Nuclear Case Study

Need/Requirement

A nuclear contractor contacted us with a one-off prototype request and follow up design meeting. Two nuclear stations had been taken off-line pending urgent repairs to the boiler area of each station. This involved 8 boilers in total with an 8 piece fabrication per boiler. Grade P460NL2 was identified as the optimum grade for this casing fabrication. Work had to be carried out and certified to the satisfaction of the relevant nuclear inspectorate.

Specialist Skills

Sourcing the correct grade of material was critical, as was a reliable service. Further, accurate CAD and profiling capability were important considerations to ensure minimal final machining by the customer. Quality assurance control standards and enhanced project management by Brown Mcfarlane was also a necessity, as well as our exceptional logistic ability.

Capability

Brown McFarlane's access to material and skills required to perfectly execute this project are known around the world. Our latest technology includes the Infinity Skew Head Bevel Plasma Cutter, and demonstrates Brown McFarlane's long held strategy of being the industry leader in technology and innovation.

Brown McFarlane's 100000sqft facility is capable of storing , handling and processing massive tonnages of steel plate. A mixture of more traditional and state of the art Oxy, laser and water jet Plasma equipment means we have the capacity as well as the skills, experience and quality standards to meet the customers requirement.

The Agreed Solution Scope

Brown McFarlane would use its extensive specialist stocks to provide the correct grade and thickness of material.

The material would then be profiled to exact size at Brown McFarlane’s first class profiling facility in Stoke on Trent UK. Delivery would be to the customer’s facility as soon as possible.We quickly established an oxy-propane profiling solution that would give the appropriate tolerances and the appropriate Quality Control processes required at all production stages.

Additional Customer Requirements

The downtime of the nuclear plants meant a strain on regional power supply so it was important to complete the installation not only safely and correctly but quickly.

The Steel Solution

Nearly 800 tonnes of material was sourced from our own stocks and European mills ahead of schedule. This enabled the project team to reduce delivery lead times in conjunction with fabricators, machine shops and the local nuclear inspectorate.

The interaction and coordination between procurement, production, quality control and logistics was critical in effective completion of the project.

The Delivery

Due to Brown McFarlane’s own, extensive know how, coupled with our extensive Western European sourced steel stocks; we were able to provide a materials solution to the customer that completely met with the required specification. Further material was required to complete all the components. Our strong and trusted relationships with the major european mills and efficient logistic link into our Antwerp hub meant we could source and ship additional material very quickly to the UK and onward to 3 different fabricators and two machine shops across the UK with project and logistics controlled by our project management team. We managed to complete the supply ahead of schedule and this in turn allowed the re commissioning of the nuclear stations ahead of time.

The Conclusion

Another satisfied customer! By our ability to react quickly and effectively combined with our unique range of high specification steels meant a prolonged loss of electricity generating capacity was averted.

We support all our customers with equal commitment and always believe ourselves to be part of our customers supply chain. With increasing skills shortages and leaner workforces the ability to instantly bring traditional or sophisticated processing to the highest quality standard on demand is something our customers understand and recognise as a vital part of solution provision and maintenance planning.

All this is another example of our commitment to our customers and demonstrable proof of our ability to assist in the delivery of innovative solutions in full and on time.