Great Britain: construction of the last generation of EPR Reactors

EDF Energy, (the UK branch of EDF) in partnership with AREVA, are currently engaged in a project to build and operate 4 EPR nuclear power plants (each with 1600 MWe capacity) in the UK over the coming years. As part of the ongoing licensing process with the British Nuclear Safety Authorities (HSE/NII – Health & Safety Executive/Nuclear Installations Inspectorate), EDF/AREVA are currently involved in the General Design Assessment of the EPR. With the objective of clearing this stage, EDF/AREVA must justify and defend the design choices made for the EPR. If the HSE gives a favourable final verdict, the first unit is expected to go online in 2017.
Oxand is closely involved with this project, providing support to EDF to respond to HSE/NII requests, and undertaking detailed studies on various subjects including the reference regulation for the EPR (ETC-C).

Canada : feasibility studies underway for a major CO₂ storage project

A feasibility study for a large-scale CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) project is currently underway at Fort Nelson in British Columbia (Canada). The study aims to validate plans to store CO₂ in deep saline geological formations with an annual storage capacity of up to 2 million tones. The project is headed by Spectra Energy – one of the principal suppliers of natural gas in North America. CO₂ will be captured at Spectra’s existing gas treatment facility at Fort Nelson. If plans proceed as scheduled, CO₂ injection is expected to begin in 2013.
The key contributor to this project is the Energy & Environment Research Center (EERC) – an American company based in Grand Forks (North Dakota). EERC is dealing with the performance modeling of the reservoir, risk evaluation, and the development of a programme for monitoring, verification and accountability.
On the subject of risk evaluation, EERC called on Oxand for its previous experience in large-scale CCS projects. Oxand is undertaking several tasks for EERC:
• The creation of a project-specific risk management framework, aligned with best risk assessment practices and international risk management standards;
• The first risk assessment of the Fort Nelson CCS project, based on advanced reservoir modeling and leakage simulations;
• The development of risk treatment recommendations to ensure the long-term performance of the project and to support Spectra Energy’s strategic decision-making process.

France: rail transport of heavy and bulky cargo

EDF has decided to favour rail networks for the transport of particularly heavy and bulky cargoes (such as alternator stators or rotors) to nuclear production centres and RTE sites, in order to reduce the environmental impact of these operations. In this context, EDF group’s objectives are to improve transportation capacity and the availability of the RFF-managed rail network. This requires a close collaboration between the two infrastructure owners and the delegated operator (SNCF), manifested in a common project for the management of railway infrastructure over several years.
Oxand is supporting EDF in the definition, organization and execution of the strategic and operational phases of this project.

Belgium: extending the lifespan of nuclear power plants

Electrabel operates the seven pressurized water nuclear reactors in Belgium. In order to prepare a possible extension of the service life of the three oldest tranches by up to 10 years (the Belgian government recently made arrangements to allow for this extension), GDF-SUEZ has commenced a project for the continuation of operation, compatible with the requirements of international standards and regulation (AIEA, NUREG, etc). The main objective is to identify and plan the actions necessary to guarantee the extended operation of the NPPs in acceptable conditions of safety, reliability and availability. It is in this context that Oxand is reviewing “Ageing Management Programmes” for civil structures for Electrabel.

SIMEO-ERM 5.0: for better project management

SIMEO-ERM (Enterprise Risk Management) version 5.0 – the latest version of Oxand’s risk management software solution – is now available. The “extras” in version 5.0 include: new indicators and graphics for a better visualization of the effectiveness of action plans, additional parameter options, and improved ergonomics and processing performance to facilitate its use.



