Third International PLiM Conference, 14-18 May 2012, Salt Lake City

Nuclear Power Engineering with Sights and Sounds

Nuclear Power Engineering

Instrumentation and Control Technologies

French technicians operating the central board of the reactor, specially designed at Saclay for the experiments, 27 April 1960

The instrumentation and control (I&C) system architecture, together with plant operations personnel, serves as the "central nervous system" of a nuclear power plant (NPP). Through its various constituent elements (e.g., equipment, modules, sensors, transmitters, redundancies, actuators, etc.), the plant I&C system senses basic physical parameters, monitors performance, integrates information, and makes automatic adjustments to plant operations as necessary. It also responds to failures and off-normal events, thus ensuring goals of efficient power production and safety. Essentially, the purpose of the I&C system architecture at an NPP is to enable and ensure safe and reliable power generation. Therefore, as much attention as their importance should be given for the projects involving the design, testing, operation, maintenance, licensing, operation, and modernization of I&C systems.

Control room of experimental high temperature gas cooled reactor at Tshinghua University, Beijing (China, June 2004)

Nuclear utilities are facing challenges in several I&C areas with ageing and obsolete components and equipment. With license renewals and power uprates, the long-term operation and maintenance of obsolete I&C systems may not be a cost-effective and reliable option. As a consequence, the nuclear industry modernizes existing analog I&C systems to digital I&C, as well as implements new digital I&C systems in new plants. The increased functionality of the new digital I&C systems can also open up new possibilities to better support the operation and maintenance activities in the plant.

The IAEA provides an organizational setting for exchanging information in meetings and a forum to share lessons learned by producing technical documents in various technical areas. The forms of these activities are: Technical Meetings and Conferences; Coordinated Research Projects; Workshops and Training Courses, and Review Missions.

Activities in 2011

Date	Meeting	Location
1-4 Feb	Consultants' Meeting to complete the NE Series Report "Assessing and Managing Cable Ageing in NPPs"	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
7-10 Feb	Consultants' Meeting to complete the CRP Report "Advanced Surveillance, Diagnostics, and Prognostics Techniques used for Health Monitoring of Systems, Structures, and Components in NPPs"	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
14-17 Feb	Consultants' Meeting to complete the Nuclear Energy Series Report on "Electric Grid Reliability and Interface with Nuclear Power Plants"	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
23-25 Feb	Preparatory meeting on "Newly Arising Threats in Cyber Security of Nuclear Facilities"	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
2-4 Mar	Follow-up/Closing Meeting of the Independent Engineering Review of I&C Systems (IERICS) Mission on the FPGA-based digital I&C platform and systems	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
9-12 May	Europe Regional Workshop RER/4/030 on "Modernization of instrumentation and control systems and control rooms in Nuclear Power Plants"	Portoroz, Slovenia
16-20 May	Technical Meeting on "Newly Arising Threats in Cyber Security of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities"	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
24-26 May	Consultancy meeting to support the Technical Working Group of Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation and Control (TWG-NPPIC) on specific new technical areas	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
24-26 May	23rd biennial meeting of the Technical Working Group of Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation and Control (TWG-NPPIC)	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
26-30 Sep	4th Workshop on "Applications of Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) in NPPs" hosted by EdF	Chatou, France
24-27 Oct	China National Workshop CPR4032 on "Verification and Validation (V&V) of Digital I&C Systems in NPPs"	Wuhan, China
15-17 Nov	Expert mission reviewing the I&C cable ageing management program	Atucha-2 NPP, Argentina

Activities in 2010

Date	Meeting	Location
12-14 Jan	Consultants' Meeting to develop guidelines and reporting format for upcoming Independent Engineering Review of I&C Systems (IERICS) Missions	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
28-29 Jan	Consultants' Meeting to further develop the draft of the Nuclear Energy (NE) Series Report titled "Assessing and Managing Cable Ageing in NPPs"	OECD, Paris, France
31 Jan 6 Feb	Independent Engineering Review of I&C Systems (IERICS) mission on the prototype of the advanced digital I&C systems designed for APR-1400 NPP	Doosan Company, Seoul, Rep. of Korea
9-12 Feb	Consultants' Meeting to further develop the Coordinated Research Project (CRP) Report titled "Advanced Surveillance, Diagnostics, and Prognostics Techniques used for Health Monitoring of Systems, Structures, and Components in NPPs"	Dunaujvaros, Hungary
12-15 Apr	Consultants' Meeting to define the structure, mandate, and terms of reference of a new international network of I&C experts, titled NE-ICT (Network of Excellence for Supporting the Use of I&C Technologies for the Safe and Effective Operation of NPPs)	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
4-7 May	Consultants' Meeting to draft an NE Brochure on "Preparing and Conducting Independent Engineering Review of I&C Systems (IERICS) Missions in NPPs"	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
11-14 May	Regional Workshop RER/4/030 on "Current challenges and resolutions in designing, implementing, testing, licensing, and operating modern I&C systems in NPPs"	Portoroz, Slovenia
17-20 May	Consultants' Meeting to further develop an NE Series Report on "Technical Challenges and Solutions in Application of Digital I&C Systems in Nuclear Power Plants"	IAEA, Vienna, Austria
7-10 Jun	Research Coordination Meeting on "Advanced Surveillance, Diagnostics, and Prognostics Techniques used for Health Monitoring of Systems, Structures, and Components in NPPs"	Richland, Washington, USA
12-13 Jul	Preparation meeting of the IERICS Review Mission on the FPGA-based digital I&C systems for the reactor protection, control, and monitoring functions deployed in Ukrainian NPPs	Kirovograd, Ukraine
8-10 Sep	Follow-up/Closing Meeting of the Independent Engineering Review of I&C Systems (IERICS) Mission on the prototype of the advanced digital I&C systems designed for APR-1400 NPP by Doosan Company	Seoul, Rep. of Korea
14-17 Sep	Technical Meeting on "Assessing and Managing Cable Ageing in NPPs", in cooperation with OECD/NEA and AMS, hosted by Halden Reactor Project	Halden, Norway
28 Sep 1 Oct	3rd Workshop on "Applications of Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) in NPPs", hosted by AECL and McMaster University	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
23-26 Nov	Regional Workshop RLA/4/021 on "Digital I&C Modernization Projects"	Buenos Aires, Argentina
6-10 Dec	IERICS Review Mission on the FPGA-based digital I&C systems for the reactor protection, control, and monitoring functions deployed in Ukrainian NPPs	Kirovograd, Ukraine

