One of the major issues associated with Nuclear Power is minimizing outage time. The Outage Equipment Hatch was designed to enable quick passage of outage personnel and equipment in and out of the containment building without having to remove and reinstall the permanent Equipment Hatch Cover. During a refueling outage the Equipment Hatch Cover is often removed and reinstalled numerous times to facilitate movement of equipment into and out of the Reactor Building.

Specialized Manufacturing

QualTech NP Equipment Hatches can be fabricated in round or rectangular configurations, in any desired size. Hatches are supplied complete with cover and matching body ring, and can be furnished with all necessary hoisting and handling equipment. Whenever possible, they are equipped with swing-bolt closures to allow rapid assembly and disassembly. Hatches incorporate double O-ring seals with a test connection between seals to allow periodic leak testing.

QualTech NP can custom design and manufacture an Outage Equipment Hatch to meet your plant specific requirements.

Custom Features:

• Three piece construction includes two bulkhead sections and one large door section. Three piece construction enables movement of the hatch through the existing Containment Equipment Hatch opening. Assembly, disassembly and storage of the Outage Hatch to be performed inside the containment building if necessary.
• The Outage Equipment Hatch is also equipped with penetrations in the bulkhead which enable the pass-through of electric, air and other resources from the outside of containment to inside containment. QualTech NP can install the number, size and configuration of the penetrations as required to meet your needs.
• The size of the Outage Hatch Door and the Door mechanism can be designed to meet the unique customer needs. Manual and automatic Door opening and closing features are also available.
• QualTech NP offers Door designs with either compression or inflatable seals.
• The Outage Hatch Bulkhead is designed to match the Equipment Hatch Cover fastener locations. Typically, QualTech NP is able to design the Equipment Outage Hatch to utilize the existing Equipment Hatch Swing Bolts for installation of the Equipment Outage Hatch. We highly recommend that each utility evaluate the benefits of utilizing this equipment for future outages. Contact us for more information and references of customers who are currently using an Outage Equipment Hatch.

Airlocks and specialty doors (1.4mb)