Planning for Obsolescence

Planning for Obsolescence John Parler South Carolina Electric & Gas June 27, 2009

For the Uninformed here is the answer to all your obsolescence issues.

Obsolesence – What? • Our Plant defines obsolescence as material that is still required to operate the plant but is no longer available or is hard to obtain (soon to be unavailable). • Materials obsolescence directly impacts the ability to have needed spares to support plant operations.

Is it a real concern? • The Nuclear Utilities Obsolescence Group (NUOG) developed the Proactive Obsolescence Management System (POMS) through PKMJ Technical Services to identify items. • A download of all plant equipment with model numbers was done, • PKMJ contacted the manufacturer of each specific model number and asked if they were still supported.

The Results (as of 2005) • Total Equipment numbers 631,000 • Equipment with no model 199,000 • Waiting on manufacturer 273,000 • Response from manufacturer 159,000 • Bad model information 54,000 • Obsolete 34,500 • Still available 70,500 • Numbers are approx.

What that means As an industry for the identified equipment: • We don't know what 31% of our equipment really is. • We know that only 11% is still supported by the manufacturer • 22% of the equipment that we have received a response from the manufacturer on, is obsolete

Is it better today?

What is being done? • Concern was identified by Supply Chain initially and NUOG was formed (2/2000) • With the help of RAPIDS the “Obsolete Items Replacement Database” (OIRD) was established • Joint efforts between utilities addressed specific concerns • Increased industry awareness expanded involvement to include more engineering

Available Guidance • NX-1037 was produced by NUOG and distributed by INPO which outlines a basic program (12/2003) • In November of 2008 EPRI issued report #1016692 which built on NX-1037 and provided specific recommendations for program development and ownership • Current EPRI has a task team working on additional enhancements to their guidance

VCS Specific Program Overview • Our program originally implemented in 2002 and we are currently on revision 3 with revision 4 in development • It is based on the direction in NX-1037 • It is a Station Administrative Procedure since it impacts multiple departments. SAP-1287

VCS Specific • The program is "owned" by our Materials Group, who administer the process It does not matter who owns the program as long as there is a defined lead • When an item is determined to be obsolete it is entered into our Corrective Action Program • It is coded as obsolete and assigned to Materials

VCS Specific • The potential impact of the obsolescence is determined and scored under our Plant Health Committee process • The process is documented and tracked under our CAP program • Actions are assigned to Materials to: • Update the OIRD for industry sharing • Identify replacement options

VCS Specific • The options considered for resolution include: • Identification of an available equivalent replacement • Location of an after market supply • Reverse engineering the item • Modification to the plant

VCS Specific • When a recommended solution has been determined by Materials it is sent to Plant Support Engineering for concurrence • This review is to assure that the solution is in line with the long term plans for the system • The solution is then incorporated into the schedule and worked based on its priority

VCS Specific • If the solution is determined to be: • An equivalency the action is assigned to Materials (Procurement Engineering) to process • Reverse engineering Materials has the lead with support from PSE • A modification PSE has the lead to provide the project recommendation and submit it to Design Engineering

VCS Specific • We found that the simple equivalency resolutions were able to be worked fairly quickly • When setting the PHC score a major input is when the impact is expected and most obsolescence issues don't involve a current failure • If the resolution involved a modification it normally does not have a high enough PHC score to be worked proactively

VCS Specific • Recently we made a change to our PHC process because of the issue of not being able to proactively resolve these issues • We now target obsolescence issues on our Plant Focus List for resolution, even when they score lower than other risks • Currently two of the eleven items on our Focus List are proactive obsolescence items

VCS Specific • Currently our challenge is the fact that the POMS data that we received indicates that 24% of our equipment is obsolete • This equals over 7,200 components and our current process is not designed to address that large an input. • One reason why we are currently developing a process revision

Summary • The issue is major and growing bigger everyday • As we upgrade our equipment most everything that is produced today has some digital component • The Department of Defense has done detailed studies on the concern and the following graph shows the average timeline for a digital system • The times are inline with what is expected at a nuclear plant

Summary • It is not important who coordinates your program, what is important is that you have a defined program with a defined lead • Programs that involve numerous organizations without a responsible lead tend to fail. • Obsolescence is a Plant concern not just Materials or Engineering

Questions?

Planning for Obsolescence