Empresarios Agrupados will begin undertaking their 88th and 89th NPP outage across the sites of Trillo on May 13th, and Almaraz 2 on September 26th, this year.
As part of this latest refuelling outages, EA has been contracted to execute a range of specialist activities such as Radiological Protection services, Warehouse Outage special services, Motor-operated valve diagnosis, and supporting the implementation of several Design Modifications.
The refuelling outages themselves are due to last a specific number of days (33 for Trillo and 39.5 for Almaraz 2) and there are a number of maintenance works which will need to take place during that time, including refuelling, equipment and structures inspections, equipment maintenance and replacement, equipment diagnosis, tests, and design modification implementation. In order to complete the extensive range of planned activities, 40 additional subcontractors with around 1,000 employees will be working across the Trillo site, and 45 additional subcontractors with around 1,000 employees across the Almaraz 2 site throughout the established execution days, each focusing on a variety of specific work packages.
The timeframe for the refuelling outages is tight, so completing the contracted activities in the most efficient and logical manner will be crucial to ensure everything is completed before the deadline of June 15th for Trillo and November 4th for Almaraz 2
This challenge is nothing new to EA, who have been participating in outages across Trillo and Almaraz ever since they became operational in 1981 and 1988 respectively. The company’s experience in this field is unparalleled, having been involved up to May this year in 108 NPP refuelling outages throughout Spain (109 on September this year).
As of 1999, Almaraz and Trillo have been under the management of Centrales Nucleares Almaraz-Trillo (CNAT), making the company one of EA’s longest standing clients.
José Sánchez, EA Site Manager at Trillo, commented on the historic nature of this latest outage.
“It is unusual for a privately owned company like EA to have completed such a high number of outages on a single set of nuclear sites, and the figure is evidence to our unwavering commitment to quality as well as the strength of our working relationship with CNAT.
“Even though the reactors don’t change, every refuelling outage is different, and brings with it a new set of challenges. Our success across the past 87 outages has been down to the experience of our company as a whole, the individual talent we have within our ranks and our ability to respond to the changing demands of the nuclear industry.
“We’re looking forward to completing all of the contracted outage activities according to schedule, and bringing one of Spain’s most iconic Nuclear Power Plants back to full power as quickly as possible.”
According to CNAT, the mission of Trillo and Almaraz Nuclear Power Plants is to produce electricity in a manner which is safe, economic, respectful to the environment and guaranteeing long-term production by their optimum operation.
Their vision is to position them amongst the best in terms of safety, quality and costs.
EA’s to be 89th refuelling outages is just another step in the journey to collaborate in making that vision a reality.