[Global] Use of Drones in the RCA

Wed Jun 23 06:31:26 EDT 2021

Here at Surry, we have used drones for some limited BACC inspections.  We do use them for snubber inspections if possible.  We do not use them for surveys (but I would like to). The pilots did receive some kind of qualification from the vendor. So we only have a small pool of qualified pilots, around 4-6.

We used the drone during head set to provide some indication of jack shaft alignment (from straight overhead prior to personnel entry to cavity).  Additionally, the drone was used to get the head a little closer to the top of the jack shafts prior to personnel entering the cavity.

Our biggest dose savings has been using the drone in the loops and motor cubes for leak investigations while at power.  We have also been able to use the thermographic capabilities of the drone to help identify valves that may be leaking by. A second fairly large dose saving use is in the performance of job planning in locations of higher dose where we can capture video and photos of the work area. We've used the drone to verify tags (danger/caution) in high dose areas.

To be fair, we have definitely saved dose using the drone but I wouldn't say we saved as much dose as the drone has received.  The point being that the drone has allowed us to investigate areas that we previously would not have attempted. Station management has embraced the use of the drone to save dose wherever possible.  We are constantly looking for tasks where use of the drone would beneficial and applicable.

Outside the RCA, the drone has allowed the station to perform various inspections that would have required more time and people to complete otherwise.  So there is a time and cost savings here as well.

Doug VanHoorebeck
ALARA Supervisor
Surry Power Station
W: 757-365-2642
C: 757-617-4191
r.vanhoorebeck at dominionenergy.com<mailto:r.vanhoorebeck at dominionenergy.com>

From: Global <global-bounces at list.rpalara.org> On Behalf Of Fontaine, Jeffrey W
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2021 8:54 AM
To: global at list.rpalara.org
Cc: York, Scott W <swyork at energyharbor.com>; Oelbracht, Joseph T <jtoelbracht at energyharbor.com>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] [Global] Use of Drones in the RCA

***This is an EXTERNAL email that was NOT sent from Dominion Energy. Are you expecting this message? Are you expecting a link or attachment? DO NOT click links or open attachments until you verify them***
Beaver Valley is benchmarking the use of drones as an ALARA initiative.

Does your station use a drone to

  *   Perform Boric Acid Inspections
  *   Perform Snubber inspections
  *   Radiological surveys, If so can you provide an example
  *   Do you require training or an FAA license?

Jeff Fontaine
ALARA Supervisor
Beaver Valley Power Station
Email: fontainej at firstenergycorp.com<mailto:fontainej at firstenergycorp.com>
Desk Phone: 724-682-5120
Cell Phone: 724-462-3423

Electronic Confidentiality and Privacy Notice: This e-mail, and any attachments, contains information that may be confidential, constitutes non-public information, may be protected by electronic communication privacy laws, or is a privileged communication (attorney-client or otherwise). The information contained in this message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, use, disclosure, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail or by phone, and destroy all copies of the original message.

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This electronic message contains information which may be legally confidential and or privileged and does not in any case represent a firm ENERGY COMMODITY bid or offer relating thereto which binds the sender without an additional express written confirmation to that effect.  The information is intended solely for the individual or entity named above and access by anyone else is unauthorized.  If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this information is prohibited and may be unlawful.  If you have received this electronic transmission in error, please reply immediately to the sender that you have received the message in error, and delete it. Thank you.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://list.rpalara.org/pipermail/global_list.rpalara.org/attachments/20210623/c4353183/attachment-0002.html>