and constructed the Qinshan Phase I 300,000 KW nuclear power unit in 1985, it has successively built six more nuclear power plants in Daya Bay, Qinshan Phase II, Qinshan Phase III, Lingao, and Tianwan through independent design and construction and the introduction of foreign technologies, with a total installed capacity of 8.7 million KW. Accounting for 2% of the country's installed power generation capacity. my country plans to increase the installed nuclear power capacity from the current 8.7 million KW to 40 million KW by 2020, which will account for about 4% of the country's total installed electricity capacity. That is, from now on, an average of at least two million KW nuclear power units will be built every year. Among the nuclear power plants that have been built, except for Qinshan Phase III, which uses the Canadian heavy water reactor type, the others are all pressurized water reactors. The Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant provided by Russia has the largest single unit power parameter, which is 1.06 million KW. Fast breeder reactors, advanced reactors, high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, etc. built by China Institute of Atomic Energy, Tsinghua University and other institutions are still research and test reactors in China. After gaining experience, they will expand the construction of commercial reactors. It is worth noting that the third-generation pressurized water reactor nuclear power units AP600 and AP1000 designed by the American Westinghouse Company have higher operational safety. Their design adopts passive principles such as gravity, convection, condensation, etc., as the driving force in the safety system. * * The active driving forces such as electricity, liquid, and gas are reduced. At the same time, the use of valves has been reduced by 50%, pumps have been reduced by 35%, cables have been reduced by 80%, the number of equipment required for earthquake resistance has dropped by 45%, and the life of the power station can reach 60 years (currently 30 to 40 years). However, there is currently no example of this kind of nuclear power plant being completed and operating in the world. Our country is also currently conducting research and experimental work on third-generation nuclear power plants. 　　Taking the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant as an example, the distribution of the number of valves in nuclear power plants accounts for 43.5% of the nuclear island part, 45% of the conventional island part, and 11.5% of the auxiliary facilities. A total of 13,000 valves of various types are used in its nuclear island. 　　In terms of valve configuration, globe valves account for 33.6%, diaphragm valves account for 26.2%, and ball valves account for 12.8%. These three items account for 72.6% of nuclear island valves. Looking at the distribution of safety levels, only 2.3% are nuclear level I, 52% are nuclear level II and III in total, and 45.7% are non-nuclear level. 　　The investment proportion of nuclear power valves in nuclear power plants accounts for about 1.6% of the completion price of nuclear power plants. Based on the completion price of two million KW units of Ling'ao nuclear power plant of US$3.5 billion, the investment in valves is US$56 million, equivalent to approximately RMB 460 million. according to * * According to the nuclear power development plan, the total investment in valves in new nuclear power plants will reach more than 7 billion yuan by 2020 (if rising prices of materials and other factors are taken into account, it will reach nearly 10 billion yuan). 　　The cost of repairing and replacing nuclear power valves accounts for about 50% of the total maintenance of nuclear power plants. The total annual maintenance cost of a nuclear power plant with two million-kilowatt units will be about 135 million yuan. The annual cost of valve repair and replacement reaches about 67 million yuan. When the installed capacity of million-kilowatt nuclear power generators operating in our country reaches 20 million KW, the annual maintenance and replacement cost of nuclear power valves will reach 670 million yuan. At present, the valves used in my country's nuclear power plants, except for some domestic valves used in the first and second phases of Qinshan, are almost all imported for the valves used in other nuclear islands and conventional islands. This situation and * * The plan to develop nuclear power by 2020 provides good development opportunities for China's valve industry, and is also a severe test for China's valve industry. 　　2. Domestic nuclear power valve level At present, 19 domestic companies have obtained * * The Civilian Nuclear Pressure Equipment Design and Production Qualification License issued by the Nuclear Safety Administration allows the company to design and produce nuclear-grade valves. The types of valves it designs and produces include gate valves, globe valves, check valves, ball valves, butterfly valves, spring-type safety valves, regulating valves, throttle valves, diaphragm valves, bellows globe valves, etc. Among these 19 companies, there are five companies (Shen Gao, Zhonghe Suva, Dagao, Shangva, Shanghai Lianggong, etc.) that are capable of designing and producing nuclear level I valves. Most of the domestically produced valves for nuclear power plants are non-nuclear grade and nuclear grade II and III valves. 　　