In other news, “Oxand.net Espace Projets” has been substantially updated. This online tool allows users (Oxand experts and clients) to exchange information with full confidentiality, in a simple, secure and centralized manner. The latest version is now online.
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Integrating financial analysis into a maintenance project

What size budget is necessary to guarantee quality of service? What are the consequences to postponing investment? Should we prioritise CAPEX (Captial Expenditure) or OPEX (Operating Expenditure)?
The costs linked to operating a group of structures should not be simply accepted as unchangeable: they must be structured, planned and decided upon.
Oxand currently proposes financial analyses as part of its consultancy services. Coupled to its range of professional software dedicated to maintenance by risk management, these analyses allow a visualization of the budgets and actions which must be planned for.
It is therefore currently possible to go straight from inspection data gathered at operational level to the construction of accurate provisional budgets. Oxand’s solution also allows the calculation of the costs of residual risk according to the adopted strategy.
This approach is particularly pertinent in the management of motorways, railways, navigable waterways, and maritime platforms.
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Coentunnel 2 : the mission has begun for Iter Fidelis
Coentunnel 2 is the second phase of a vast motorway project in Amsterdam. The project notably includes the construction of a second road tunnel and the road access network, as well as the renovation of the existing structure, and the extension of the A8 and A10 motorways. Iterfidelis, Oxand’s Netherlands branch, has been retained to provide consultancy services for this project. The branch has just implemented “Life Cycle Costing” within the project. Objective: to guarantee both the most profitable technical solution over the 30-year contract period, and the quality/running of the project.

Pegasus Global and Oxand in collaboration
Oxand and the American company Pegasus Global have commenced a profitable collaboration to promote a new and extended risk management methodology for high-stake industrial projects.
Pegasus Global is internationally renowned for its experience in the planning, management and testing phases of large projects thanks to the effective use of integrated risk management processes. Oxand’s role is to identify and manage the risks throughout the service life of these large projects. The skills of both companies complement each other well. Oxand and Pegasus Global are currently working on various projects in the North American nuclear energy sector.
More about Pegasus Global

Consultancy work for AREA
Oxand’s services have been requested by AREA (Rhone-Alpes Motorway Company) to improve the maintenance management of its infrastructure. Oxand’s role is to provide risk analysis consultancy to the Technical Management. The objective of the risk analysis is to allow AREA to progress to the operational phase of their maintenance programme.

Project MUSTANG for CCS
This project, funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), will propose guidelines, methods and tools for the characterisation of saline aquifers for long-term geological storage of CO₂ (CCS), based on a solid scientific understanding of the underlying critical processes..
Within this project, which is expected to run over a 4-year period, Oxand is in charge of the working group on “Risk Assessment”, whose principal role is to evaluate the risks linked to geological storage of CO₂.
More about MUSTANG project

A New Collaborative Project: the “RixMod” Programme for CCS Projects
In partnership with major research laboratories (University of East-Paris, Ministry of transport, Armines) associated to the General Council of Seine-et-Marne and the cities cluster Advancity, Oxand has launched the RixMod/Risk Modelling programme. The objective is to consolidate the performance of methodologies for decision-making linked to the integrity of a group of wells on a site for the geological storage of CO₂ in deep aquifers.

13 – 14 October 2009: ExPPerts conference in Berlin
This Oxand-sponsored conference was based around the theme of the reduction of polluting emissions (CO₂, NOx, SOx…) associated with energy production.
The participants (including energy companies from many diverse sectors) gathered to share their experience on subjects such as increases in energy efficiency, improvement of pollutant capture processes, or CO₂ capture and storage projects. During the conference, Oxand presented its activities on the risk management of CCS (CO₂ Capture and Storage) projects. In this field, Oxand particularly works on the evaluation and the demonstration of the confinement capacity of wells and geological formations. Power plant owners were also very interested in Oxand’s work on the lifespan extension of surface infrastructure.

5-7 October: Encounters with the Finnish nuclear market, Helsinki
Oxand participated in this event designed to facilitate business encounters between French and Finnish nuclear sector players. The trip included a visit to the Olkiluoto EPR site.

7-9 September : “LNG Technology and Projects Week”, Shanghai
Oxand’s first opportunity to prospect and network in the Chinese LNG sector: we participated in September as a speaker at the most important conference for the sector in China. Oxand’s presentation was on the subject of lifecycle management of LNG structures and the latest innovation in structural degradation monitoring – our “Ageing Monitoring” methodology. China is currently developing several LNG terminal projects. Our consultants were able to see for themselves during the visit to the impressive gas terminal at Ningbo, south of Shanghai.

• PCOR Annual Meeting, Calgary (Canada) - December 1-3, 2009

• 4th Annual Carbon Capture and Storage Conference Calgary (Canada) - January 26-27 2010

More events…