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Nuclear Power Engineering

Instrumentation and Control Technologies

Independent Engineering Review of I&C Systems (IERICS)

The IAEA review mission titled "Independent Engineering Review of I&C Systems" (IERICS) in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs)” was established in 2009 with the aim of conducting peer reviews of I&C design documents, implementation processes, prototype I&C systems, and actual systems already deployed in operating NPPs.

The IERICS mission is conducted by a team of international subject matter experts from various complementing technical areas. The review is based on appropriate IAEA documents, such as Safety Guides and Nuclear Energy Series, and the mission’s findings are summarized in a mission report, including a list of recommendations, suggestions, and identified good practices.

The key objectives of the IERICS mission are to:

• Assess the design approach, principles, and procedures of the development process of the system under review, and identify existing or potential design, operational, and licensing related issues or concerns along with proposed measures to address these issues;
• Identify any outstanding good practice that could be a benefit to other organizations, such as nuclear utilities, regulatory bodies, design organizations, technical support organizations;
• Facilitate exchange of experience and to provide key staff of the counterpart organization (the organization that has requested the IERICS mission and the beneficiary of the review mission) with an opportunity to discuss their practices with international experts.

The review is performed based on the following information:

• Advance Information Package provided by the counterpart before the review meeting;
• Presentations and clarification discussions during the review meeting;
• Visits at design, production and testing facilities.

The review is not intended to be a regulatory inspection or an audit against international codes and standards. Rather, it is a peer review aimed at improving design and implementation procedures through an exchange of technical experiences and practices at the working level. The IERICS mission is applicable at any stages of the life-cycle of I&C systems in NPPs, and it can be initiated by a formal request through official IAEA channels from an organization of a Member State.

The IERICS process is divided into three main phases, each with its own purpose and goals:

• The preparatory phase in which the scope of the review, all conditions and boundaries are defined at a formal meeting between representatives of the IAEA review team and the counterpart team. This meeting may take place 4 to 6 months prior to the review meeting and it produces a detailed Term of Reference. The Advance Information Package is also prepared by the counterpart and sent to the IAEA at this stage;
• The review phase which is the actual review meeting lasting for a week at the facilities of the counterpart organization;
• The follow-up phase in which the status of the action items (recommendations and suggestions) identified during the review will be discussed and closed. The follow-up meeting produces the final mission report. This report is classified as confidential, but can be de-restricted on the counterpart’s request.

Organizations in IAEA Member States, such as nuclear utilities, regulators, R&D organizations, vendors, manufacturers, and technical support organizations can benefit from I&C technical reviews through requesting IERICS missions that provide a detailed technical assessment on I&C systems, as well as recommendations for improvement.

The formation of the IERICS mission, as a review service by the IAEA, is based on the recommendation of the IAEA Technical Working Group on Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation and Control (TWG-NPPIC). The recommendation came from the recognition that the IAEA should play an important role in the independent assessment and review of NPP I&C systems in terms of their compliance with IAEA safety standards and guides.

The technical document IAEA TECDOC 1662, titled “Preparing and Conducting Review Missions of Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants”, has been published recently, providing guidelines, a basic structure and common references across the various areas that can be covered by an IERICS mission.

The document describes in detail all steps and processes that should be followed during the preparation, implementation and closing phases of the review mission by members of the review team and the counterpart organization. Publications referenced in these guidelines could provide additional useful information for the counterpart while preparing for the IERICS mission. A template for the mission report is also given in the report's Appendix.

The first IERICS review mission was performed in February 2010 in Yongin-si, Republic of Korea at the request of the Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company. The subject of the review was the prototype version of Doosan’s advanced I&C system designed for the APR-1400 NPPs. This system is developed based on the results of a seven-year R&D project titled Korea Nuclear Instrumentation and Control System (KNICS, 2001-2008). The KNICS project team included participants from Doosan, KAERI, KEPCO, KERI, POSCON, and Woori Tec. In order to demonstrate the suitability of this system in terms of performance, operability and reliability, Doosan established an "Integrated Performance Validation Facility” for further system development and testing. Doosan’s goal was that the mission would provide them with a basis for improving the acceptance and reliability of the I&C system by implementing the recommendations and findings of the mission and also would assist in meeting the requirements of the on-going Shin-Ulchin Units 1 and 2 design project. It was also expected that the report would assist in developing a firm design basis for projects in the domestic and international markets.

The second IERICS review mission was performed in December 2010 in Kirovograd, Ukraine, on the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based safety I&C platform and systems developed by the Research and Production Corporation (RPC) Radiy for nuclear power plants. RPC Radiy completed the development of its FPGA-based digital platform in 2002 which was designed for building I&C systems for reactor protection, control, and monitoring functions in NPPs. These modern digital systems, which were used in I&C modernization projects of operating NPPs, can also be integrated into new NPP designs.

The company has already completed the successful installation of these systems in more than fifty modernization projects in a total of five operating NPP sites in the Ukraine and Bulgaria. The systems included:

• Main and Secondary (diverse) Reactor Trip System (RTS)
• Engineered Safety Feature Actuation Systems (ESFAS)
• Reactor Regulating and Power Limitation System (RPCLS)
• Reactor Rod Control Systems

The IERICS activities consisted of a series of formal presentations by Radiy staff supported by plant personnel from the South-Ukraine NPP and the Bulgarian Kozloduy NPP, clarification discussions between the review team and the designers, as well as a tour of the South-Ukraine NPP to see how the new system operates.

In both IERICS missions, the IAEA review teams confirmed that extensive engineering work of high quality has been performed to develop the advanced I&C systems, and the reviewed areas met the requirements of the relevant sections of the IAEA Safety Guide NS-G-1.3. Specific issues, identified as areas for further improvement, were listed in the issues sheets of the mission report, as suggestions and recommendations. Good practices were also identified, serving as commendable engineering examples for other NPP I&C system design projects.

The next IERICS mission is planned to be implemented in Moscow early next year at the VNIIAES organization. The subject of the review is the Computerized Process Control System (CPCS) designed for AES-2006 VVER-1200 type NPPs. Scope of the review will include:

• Systems important to safety (e.g. reactor protection systems, engineered safety function actuation systems);
• Reactor control systems for continuous normal operation;
• Human machine interface systems of the main and secondary control rooms;
• Cyber security of digital I&C systems and computers in all three areas above.

Please contact Instrumentation and Control - Contact Point if you have any questions