The development of domestic nuclear-grade valves started in the early 1960s. Up to now, after decades of hard work, China has formed a certain scale of nuclear-grade valve design, experiment, manufacturing, and testing capabilities. It has provided a large number of nuclear-grade and non-nuclear-grade valves for the first and second phases of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, making an important contribution to the localization of nuclear power valves. At present, China has successfully developed and produced Class I electric gate valves and check valves for pressurized water reactor nuclear islands. ； Nuclear level I electric bellows stop valves, nuclear level II electric bellows sodium stop valves for fast neutron breeder reactors and other nuclear level valves with higher standards. at the same time along with * * Guided by policies to develop nuclear power, this capability is being rapidly strengthened and expanded. A group of old companies, represented by CNNC Su Valve Technology Industrial Co., Ltd., Shenyang Shengshi High and High Pressure Valve Co., Ltd., and Dalian Dagao Valve Co., Ltd., are improving the design, production and experimental levels of their nuclear power valves by increasing investment in technological transformation, conducting personnel technical training, digesting and absorbing foreign technology, etc., so as to adapt to the pace of localization of nuclear power valves as soon as possible and meet the requirements. * * The need for the gradual localization of nuclear power. A group of entrepreneurs from emerging companies have strategic vision and have invested huge amounts of manpower and material resources to introduce talents, equipment, means and management, and have obtained (or are in the process of obtaining) the qualifications to design and produce nuclear-grade valves. These are all brilliant achievements and gratifying aspects in the development of China's valve industry. As long as this development momentum continues, fruitful results will surely be achieved in the process of localizing my country's nuclear power valves. 　　The design, production and testing of domestic nuclear-grade valves already have a certain foundation and have achieved certain results, with promising development prospects. But we should also be clearly aware that domestic nuclear power valves still have some phenomena such as low technical level, low quality and reliability, which will affect the localization of nuclear power valves to a certain extent. Some important valves in nuclear islands and conventional islands in nuclear power plants, such as pilot safety valves, regulating valves, main steam isolation valves, etc., are not yet able to provide mature and reliable products in China. At the same time, due to limitations of experimental testing methods for domestic nuclear power valves, as well as technical and management reasons, nuclear power valve products have little reliability data, low automatic control levels, and unstable product quality. Nuclear power is based on safety and reliability as its first principle. Problems with domestic nuclear power valves have resulted in nuclear power plant owners being unwilling or reluctant to use domestically produced nuclear power valves. This is the fundamental issue of the technical level and quality of nuclear power valve products that our various valve companies need to make great efforts to solve. It is also a concern of the industry. Measures need to be taken in technology, talent, policy, software, hardware, management and other aspects to solve it. 3. Introduction to foreign nuclear power valves Compared with domestic nuclear power valves, foreign nuclear power valves have complete types, advanced technology, excellent performance and high reliability. The United States built the world's first experimental nuclear reactor in 1942, and the former Soviet Union built the world's first nuclear power plant in 1954. In the development process of nuclear power technology for more than 60 years, as far as nuclear power valves are concerned, foreign countries have formed a complete design, experiment, manufacturing, and testing system, accumulated a lot of experience, and the products are mature and the technology is reliable. Western companies such as Westinghouse in the United States, Veran in Canada, and Framatome in France have mastered contemporary advanced nuclear power technology. Welland's nuclear power valves have a good supply record in more than 90% of nuclear power plants in the world. Nuclear power valve technology and markets for many important nuclear and non-nuclear grade valves in nuclear islands and conventional islands in nuclear power plants around the world, such as pilot safety valves, main steam isolation valves, regulating valves, etc., have been developed. * * It is monopolized by the famous valve company, and the price is very expensive. Major foreign companies producing nuclear power valves 1. American Rockwell International Corp. Rockwell International Corp. is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a total number of employees of more than 120,000. The company has more than 200 factories and offices in more than 30 locations outside the United States * * There are more than 100 subsidiaries, associate companies and branches in Rio. 　　