THE PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

Reliability of a plant depends on many parameters, such as the type of fuel, the preventive maintenance programs, the operating mode, the control systems, and the firing temperatures. 

The change management process should also ensure that a root cause analysis has been conducted to make sure the real problem has been identified and corrected. For example, if a pump seal fails it could simply be replaced with an identical seal. However, it may have failed because it was left in service beyond its natural life and the real failure was in the preventative maintenance program that should have replaced it earlier. 

AAdiy did the preventive maintenance program at the plant not prevent the failure ... 

Studies in the early 1980s reported predictive maintenance programs were more cost effective than the preventive maintenance programs. These studies showed that PM programs cost about 11— 13 per horsepower of a machine, while a predictive maintenance program cost 7— 8 per horsepower. [11]... 

Preventive maintenance program summary. The preventive maintenance program should be summarized for the facility with responsibility for tracking. 

Some organizations classify unplanned maintenance jobs as near misses because such events will generally put the system in a less safe condition and they indicate deficiencies in the management systems, i.e., the problem should have been anticipated and included in the preventive maintenance program. Some organizations choose to classify unplanned maintenance as a near miss only when it affects safety critical equipment (Vancauwenberghe, 2011). 

Is there a need to replace the contract company that is running the preventive maintenance program (or to change the preventive maintenance program itself) ... 

Productivity improvements can often be achieved with minimal investment. For example, a pump in production-critical service may fail once every 3 months. If each pump failure leads to production losses of 15,000, then the annual cost of this problem is 60,000. Investigation into the pump failures shows that the breakdown rate could be greatly reduced where a preventive maintenance system was to be implemented, so that problems can be addressed before the pump actually fails. It is predicted that the new failure rate will be once per year, equivalent to a loss of 15,000 per year. Hence the annual savings that flow from the preventive maintenance program are 45,000. If the preventive maintenance system for that pump costs say 10,000 to implement and 5,000 per year to run, then the net savings over a period of 5 years is 190,000 (ignoring the discounted value of money), and the return on investment is very high indeed. 

To ensure safest possible operation and to get best overall eeonomie performance of its Nuclear Power Plants, 10 years ago Electricite de Fiance launched a Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) project to optimize the preventive maintenance programs. The principles underlying the RCM approach are based on common sense failures must be prevented by preventive maintenance operations in all cases when the repercussions for the installation could be serious or critical in term of safety, availability or maintenance costs. The approach is a 3-phases process ... 

Most of the preventive maintenance programs, which only concern active components at this time, are drawn up using the RCM method, both on 900 and 1300 MW series. 

Case 3. Employee participation at a farm machinery manufactnrer of 675 employees includes active membership on several committees and subcommittees. Members change on a voluntary, rotational basis. Committees conduct routine plant-wide inspections and incident investigations. Employees also are involved in conducting training on a variety of safety and health topics. Maintenance employees are revising the preventive maintenance program. 

Make sure that the preventive maintenance program is being followed and that any hazards are found and tracked to completion... 

Evaluate the preventive maintenance program s effectiveness to make sure that the workplace is safe... 

Are all pressure relief devices included in the Preventive Maintenance Program Are the inspection and testing of relief devices in accordance with local regulations ... 

A good maintenance program is necessary for continued safe operation of any gas mover [12]. The preventive maintenance program should include... 

Inspection and overhaul requiring major disassembly should be incorporated in the preventive maintenance program. 

A draft of the preventive maintenance plan has been received. Until a final acceptable program is provided, adequacy of the preventative maintenance program is an open item. 

The preventive maintenance program must provide assurance that equipment and system functions are mai.nta.i.ned fof- 11 operational and accident scenarios. Reactor Maintenance, in conjunction, with Engineering, will evaluate, establish, and implement critical PMs for important7to-safety equipment. A process should be in place that reflects the results and basis of the PM review, as well as accurately reflecting the.mechanism that is used to complete the PM and the means to-.call out and implement that mechanism at the appropriate., fr qujencies. I. . . " ... 

WSRC evaluated the preventive maintenance program against the criteria of INPO s Guidelines for the Conduct of Maintenance at Nuclear Power Stations (INPO 85-038) and INPO 85-032, "Preventative Maintenance." The results of the evaluation are included in the Reactor Maintenance Self-Assessment Report. 

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