In the third quarter of 2017, the Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant, just north of Chattanooga, Tennessee, received a “white” rating from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for an undisclosed violation. While this was not enough to drop the plant’s Class 2 rating any further on the 1-5 NRC scale, it was enough to mandate corrective actions closely overseen by an NRC representative over the subsequent twelve months. While we will never know the exact nature of the violation, as per NRC non-disclosure policy, we do know for sure that the plant was using a multitude of old analog meters, now rendered obsolete by technological advances in panel meter technology. One such meter installed in the Sequoyah plant is the Westinghouse VX251.
The outdated, inaccurate, unreliable, and subjective VX251 reiterates obsolescence spares no meter. One would think corrective actions at Sequoyah might include replacing their bevy of obsolete analogs, but plant managers often point to the overriding reason analog replacements don’t get issued—expense and time. Switching to current technology such as flat-panel screens is both cost-prohibitive and time-consuming, as some installations require year-long shutdowns at exorbitant costs to R.O.I.
Replacing analogs with OTEK instrumentation deftly works around both those problems. With our wire by wire, plug and play replacements, you can bring your whole control room up to date in one quick outage, or simply replace the obsolete analogs as they fail—no shutdowns, no lengthy training for operators, and a visibly tangible R.O.I. OTEK offers our NTM-9 model as a 100% Form, Fit, and Function replacement for the Westinghouse VX251 analog meter for Class1E safety-related and nuclear-qualified applications, as well as Mil-Specs 461, 167-1, 810F, 901C, and IEEE-34 respectively.
The NTM-9 is available in plastic or metal, capable of housing up to 2 channels, and meets industry standards of 6 x 1.74 inches. Additional highlights of the model include an automatic tricolor bar graph with intensity control, 4 digit display, input fail alarm with runtime stamp designed to alert operators in the event of a dead current loop, self-diagnostics, isolated serial I/O, USB/RS485, configurable bar direction, only 100mW@5VDC, math functions, and over thirty isolated input signals. The NTM-9 carries our lifetime warranty and is completely customizable to your application needs.
Analog obsolescence is a problem that is only going to encroach further on the industry with each passing year. There is no alternative to upgrading your measurement instrumentation—whether you choose to do so with expensive options that hammer away at our R.O.I., or you choose the streamlined easy of the OTEK solution, the choice is yours. With OTEK, the only choice you have to make is a phone call—the rest is just Plug and Play…
For more information please call (520) 748-7900 or contact our sales office directly at sales@otekcorp.com.