BWR OPERATIONAL CHEMISTRY TRAINING

EVENT DETAILS

Event Date

Monday, August 18th – Friday, August 22nd, 2025

Duration

8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Friday 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Individual Price

$2,400 (Includes light breakfast and lunch) Includes BWR Operational Chemistry Handbooks

Location

Hatch Energy Education Building
11028 Hatch Pkwy N, Baxley, GA 31513

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course provides practical, hands-on information and techniques for personnel responsible for operational chemistry analysis, corrosion prevention, and system diagnostics. Attendees are encouraged to bring plant data for group discussion and analysis. Common topics will be covered as well as reactor coolant chemistry and radiochemistry, condensate chemistry, balance of plant chemistry, demineralizer and filtration performance, start up and shutdown chemistry, corrosion concerns, and data evaluation techniques.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Chemists and Engineers who desire a practical knowledge of Boiling Water Reactor operational water chemistry. This core course is designed for chemistry personnel that have a basic understanding of plant operation and plant systems, focusing on the essentials of reactor water, condensate and processing equipment used in BWR water chemistry operations.

COURSE TOPICS

Radiochemistry fundamentals
Primary system overview
RCS metallurgy
CS corrosion mechanisms
RCS chemistry environments
EPRI guidelines and requirements for RCS chemistry
Corrosion product formation
HWC and OLNC
Shutdown and Startup chemistry practices
Fission products and activation products
Fission, fission yield, and fission decay chains
BWR Systems including RWCU and Condensate
Resin properties, structure, and performance evaluation
Resin performance topics
Fuel defects, the types of defects, and effects on radionuclides
Gas removal in BWRs
Factors that influence corrosion
Impurity influence on corrosion
Water and steam properties as they relate to steam generation
Transient conditions

INSTRUCTORS

Al Jarvis

Senior Associate

Al Jarvis has over 40 year’s experience in the nuclear industry. In 21 years with Structural Integrity/Finetech (Finetech was acquired by Structural Integrity in 2015), his main responsibilities include a variety of utility-direct and EPRI projects, assessments and conceptual designs related to water chemistry (for both BWR and PWRs), source term (for both BWRs and PWRs), condensate polishing, reactor water cleanup, radwaste processing, and makeup water. Al worked at the FitzPatrick power plant for 14 years in the Chemistry Department as the Senior Engineer and Chemistry Manager. Additional plant roles included Shift Outage Manager and Refuel Floor Coordinator. Al has a BS in Chemical Engineering.

Michelle Mura

Technical Director, Operational Support Services

Michelle Mura has over 24 years of experience in the nuclear industry. She recently joined SI, after working at EPRI as a Senior Technical Lead in the Water Chemistry Control Team. Before that, Michelle worked for Exelon Nuclear and served as the selected EPRI BWR Fuel Reliability Program Technical Advisory Committee Vice Chairperson, Co-Chair of the Mitigation Monitoring Focus Group, Industry Lead for the PWR, BWR, and Fossil Condensate Polishing Sourcebook, and served on several other committees. Michelle received her ANSI 3.1 Senior Reactor Operator Certification from Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in 2012 and obtained her B.S. in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Oswego.

Leah Whiteker

Associate

Leah has over 18 year’s of experience in the nuclear industry. She joined Structural Integrity in 2024 after serving in her previous role as a Senior Chemist a Xcel Energy’s Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant. In that position, Leah led several significant projects for the chemistry department, including the EPRI inline HPGE smart chemistry pilot, the replacement of the online reactor water ion chromatograph, and the installation of the groundwater remediation demineralizer. Additionally, she managed the fuel monitoring program and implemented EPRl’s mitigation and boiling water chemistry guidelines. Leah has a BS in Chemistry and an MBA.