L-3 MAPPS announced today that it has received another order from Florida Power & Light Company to replace the input/output system on the St. Lucie Plant FSS

MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, October 28, 2014 /EINPresswire.com/ -- MONTREAL, October 28, 2014 – L-3 MAPPS announced today that it has received another order from Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) to replace the input/output (I/O) system on the St. Lucie Plant full scope simulator. The I/O system is responsible for relaying operator actions to the simulation computer and for providing operators with visual cues (indications and alarms) to operate the plant. The project is part of FPL’s strategy to modernize the simulator and address obsolescence issues with the original components of the simulator delivered 30 years ago. The project is underway and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015.

“The I/O system replacement is an important component of our strategy to ensure that the simulator’s reliability and maintainability remain at the highest levels in support of the long-term operation of the St. Lucie Plant,” said Michael Baughman, training manager of FPL’s St. Lucie Plant. “L-3 MAPPS’ Orchid® Input Output technology and the company’s past project performance are good indicators that we will achieve the desired success on the I/O replacement project.”

“Since L-3 MAPPS introduced compact I/O systems more than five years ago, we have continued to experience high customer satisfaction levels with our approach,” said Michael Chatlani, vice president of marketing & sales for L-3 MAPPS Power Systems and Simulation. “We look forward to providing another compact I/O system solution, this time for FPL, and attaining the same high level of performance.”

L-3 MAPPS will deploy Beckhoff Automation’s compact I/O components with the versatile Orchid Input Output software for both the St. Lucie Unit 2 full scope simulator’s main I/O system and its RM-23 radiation monitoring I/O system. L-3 MAPPS has successfully deployed similar compact I/O systems on the Diablo Canyon (USA), Embalse (Argentina), Koeberg (South Africa) and McGuire (USA) full scope simulators. The same technology is also currently being implemented on the Daya Bay (China) and Tihange 1 (Belgium) full scope simulators. For the St. Lucie project, L-3 MAPPS will design passive adapter cards that will fit into the legacy I/O chassis, allowing for a clean and simple interface with the new I/O system and eliminating the need to rewire the control room panel instruments. This will greatly reduce the simulator outage time required.

L-3 MAPPS’ compact, modular I/O solution is cost-effective, non-proprietary, reliable and widely available from numerous distributors that have a large user base worldwide. L-3 MAPPS’ Orchid Input Output software handles the engineering to electrical unit conversions and the exchange of data between the simulation computer(s) and the I/O system controllers. Orchid Input Output includes a user-friendly GUI that allows end users to easily configure, maintain and troubleshoot the entire I/O system.

Florida Power & Light Company, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc., is the largest electric utility in Florida and one of the largest rate-regulated utilities in the United States. FPL serves approximately 4.6 million customers in Florida. The St. Lucie Plant is located on Hutchinson Island, midway between Fort Pierce and Stuart. The plant is made up of two Combustion Engineering pressurized water reactors with a net electrical output of approximately 2,000 MWe.

L-3 MAPPS has over 30 years of experience in pioneering technological advances in the marine automation field and over 40 years of experience in delivering high-fidelity power plant simulation to leading utilities worldwide. In addition, the company has more than four decades of expertise in supplying plant computer systems for Canadian heavy water reactors. L-3 MAPPS also provides targeted controls and simulation solutions to the space sector. To learn more about L-3 MAPPS, please visit the company’s website at www.L-3com.com/MAPPS.

Headquartered in New York City, L-3 employs approximately 48,000 people worldwide and is a prime contractor in aerospace systems and national security solutions. L-3 is also a leading provider of a broad range of communication and electronic systems and products used on military and commercial platforms. The company reported 2013 sales of $12.6 billion. To learn more about L-3, please visit the company’s website at www.L-3com.com.

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Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to events or conditions or that include words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “will,” “could” and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the company’s Safe Harbor Compliance Statement for Forward-Looking Statements included in the company’s recent filings, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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Orchid is a trademark of L-3 Communications MAPPS Inc. All other products are trademarks of their respective companies.

Sean Bradley
L-3 MAPPS
(514) 787-4953
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