The company consists of four major production departments: aerospace, automobile, electronics and general industry. With a wide range of products, we provide equipment and components for high-precision projects. Rockwell International's general industrial segment's flow control equipment products include valves for utility, oil, natural gas and atomic energy industries. The company produced the first metal-sealed diaphragm valve for nuclear power plants in 1974. 　　2. Germany's Sulzer KSB Company. The company was founded in 1871 and was formerly known as Frankenthal Plant. In January 1972, Switzerland's Sulzer Company and KSB Company established Sulzer-KSB Company at the original site of the plant and invested 340,000 marks to specialize in the design and manufacture of nuclear power plant pumps and valves. The factory covers an area of ​​57,400 m2 and has more than 3,000 employees. 　　The company's main products include stop valves, stop check valves, gate valves, spring safety valves, and diaphragm valves for atomic reactors. As well as acid-resistant steel stop valves, gate valves, diaphragm valves, etc. for chemical industry. 　　3. Canada's Velen Engineering Co. Ltd. Velen Engineering Co. Ltd. was founded in 1950 and has developed into a pioneer in the world's valve industry. There are currently ten professional manufacturing plants with more than 2,000 employees. The company is in 60 * * Has a representative office. Except for three of Welland Engineering's valve manufacturing plants in China, the remaining seven are in the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, Portugal and South Korea. 　　As a major supplier of nuclear power valves, Weiland Engineering Company has established a reputation for its excellent quality. The company holds ASME "N" licenses for nuclear power plants at three of its facilities in North America. The company produces a large number of power station valves of various types and parameters, including nuclear power valves. The representative nuclear power valve is the nuclear grade I gate valve DN350, with a design pressure of 17.6Mpa and a maximum operating temperature of 350℃ ； Nuclear level II main steam isolation valve DN800, 1500 pound level. There are 24 in the world * * The company's nuclear power valves are in use. 　　4. British Haatterley Heaton Company (Hartley Sea Pass) Haatterley Heaton Company has 60 years of experience in producing steel valves and is also a major supplier of valves for nuclear power plants. For more than 40 years, the company's highly sophisticated bellows-sealed valves of various types have been widely used in nuclear power plants around the world and also on nuclear-powered submarines. 　　5. Fisher Control Company of the United States Fisher Control Company of the United States is famous for the development and production of control valves. Its pilot control valves, cage control valves, ball control valves, pressure reducing valves and other types of control valves are widely used in nuclear power plants in various countries. They regulate pressure or flow smoothly, have low noise, and have sensitive actuator actions. 　　4. Some opinions Based on the good situation of my country's nuclear power plant development and the current situation of nuclear power valve development, in order to achieve the rapid development of nuclear power and localize nuclear power valves, I personally think that China's valve companies, industries and * * Measures should be taken to solve several problems that affect the localization of nuclear power valves. 　　1. Supplement and improve my country’s technical standards and specifications for nuclear power valves as soon as possible. The existing EJ, GB, ASME, RCC-M standards will be supplemented and improved to conform to national conditions and improve operability, so as to facilitate the localization of domestic nuclear power valves in all aspects of design, material selection, manufacturing, and inspection. 　　2. Integrate the equipment and capabilities for experimentation, testing and identification of nuclear power valves in the domestic valve industry, share resources, avoid duplication of investment and construction, and speed up the development of nuclear power valves. 　　3. Strengthen talent training and the digestion and absorption of introduced technologies. Improve the design capabilities and level of nuclear power valves. 　　4. Increase investment in software and hardware to ensure advanced design and manufacturing methods and reliable quality of parts processing and complete machine assembly. 　　5. Strengthen the training and assessment of personnel in special processes such as welding, non-destructive testing, and heat treatment. Research and adopt advanced process technology to ensure that the manufacturing quality of parts meets the requirements of design drawings and standard specifications. 　　6. Carry out employee education and training on nuclear safety awareness, strengthen quality management of the entire process of design and manufacturing of nuclear power valves, and improve management levels.