Ensa’s Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) announces new tool that will make the inspection of holes in Steam Generators easier

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Ensa’s automatic control department, integrated in the Advanced Technology Centre , has developed a new device that will provide assistance in the identification of indications during the production of holes in steam generators.

This is achieved by two different but complementary methods of positioning: longitudinal and azimuth location that provide the angular position in a screen.

Great precision in the inspected point is achieved thanks to its incorporated micro-camera, in this way; Ensa has obtained a tool that represents a huge quality step regarding the previous methods.

Enusa, Ensa and Enwesa joint their efforts to provide integrated solutions in the fuel management market through the reorganization of their A.I.E.

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The scope of the activities will be increased and will include additional services.

Maliaño , 26 of December, 2017.- Enusa, Equipos Nucleares and Enwesa have decided to joint their efforts to provide integrated solutions in the fuel management market through the reorganization of their A.I.E. , that from now on will be called ‘Enusa-Ensa A.I.E.’.

Through this new reorganization, the scope of the services provided will be increased and will cover different activities, like handling of fresh and irradiated nuclear fuel, fuel inspection for leak detection, characterization, classification, conditioning and/or repair of irradiated fuel assemblies, load and handling of spent fuel casks and canisters, and providing engineering services in the field of design and licensing spent fuel casks for dry storage and transportation.

In addition, this association will provide a set of integrated solutions in the spent fuel management market, with a current growing demand in Spain, Europe and the rest of the world. Furthermore, the new A.I.E. will enhance the capacity of Ensa, Enusa and Enwesa to comply with the specific requirements of the nuclear operators and regulators, in a challenging and demanding nuclear sector.

Ensa receives the Certificate of Compliance of the ENUN 24P cask in Spain

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Maliaño, October 31, 2017. – Equipos Nucleares S.A, S.M.E. has received the approval of the MINETAD for the design of its ENUN 24P cask for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel. With this approval, the licensing process in Spain of the cask is concluded.

The design of the ENUN 24P allows the storage and transportation of up to 24 non-damaged used PWR fuel by road, rail and sea. Ensa has already manufactured a unit of this model, which has already been delivered to the Daya Bay plant in Shenzhen – China.

This license approval is a milestone for the Spanish nuclear industry, since  the ENUN 24P is the first cask licensed in Spain that allows the transportation of high burnup fuel . Additionally, the ENUN 24P increases the list of self-designed casks already licensed by Ensa, adding to ENUN 32P and ENUN 52B.

The Energy Policy and Mines General Directorate of MINETAD, in accordance with the favorable report issued by the CSN and, as a result of the evaluations carried out, agreed to approve this design for «complying with the requirements for type B packages as per the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Spanish regulations on the transport of dangerous materials «.

Ensa is currently providing support to its customer URC for the design validation process by the Chinese Nuclear Regulator Authority . This validation will presumably  enable URC to carry out the first commercial high burnup fuel transportation in China.

Ensa belongs to the SEPI Group, a corporate holding company that comprises a total of 15 Spanish public companies directly and majority owned, with a workforce of almost 73,000 professionals. SEPI is also a shareholder of the Spanish Broadcasting Corporation , and has a public foundation and direct minority interests in nine other companies and indirect in more than one hundred companies.

Vacuum Vessel: first parts manufactured by ENSA completed

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ENSA , as part of the AMW consortium, has achieved a key F4E milestone: the machining of two inner shell plates – the first pieces to be manufactured at ENSA – has been completed. These plates will make up the longest of the segments of the ITER Vacuum Vessel’s sector 3, and measure each 6 metres long, 1.5 metres wide, and has a thickness of 60 millimetres. The plates are made up of the special ITER grade stainless steel. The long length of each plate has entailed a number of challenging steps involving cleaning; cutting and machining of holes which will house the so-called flexible housings ; as well as carrying out a wide variety of inspection techniques in order to detect the presence of defects, characterise findings, and measure without causing any damage to the plates themselves . What makes this work additionally challenging is the fact that the flatness tolerance is very tight – only a 0.4 mm variatio

n in 6 metres is permitted. With the right techniques, the necessary flatness tolerance for the plates has been achieved, even despite that the longer the length of the piece, the more difficult it is to attain the same overall flatness.

“This milestone achievement shows the commitment of ENSA as part of the AMW consortium to the delivering Europe’s Vacuum Vessel contribution and its key role in the success of the Vacuum Vessel manufacturing”, says Rafael Treviño, Director General of ENSA.

“F4E is pleased with ENSA’s performance: they keep their commitment whilst anticipating and mitigating issues. ENSA has lived up to its reputation of being one of the best European companies in the nuclear field”, says Francesco Zacchia, Project Manager for F4E’s Vacuum Vessel Team.

