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News

Over the last few years, Xcel Energy’s corporate management teams have promoted the investigation of new and unique technologies to drive innovation to improve production and efficiency. This strategy has resulted in the creation of a tool that uses already-in-place equipment data tracking software to locate, map, and display graphic pictures of plant equipment.

This application allows users to locate Monticello or Prairie Island plant equipment by displaying a star on a plant map and up to three pictures of the component, and it fits on a single sheet of paper. Over 1,200 Monticello components and 2,000 pictures have already been input into the locator tool since launching in 2015.

This tool minimizes dose rates by redundantly illustrating the location of equipment. An individual’s time in a radioactive area is diminished by illustrating the component’s location on a plant elevation drawing, listing the components elevation, and supplying three recent pictures. The tool also increases safety margin by assisting operators, maintenance crews, and others in finding and selecting the correct piece of equipment even in a cluster of similar looking equipment. By saving individual’s time, preventing incidents, and creating efficiencies, the cost savings add up quickly.

This technology could be implemented at other plants or utilities with some degree of code customization, floor plan image creation, and grid location mapping.