2015 Best Projects - Best Intermountain Energy/Industrial Project: ATR Transition to Commercial Power
The ATR Transition to Commercial Power project will ensure that the advanced test reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho Falls fulfills its next-generation mission for nuclear reactor materials and fuels research while complying with stringent emissions regulations.
The U.S. Dept. of Energy lab and INL’s construction manager, Battelle Energy Alliance, collaborated with a European manufacturer, Gutor Electronic of Switzerland, to design, fabricate, test and install a custom-built uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that meets U.S. nuclear-safety and quality-assurance requirements.
The project transitioned the lab’s critical shutdown electrical loads from 50-year-old, diesel-powered generators over to commercial power. Commercial-grade electricity now flows through a nuclear-grade UPS, and uninterrupted power will be supplied to the critical shutdown electrical loads should there be a loss of commercial power.
At 800 kilovolt-amps, the customized equipment is the largest configuration of UPS systems in the world for a nuclear safety application. It consists of a Gutor Electronic 800-kVA UPS system and 206 nuclear-qualified EnerSys PowerSafe GN batteries.
ATR Transition to Commercial Power
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Key Players
Owner U.S. Dept. of Energy
CM & lead design Battelle Energy Alliance
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Structural and MEP Engineer Battelle Energy Alliance
General Contractor C&H Construction Co.
UPS Supplier Gutor Electronic of Switzerland