Past Meetings

I&C related Technical Meetings held in 2009 and earlier are listed in the Activities Archive along with their meeting proceedings and presentation files.

I&C Review Mission

A review mission titled "Independent Engineering Review of I&C Systems" (IERICS) was established in 2009 with the aim of conducting peer reviews of I&C design documents, prototype I&C systems, and actual systems already deployed in operating NPPs. The IERICS mission is performed by a group of invited subject matter experts from various IAEA Member States. The review is based on appropriate IAEA documents, such as Safety Guides and Nuclear Energy Series Reports, and its findings are summarized in a mission report, including a list of recommendations, suggestions, and identified good practices. Organizations in IAEA Member States, such as utilities, regulators, technical support organizations, research laboratories and universities can benefit from I&C technical reviews through IERICS Missions that provide a detailed technical assessment on I&C systems, as well as recommendations for improvement.
Recent IERICS Missions

Network of I&C Experts

The activities listed above are supported by a large pool of outstanding international experts, under the TWG-NPPIC and a newly established network titled "Network of Excellence for Supporting the Use of I&C Technologies for the Safe and Effective Operation of NPPs" (NE-ICT), representing a vast experience in design, testing, commissioning, licensing, operation, maintenance, and modernization of I&C systems in NPPs.
Terms of Reference

Technical Working Group

The IAEA recognizes the importance of the profound role the I&C systems play in the reliable, safe, efficient, and cost-effective operations of NPPs by supporting the activities of the Department of Nuclear Energy's Technical Working Group on Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation and Control (TWG-NPPIC). The group was established in March 1970. Its membership currently includes twenty Member States and three international organizations.

Coordinated Research Projects

Activities and results of Coordinated Research Projects (CRP) can also support the technical assistance programmes provided to Member States. One such a project is the CRP titled "Advanced Surveillance, Diagnostics, and Prognostics Techniques used for Health Monitoring of Systems, Structures, and Components in NPPs". This CRP integrates and further develops certain existing monitoring and diagnostics techniques in an international multi-discipline environment. The results will help to meet the needs for advanced surveillance, diagnostics, and prognostics to support existing plants, their life extensions and power uprates, and future plant designs.

Two new 3-year CRPs have been approved recently and proposals for contributions are solicited now:

Qualification, Condition Monitoring, and Management of Aging of Low Voltage Cables in Nuclear Power Plants
Design and Engineering Aspects of the Robustness of Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants Against Malicious Acts

Recently Published Documents

IAEA Nuclear Energy Series Report No. NP-T-1.1 (2008) On-line Monitoring for Improving Performance of Nuclear Power Plants; Part 1: Instrument Channel Monitoring
IAEA Nuclear Energy Series Report No. NP-T-1.2 (2008) On-line Monitoring for Improving Performance of Nuclear Power Plants; Part 2: Process and Component Condition Monitoring and Diagnostics
IAEA Nuclear Energy Series Report No. NP-T-1.3 (2008) The Role of I&C Systems in Power Uprating Projects in Nuclear Power Plants
IAEA Nuclear Energy Series Report No. NP-T-1.4 (2009) Implementing Digital I&C Systems in the Modernization of Nuclear Power Plants
IAEA Nuclear Energy Series Report No. NP-T-1.5 (2009) Protecting Against Common-Cause Failures in Digital I&C Systems
IAEA Nuclear Energy Series Report No. NP-T-3.10 (2010) Integration of Analog and Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems in Hybrid Control Rooms
IAEA TECDOC 1662 (2011) Preparing and Conducting Review Missions of Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants
IAEA Nuclear Energy Series Report No. NP-T-3.12 (2011) Core Knowledge of Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants
IAEA Nuclear Technology Review issued for the 2008 IAEA General Conference - Annex 5: Instrumentation and Control (I&C) Systems in Nuclear Power Plants: A Time of Transition
IAEA Nuclear Technology Review issued for the 2009 IAEA General Conference - Annex 5: Interfacing Nuclear Power Plants with the Electric Grid: the Need for Reliability amid Complexity

Documents soon to be published

IAEA Nuclear Energy Series Report on "Assessing and Managing Cable Ageing in NPPs", D-NP-T-3.6 (to be published in 2012)
IAEA Nuclear Energy Series Report on "Electric Grid Reliability and Interface with NPPs", D-NG-T-3.8 (to be published in 2012)
IAEA Nuclear Energy Series Report on "Technical Challenges and Solutions in Application of Digital I&C Systems in NPP" (to be published in 2012)
IAEA Nuclear Energy Series Report on "Results of the Coordinated Research Project titled Advanced Surveillance, Diagnostics, and Prognostics Techniques Used for Health Monitoring of Systems, Structures, and Components in Nuclear Power Plants", D-NP-T-3.14 (to be published in 2012)