Persensky, Julius J | Search NASA

DOE OSTI2012

COMMERCIAL UTILITY PERSPECTIVES ON NUCLEAR POWER PLANT CONTROL ROOM MODERNIZATION

Commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the United States need to modernize their main control rooms (MCR). Many NPPs have done partial upgrades with some success and with some challenges. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, and in particular the Advanced Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) and Information Systems Technologies Research and Development (R&D) Pathway within LWRS, is designed to assist commercial nuclear power industry with their MCR modernization efforts. As part of this framework, a survey was issued to utility representatives of the LWRS Program Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control Systems/Technologies (II&C) Utility Working Group to obtain their views on a range of issues related to MCR modernization, including: drivers, barriers, and technology options, and the effects these aspects will have on concepts of operations, modernization strategies, and staffing. This paper summarizes the key survey results and discusses their implications.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Using a Research Simulator for Validating Control Room Modernization Concepts

The Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program is a research, development, and deployment program sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. The program is operated in close collaboration with industry research and development programs to provide the technical foundations for licensing and managing the long-term, safe, and economical operation of nuclear power plants that are currently in operation. Advanced instrumentation and control (I&C) technologies are needed to support the continued safe and reliable production of power from nuclear energy systems during sustained periods of operation up to and beyond their expected licensed lifetime. This requires that new capabilities to achieve process control be developed and eventually implemented in existing nuclear control rooms. It also requires that approaches be developed and proven to achieve sustainability of I&C systems throughout the period of extended operation. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is working closely with nuclear utilities to develop technologies and solutions to help ensure the safe life extension of current reactors. One of the main areas of focus is control room modernization. Current analog control rooms are growing obsolete, and it is difficult for utilities to maintain them. Using its reconfigurable control room simulator adapted from a training simulator, INL serves as a neutral test bed for implementing new control room system technologies and assisting in control room modernization efforts across.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