Southern California Edison (United States)
Ultimo aggiornamento: 13/11/2007

Profilo dell’azienda

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) is the largest generator of electricity in Southern California, serving 2.75 million homes and providing 20 percent of the total power Southern California Edison (SCE) provides to its customers. The two-reactor facility was built in the 1970s and licensed to operate through 2022. But growing demand for electricity and a lack of replacement capacity prompted SONGS to upgrade its plant equipment, paving the way for Edison offi cials to apply for a license extension that would allow the plant to produce power through 2042.

The Challenge

Accomplishing equipment upgrades at a nuclear power plant is no easy task, requiring maintenance operations the original designers never allowed for during construction. Among these, SONGS must replace its four 621-ton steam generators, which measure 65 feet (20 metres) by nearly 20 feet (6 metres) - larger than many houses and double the size of the steam generators used at most nuclear plants. The work is scheduled to continue through 2010 at an estimated cost of US$680 million.

La risposta di Dassault Systèmes

V5 PLM tools - CATIA, DELMIA, and ENOVIA (ENOVIA VPLM and ENOVIA SmarTeam) from Dassault Systèmes - were used to create digital models of SONGS's facilities. These models were used to simulate the activities involved in replacing the thimble rods. The simulation was done in parallel with traditional "mockup and planning methods" to test the concept of using virtual simulations in future SONGS projects.