Canada-based L-3 MAPPS has signed a contract with China's Guangdong Nuclear Power Joint Venture Co., Ltd. (GNPJVC) to replace the input/output system on the main control room panels and related remote shutdown panels of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station full scope simulator.

L-3 MAPPS said, 9 January, that work would begin immediately and that the replacement I/O system is expected to be in service in the fourth quarter of 2014. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

Work will include replacement of "more than 13,000 I/O channels," along with selected simulator control room panel instruments, including the synchroscope, the rod position indicators and the sound generator, according to L-3 MAPPS.

The legacy I/O system at the Daya Bay simulator was supplied by Thomson-CSF over twenty years ago. It will be replaced with low power consumption compact controllers and I/O modules from Beckhoff Automation, which will be managed using L-3's Orchid® Input Output software.

The I/O system is a crucial element in any nuclear power plant full scope simulator as it acts as the gateway between the simulation computer and the majority of the switches, indicators and annunciators on the simulator control room panels, L-3 MAPPS said on its website.

"The compact I/O system replacement offered by L-3 will ensure that the Daya Bay simulator's I/O hardware will support our all-important operator training program for the balance of the station's service life," said Li Jinguang, head of simulator maintenance at Daya Bay Nuclear Power Operations and Management Co.

DBNPOC is responsible for operation of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station, which comprises two 984 MWe AREVA pressurized water reactors that began operation in 1994. The reactors, located in China's southerly Guangdong province, produce around 14 TWh of electricity a year, 70% of which is delivered to Hong Kong.

Photo: The Daya Bay Simulator (Source: L-3 MAPPS)