Integrated Cost and Schedule Control Systems for Nuclear Power Plant Construction: Leveraging Strategic Advantages to Owners and EPC Firms

Abstract

As the owners expect that the cost and time for nuclear power plant construction would decrease with new entrants into the market, there will be severer competition in the nuclear industry. In order to achieve performance improvement and to attain competitive advantages under the globalized competition, practitioners and researchers in the nuclear industry have recently exerted efforts to develop an advanced and efficient management methodology for the nuclear mega-projects. Among several candidates, integrated cost and schedule control system is of great concern because it can effectively manage the three most important project performances including cost, time, and quality. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to develop a project numbering system (PNS) of integrated cost and schedule control system for nuclear power plant construction. Distinct attributes of nuclear power plant construction were investigated first in order to identify influencing variables that characterize real-world implementation of advanced cost and schedule controls. A scenario was then developed and analysed to simulate a case-project. By using this case-project, proposed management requirements, management methods, measurement techniques, data structure, and data collection methods for integrated cost and schedule PNS were illustrated. Finally, findings and implications are outlined, and recommendations for further research are presented.

International Project Risk Management for Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Construction: Featuring Comparative Analysis with Fossil and Gas Power Plants

“…Nevertheless, higher level items in this paper (CLR01 through CLR03) can serve as a universal classification for all different organizations. This involves the issues of automatic information exchange among organizations [28] at the industry level. Information confidentiality issues among competitors could be major barriers to this promising concept.…”

“…Life cycle (LC) has a total of six phases [28], which are 'planning (PRE), engineering (ENG), procurement (PRO), construction (CON), start-up and operation (OSS), disposal (DIS) and all stages' which refers to the ranges of risks taking place throughout the entire stages of project life cycle.…”

Analysis of the Earned Value Management and Earned Schedule Techniques in Complex Hydroelectric Power Production Projects: Cost and Time Forecast

“…But it has also been applied in different highly specialized contexts with a large number of special features and needs. Examples of this can be the projects developed by NASA within the framework of aerospace engineering [12] or the construction of nuclear plants [31]. These examples show the ability of the technique to be adapted to different scenarios.…”

Assessment Methodology of Practical Configuration Management (CM) for Sustainable Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs)

“…One of the good examples of practical applications is the 'physical breakdown structure (PBS)'. PBS can be defined a hierarchically organized set of physical components that supports automated classifying and integrating mechanisms for managerial purposes [8][9][10]. More often than not, the PBS also encompasses high-level functions and administration components in order to incorporate all aspects of project deliverables [9].…”

“…PBS can be defined a hierarchically organized set of physical components that supports automated classifying and integrating mechanisms for managerial purposes [8][9][10]. More often than not, the PBS also encompasses high-level functions and administration components in order to incorporate all aspects of project deliverables [9]. However, this study only focuses on physical elements defined in Table 1 because the objectives of NPP CM evaluation is to enhance NPP safety and sustainability.…”