The modernisation of the Ovation platform includes the integration of a Safety Parameter Display System, Emergency Operator Procedures (EOP) and partial modernisation of the Full-Scope Simulator

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The upgrade will involve moving the platform to its latest version to improve the efficiency of the plant. Credit: Pixabay/Markus Distelrath.

US-based nuclear power company Westinghouse Electric Company has signed a contract to upgrade the current Ovation platform-based information and control (I&C) systems at Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear power plant (NPP).

The upgrade will involve moving the platform to its latest version to improve the efficiency of the plant.

The modernisation of the Ovation platform located at the plant’s units 5 and 6 will include the integration of a Safety Parameter Display System, Emergency Operator Procedures (EOP) and partial modernization of the Full-Scope Simulator.

Westinghouse Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operating plant services business unit president Tarik Choho said: “The digitalization and modernization of the operating nuclear fleet is a key part of our client’s long-term operations and a strategic priority for Westinghouse.

“We are pleased to support Kozloduy 5&6 in their efforts to utilize the best available technology and supply cost-competitive and clean energy to Bulgaria for decades to come.”

Westinghouse to maintain the Ovation platform for further 30 years

Westinghouse said that the Ovation platform is one of the most advanced I&C platforms for the energy sector and is widely used at operating and new nuclear plants.

The company has implemented the platform at the Kozloduy for over 15 years. It has also committed to maintain the Ovation platform at Kozloduy’s units 5 and 6 for further 30 years, supporting Kozloduy’s plans to operate the units until 2049.

In 2018, Westinghouse secured a contract to manufacture and supply boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel from Iberdrola Generación Nuclear for the 1,092MW Cofrentes Nuclear Power Plant (CNC) in Spain in 2019 and 2021.

The contract involved the delivery of its SVEA-96 Optima2 design fuel product for the Spanish nuclear plant, located on the right bank of the Júcar River, in the province of Valencia.

Westinghouse is a major supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities across the world. It had also supplied the world’s first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 in Shippingport, US.