Nuclear Estimating

[WARose]

I've been called upon to do some estimating for a nuclear project (nothing particularly big). I have a hard copy of RSMeans for 2023.....but those numbers are built around industrial/commercial type projects. Any idea what the multiplier would be for a nuke project? I would think contractors on that would have to jump through a few more hoops than just a normal industrial project. Input from those with nuke experience highly desired.

 

[rb1957]

what reporting requirements ?
How much analysis required ?
How different/specialised is this analysis ?
Can you get samples of similar projects ?
Are there local people who have done similar work ? (Maybe they don't want to talk to a competitor ??)

"Hoffen wir mal, dass alles gut geht !"
General Paulus, Nov 1942, outside Stalingrad after the launch of Operation Uranus.

 

[WARose]

This is all construction costs.....no engineering.

 

[RDR89]

@WARose, to answer your question directly, I don't know what a good multiplier would be for construction costs (I worked more on the design front) but some things to consider: is it for something within an existing plant or where would it be located? Also is it for commercial nuke or a DOE facility?

From my experience in commercial nuke, design (and presumably construction) requirements varied depending on the safety-level of the part of the plant you were in. For e.g. some of my old colleagues worked on a project that required even the formwork to be tornado-missile resistant based on the safety-level of the building they were doing an addition for. For other parts of the plant, it was similar to regular commercial-type construction.

 

[WARose]

From my experience in commercial nuke, design (and presumably construction) requirements varied depending on the safety-level of the part of the plant you were in. For e.g. some of my old colleagues worked on a project that required even the formwork to be tornado-missile resistant based on the safety-level of the building they were doing an addition for. For other parts of the plant, it was similar to regular commercial-type construction.

That's a good question RDR89. This is a non-safety related type item. In the non-nuclear world....this would be something akin to commercial/industrial.....but I wonder would the contractors bump up their costs because this is a nuke site and they would anticipate a lot more paperwork. As a engineer, I know what it [nuke work] means for me....but I don't know what it means for a contractor.

 

[dold]

I did some design for a "nuke related" project years ago for [a government agency involved with all things nuclear]. It was for a vehicle storage building/maintenance shop on a "nuke site" (not a power plant, not a missile factory as far as I know) in the US. IIRC it was about 10k sq. ft. with a ~2k sq. ft. mezzanine and an overhead crane. In reality it should have been a PEMB but after 5 months of hemming and hawing the owner decided to go with steel framed.

So, whatever you think a ~10k sq. ft. 25'-30' tall simple steel framed building should cost, add a massive multiplier.

Despite owner's self proclaimed "best effort to follow typical commercial and industrial building design and construction practices"...the project ended up being being bid right around $10MM. TEN MILLION. I'm not sure what the final price tag was after construction but I'm sure you could tack on another mil.

In my opinion most of the "inflation" came from the multiple layers of bureaucrats/project managers/eggheads, none of whom had any real experience whatsoever in "typical commercial and industrial building design and construction", ALL providing input on every single aspect of this project. From the high level "what kind of building do we want" all the way to "according to *some random book* it is best practice to not weld the tips of wide flange column flanges to a baseplate - revise detail" and "I read in a publication that fiber reinforcing for the slab on grade provides enhanced crack control, so we would like that in addition to the rebar... oh, and we would also like several different specs of densifier on the slab" and "We noticed that it is common to use RED concrete for duct banks so people know they are about to dig through a power line" (red pigmented concrete is about a 1000% markup, and this site was thousands of feet from the nearest power service).

I swear I think they were just googling "vehicle maintenance building" and cherrypicking all of the coolest/newest/fanciest components that they could possibly imagine. Seemed like the pet project of management at the site. I digress...

Every submittal had at least a dozen different review stamps on the cover sheet(s), with a bloodbath of comments. There were mechanical (like, gizmo engineers, not HVAC engineers) reviewing and commenting/rejecting steel shop drawings and mix designs, and providing input on roofing membrane selection.

I'm sure other factors were incidentals like security escorts/oversight, background checks, Buy American, owner performing in person inspections of the steel fab shop, etc etc etc.

So, that's my experience with "nuke sites". Your mileage may vary.

 

[AskTooMuch]

You will probably be off with your estimate in my opinion if you are not familiar who the construction contractor is and how much they charge for similar project.

I work inside a plant and see estimates/quotes on a project vary significantly between construction contractors on same project.

So this will also depend on the construction contractor and not necessarily only about the project scope.