Applying Smart Maintenance to Advance New Nuclear

The Challenge

An electric utility corporation services power to 10 million people through Tennessee and additional surrounding states of the south-eastern United States. Its energy portfolio consists of various types of power generation assets from fossil, hydroelectric and solar to nuclear power plants.

The organization is dedicated to The Nuclear Promise and advancing Nuclear Power forward to support global clean energy goals. As a part of this, it formed a specific “new nuclear group” to manage the efforts surrounding the design and construction of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in the region.

Optimizing cost and timeline during construction and throughout future operations and maintenance (O&M) phases is one of the biggest drivers helping advance the industry and making nuclear power a more feasible and widespread solution for clean energy.

Our Solution

The client sought out Cohesive’s expertise to evaluate and optimize future O&M costs while in the project’s design phase, to ensure that the plant was set up to ensure operating costs would be met even years before the physical assets were put into service.

This type of analysis and planning for future state outcomes requires deep expertise in both the industry and modern maintenance tools and strategies, so Cohesive is working with the client throughout the design and construction of this project, using tools to analyze and evaluate the designs for maintenance, training and resource requirements throughout the operations cycle, to create excellence in the O&M process to drive down cost and increase efficiencies.

Cohesive’s partnership is guiding them to better, more optimized outcomes through data, technology and process enhancements within modern maintenance strategies.

Smart Maintenance, a pillar of Modern Maintenance, is the concept of performing the correct maintenance at the correct time, with the correct personnel. Maintenance is thus moved from a reactive domain into a proactive and predictive domain using analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

Cohesive leverages its deep understanding of asset reliability and performance, nuclear construction and operating requirements, digital technology, and data management to create a tailored, phased approach based on design maturity and a project timeline to drive transformation and deliver value for this energy provider and its new nuclear project rapidly.

Adopting a modern maintenance strategy and implementing a smart maintenance approach to maintenance will allow the nuclear group to plan their Operations and Maintenance activities long before the plant is built, resulting in optimized work and reduced personnel required on-site to perform.

The Client Benefits 

Any time a plant can achieve this type of O&M optimization, the efficiency and cost savings are significant, which is critical, especially in this first-of-its-kind reactor design. This strategic partnership will allow the advancement of the nuclear industry to continue to further help our planet rely on clean energy.