Nuclear power generates information online

British Energy signs up to a multi-million pound five year agreement with Cimage.

At the heart of every power station there are tens of thousands of drawings and documents. These all need to be managed and kept up-to-date to meet the nuclear industry's licensing requirements - some of the strictest regulations in the world. The majority of the 5,000 BE staff need access to this documentation, this is a major task, which reflects on the safety and efficiency of every power plant.

The new document management system will enable British Energy to keep this information online for total safety, flexible access, and accuracy to the second. The five year agreement with Cimage, Sun MicroSystem'sTM largest business partner in the nuclear arena, follows the success of earlier projects within British Energy. 

Cimage is a leading supplier of focused information management solutions to the nuclear, petrochemical and manufacturing industries. British Energy's Configured Document Management System (CDMS) will mean faster and more efficient approval of licensing to get plants up and running as quickly as possible after routine maintenance. It will allow engineers, consultants and designers to access information on the plants in real-time via the intranet from any PC within the British Energy organisation, ensuring consistency, heightened safety and best practice throughout, with massive financial savings as an added bonus.

Edinburgh based British Energy is one of the largest generator of electricity in the UK, supplying around one fifth of the country's power. Set up after privatisation in 1996, BE owns and operates the eight most modern nuclear power stations in the UK.

Every plant needs to comply with a variety of licensing conditions, from training and safety requirements to up-to-date instructions on how to maintain a piece of machinery. Any change or physical upgrade must be audited, to ensure absolute safety, and the most up-to-date documents must be available to staff, as well as official bodies, for reference at all times.

"This is part of our drive to become a world-class company," said George Jenkins, Executive Director, Operations at British Energy. "With the lifecycle of a reactor running into hundreds of years we wanted to find a single vendor who could show long term commitment to all of our needs. Cimage's proven record with our drawing management system in Scotland and their in-depth knowledge of the nuclear industry made them the obvious choice. " 

"As well as the flexibility and speed of access, CDMS also eliminates the need for multiple and distinct management systems and training programmes," Jenkins added. "Throughout the organisation we always aim to adopt best practice, and the overall architecture means we can interrogate how other plants do things, to maximise every resource possible."

"The success of this partnership can be seen in the way the engineers at British Energy have taken to the system." said Ian MacKenzie, managing director, Cimage. "Cimage has focused on developing mission critical business solutions in conjunction with our customers within the nuclear industry. This agreement with British Energy reinforces our experience and the strength of our solutions in the utilities marketplace."

The CDMS runs on a Sun E450 server at each of the eight plant locations, connected by a WAN for total visibility and access.