Blog | Westinghouse Nuclear

Incremental Innovation Aims to Provide Dynamic Customer Value

Written by Westinghouse Electric Company | November 17, 2020

Reimagined Design Brings a New Perspective to Performance

The Westinghouse Digital Rod Position Indication (DRPI) display system has been the backbone of the DRPI architecture for more than 40 years. But as more utilities begin to seek plant life extension, we recognize the need to revisit our technology and push our innovation boundaries yet again in order to ensure reliable plant operation.

We have been investing resources in developing a cost-effective upgrade solution for the operating fleet currently utilizing analog rod position indication (ARPI) systems. Recent advancements in technology have created the opportunity for the addition of advanced diagnostic/maintenance utilities, outage tools, system error detection/logging, and shorter addressing cycles with the data cabinets. Our next-generation DRPI will leverage those opportunities to ultimately provide redundant position measurement and increased position accuracy.

Our advanced DRPI solution can also enhance operations for plants already using a DRPI, offering a cutting-edge system to improve in-containment data acquisition electronics while keeping with the fit and function of the earlier design. The updates require a software update to our DRPI Advanced Display System (DADS) and the hardware can be installed without affecting outage duration.

Key Benefits:

  • Improved system redundancy
  • Reduced maintenance time during outage
  • Reduced critical path time
  • Reduced cable wear
  • Individual coil failure mitigation
  • individual coil trending
  • Improved accuracy
  • Integrated rod drop
  • Optimized data cabinet size

Learn more about DPRI Solutions.