MIAMI, May 24, 2016 – Today, the Arizona Public Service Company’s Palo Verde Generating Station in Wintersburg, Ariz., was honored with a Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Top Innovative Practice (TIP) award for enhancing plant performance. The Westinghouse Combustion Engineering Vendor Award went to Palo Verde for successfully piloting commercial application of the Westinghouse Zephyr® Advanced Acquisition System.
The Zephyr® Advanced Acquisition System uses revolutionary probe delivery to more rapidly perform eddy current examinations as part of a plant’s regular steam generator maintenance program. By using the innovative Zephyr system in its spring 2015 outage, Palo Verde cut its overall steam generator primary project schedule by 25 percent, reduced use of bobbin probes by 45 percent and cut radiological waste in half.
“Westinghouse personnel utilizing the Zephyr system surpassed our expectations, including schedule, data, and ALARA quality,” said Jack Cadogan, Palo Verde’s vice president, Nuclear Engineering.
Commenting on that customer success was Mark Marano, Westinghouse president, Americas and EMEA Regions stated “We are honored to recognize Palo Verde for their commitment to apply innovative technologies to help them more efficiently and cost-effectively generate safe, clean electricity from nuclear energy. I commend this utility for their leadership and vision and expanding the boundaries of innovation and choosing Westinghouse as their partner for the long run.”
Since 1993, the annual TIP Awards have honored the commercial nuclear industry’s leading utilities and technologies. The 2016 TIP award winners were selected by a nuclear industry panel chaired by NEI. The 2016 TIP awards were presented at NEI’s annual Nuclear Energy Assembly, attended by nuclear industry leaders and experts from around the world.
To learn more about Westinghouse Electric Company and our 130-year legacy of innovation visit www.westinghousenuclear.com.