DS and AREVA NP Help in Redesign of "As-Built" Nuclear Facilities

By DE Editors

Dassault Systemes (DS; Paris, France) announced an alliance agreement with AREVA NP's (Bethesda, MD) metrology services division to provide nuclear plant operators with precise 3D digital representations of their facilities to better guide maintenance and retrofit operations.

AREVA NP scanning technology uses laser light to record existing facilities' exact, as-built geometry, which provides the added benefit of identifying variances from original design specifications. DS's CATIA design software renders the AREVA NP data as 3D models, and DS's DELMIA digital construction software enables engineers to plan maintenance and upgrades in an interactive 3D environment based on real-life specifications. This is a significant feature, because the actual construction of a nuclear facility often does not match the original design.

Many of the nuclear plants in service today were designed by teams of engineers who often worked separately, states the release. During construction, onsite engineers had to modify designs to reconcile conflicts between different design teams' work. Those modifications were not always added back to the final version of the facilities' blueprint.

Several U.S. nuclear operators are using CATIA and DELMIA to plan retrofits of plants built in the 1970s and 1980s, so they can apply for another 20-year license from the federal government. With DS DELMIA 3D digital construction software, they can simulate the process, anticipate and correct problems before starting, and avoid costly overruns.

In other news, DS announced that it has joined FIATECH (Austin, TX), a nonprofit for development, demonstration, and deployment of fully integrated and automated technologies to deliver the highest business value throughout the lifecycle of capital projects.

For details, go to Dassault Systemes.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.