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Modular Construction Goes Nuclear
November 23, 2004
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In a rare photo taken from within yards of a nuclear reactor, a modular building snubber shop is shown. In the shop, large-bore hydraulic snubbers receive maintenance in the service building at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. The modular building had to be built around an existing overhead crane.
Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant at Lusby, Maryland is home to the first ever modular buildings ever constructed in a nuclear power plant's radiation control area.
Warehouse Concepts, a Jessup, Maryland-based general contracting company, worked closely with Porta-King Building Systems to design a customized Panel-King™ "panel sandwich" that would pass stringent Class I construction standards and meet fire safety and earthquake resistance requirements. This mission was accomplished with a snap together panel design featuring drywall with steel laminated to both sides.
"The Calvert Cliffs renovation project had several hurdles to overcome," says Katherine Meyer, who led Warehouse Concepts in the Calvert Cliffs project. "First, you have to realize that we were dealing with a highly sensitive work area from the standpoint of security. That meant that we had to accept the possibility of routine, unscheduled work stoppages. Work stoppages aren't compatible with block and mortar construction. As a contractor, how do you provide an accurate project bid if you have to send people home and dispose of mortar ready to lay block?
"Second, we knew that insurance and Nuclear Safety were going to be very diligent in examining the project. Anything built was going to have to overcome understandably rigid fire safety and earthquake resistance concerns. In order to do that, specification flexibility would be absolutely critical.
"All of these hurdles pointed us to a modular construction solution. Modular construction minimizes location work because essentially everything is done off-site. Site time is minimized because snap together assembly can be completed quickly. Electrical and HVAC services require minimal hook-up time as all holes and service pathways are built-in and ready for workers to run their wires and duct-work. Our recommendation was to build with Panel-King materials."
Panel-King modular panels are easily customized with walls up to three inches thick and filled with a solid, polystyrene core for an R-13 insulation rating. The core doesn't just insulate. It also acts to block annoying sounds from entering a fully enclosed structure. Basic 4' X 8' panels lock together with no configuration limitations and can be broken down for use in other areas.
Three modular buildings were used in the project that replaced chain link fence cages. It was virtually impossible to control temperature in those areas, even when plastic sheeting was applied to provide some form of environmental control. Plus, the areas were impossible to keep clean.
Two snubber shops, one 27'1" X 33' X 16' (built around an existing crane) and one 21' X 24' X 8', used the customized panel sandwich. The third building, a 13'4" X 26'4" X 8'4" weld shop, allowed for use of a vinyl-covered hardboard which is typical Panel-King construction.
Porta-King has been a leader in custom-design pre-assembled buildings since 1969. To request a free quotation or product literature, or to schedule a site visit to your facility, contact us at info@portaking.com or call 800-284-5346.
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