The ITER Organization chooses Ensa to share the progress of the project

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Representatives of several companies involved in the manufacturing of the components that will constitute the Vacuum Vessel of the ITER Project have met these days at the facilities of Ensa to share the last advances in the experimental fusion reactor.

During the meeting various presentations of the general status of each project have been done and the cantabrian company carried out a presentation of their advances since 2012 and showed the results and conclusions obtained with each mock-up performed, as it has done welding work in various structures and mockups to look for the best parameters and configurations for the welds that will be carried out in Cadarache.

For Ensa, company in charge of welding the segments and ports that are being manufactured for the Vacuum Vessel of ITER, this encounter has resulted “truly fruitful”, since it has allowed them to know other points of view that help to deepen the development of different systems to be able to assemble the components manufactured by the companies attending the meeting.

Ensa’s Advanced Technological Center will carry out the tests of the robot within the COROMA European program

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COROMA European project seeks to develop a new concept of intelligent, modular and flexible industrial robots, capable of executing multiple processes and manufacturing metallic and composite parts for demanding sectors as aeronautics, shipbuilding or power generation. The Advanced Technological Center of Ensa will carry out the tests of the robot for this latter case.

The initiative, which started in late 2016 and will conclude in October 2019, has the participation of a total of 16 companies, research centers and universities from seven different countries.

COROMA has a budget of more than 7 million euros, 6 of them have been funded by the European Commission through the program to boost research and innovation Factories of the Future, within the frame of the multi annual program Horizon 2020.

The technical team will work to ensure that the design of the human-robot interface will fast programming. The modularity of the COROMA robotic system will allow it to adapt to the specific requirements of different manufacturing companies.

This Project has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 723853.

The European Commission approves Ensa its MEACTOS project

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The European Commission approves Ensa its MEACTOS project .

This project, which lasts four years, aims to improve the reduction of residual stresses and the stress effect of cracking corrosion in steels from the perspective of microtensions and surface cracks induced by machining and treatments that can be given superficially to the pieces to alleviate them or to avoid their appearance.

In addition to the general objectives of the project, Ensa expects to obtain information on the possible replacement of cutting fluids and oils by refrigeration with cryogenic technology , and to acquire the necessary qualifications to carry out processes that have to do with this surface induction tension effect in machining.

In its «passion for improvement», for Ensa it´s important work with the most advanced technologies, such as cryogenics or CO2 cooling and introduce the latest technological advances in its manufacturing processes.

Led by CIEMAT and within the framework of Research and Innovation Program of the European Union Horizon 2020 the Cantabrian Company has participated with AREVA, EDF and Nuclear AMRC.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 755151.

Ensa shipped its first cask ENUN 24P to China

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Equipos Nucleares S.A., S.M.E. shipped its first cask ENUN 24P to China that arrived to Shanghai in the middle of May and to Daya Bay plant at the end of the same month.

This is the first component for the Chinese market whose design, manufacture and supply has been realized completely by the cantabrian company. 15 years ago, Ensa made its first incursion but it was with the manufacture of two casks of other design.

The client, URC , requested Equipos Nucleares a cask for the transportation of the spent fuel of two plants, Daya Bay and LingAo, located in the south-east of China, to other pools of intermediate storage located in Lanzhou zone.

The ENUN 24P is a double purpose cask, designed for both, spent fuel transport and storage, it is able to transport 24 non damage fuel elements type PWR.

To adapt the existing requirements on the transportation route through China, Ensa has had to optimize the design of the standard trunnion of its casks, to satisfice the requirements of the Chinese Regulatory Council.

Otherwise, Ensa have realized the design and development of the charge auxiliary equipments, very technically advanced, to manipulate the cask with all the guarantees and facilities.

In China, the cold tests will be carried out and local personnel will be trained, who were previously trained in January and February 2016 by the cantabrian company.

Ensa explores new lines of collaboration in R + D + i

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Ensa, the University of Cantabria and the Technology Center of Components held their seventh annual meeting to explore new collaborations in the field of research, innovation and development.

More than forty researchers and professionals highlighted the potential fields of collaboration, ranging from joint participation in research programs, several capacities in engineering, productivity, testing, etc.

During the meeting, assistants emphasized the importance of channeling the innovation needs of companies, including small and medium enterprises, as well as the need for close forums where establish personal links.

Ensa’s president and CEO, Eduardo González-Mesones, pointed out that «In this type of forum, new projects always come up, which helps us to keep evolving.»

Ensa launches a new application of the ENUN32P cask

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Ensa received the approval of the Energy State Secretary for its cask ENUN32P destined to the transport of combustible elements with degree of burning of up to 45,000 MWd / MtU.

The design of this dual-purpose cask allows the storage and transportation of up to 32 spent fuel elements , as well as components associated with the core.

This cask increases the portfolio of Ensa in this line of fuel management and its capabilities to attend the market needs.