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L-3 MAPPS to Furnish FPL’s St. Lucie Plant with Unit 1 Part-Task Trainer

The trainer will be used by FPL for just-in-time training for Unit 1 shutdown cooling operations scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2015. The project is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

"FPL reached out to us with a great idea that we expanded upon with inputs from St. Lucie’s simulator staff to develop the most cost-effective solution for FPL’s project objectives," said Michael Chatlani, vice president of marketing and sales for L-3 MAPPS Power Systems and Simulation. "L-3 MAPPS has supported St. Lucie’s training program with innovative simulation solutions for 30 years, and we are pleased that FPL continues to place their trust in us for their challenging simulation needs."

L-3 MAPPS will develop a new Unit 1 shutdown cooling system model, which includes the containment spray and safety injection systems, utilizing its Orchid® Modeling Environment. The plant operators will be trained in a classroom environment by interacting with Unit 1-specific control room virtual panels using L-3 MAPPS’ popular Orchid Touch Interface solution. The operators will use the actual plant procedures to operate the part-task trainer the same way they are exercised in the plant control room.

At the completion of this project, St. Lucie will be equipped with a total of eight Orchid Touch Interface bays deployed in a number of classrooms for various purposes. L-3 MAPPS will also develop special-purpose active schematics, allowing the instructor to monitor the shutdown cooling system parameters, inject malfunctions and trigger remote operator actions.

Florida Power & Light Company, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc., is the largest electric utility in Florida and one of the largest rate-regulated utilities in the US. FPL serves approximately 4.6 million customers in Florida. The St. Lucie Plant is located on Hutchinson Island, midway between Fort Pierce and Stuart.

The plant is made up of two combustion engineering pressurized water reactors with a net electrical output of approximately 2,000MWe. The reference unit for the L-3 MAPPS-delivered full scope simulator is Unit 2.

L-3 MAPPS has over 30 years of experience in pioneering technological advances in the marine automation field and over 40 years of experience in delivering high-fidelity power plant simulation to leading utilities worldwide. In addition, the company has more than four decades of expertise in supplying plant computer systems for Canadian heavy water reactors. L-3 MAPPS also provides targeted controls and simulation solutions to the space sector.

To learn more about L-3 MAPPS, please visit the company’s website at www.L-3com.com/MAPPS.