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Title: Advanced Instrumentation, Information and Control (II&C) Research and Development Facility Buildout and Project Execution of LWRS II&C Pilot Projects 1 and 3

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1033903· OSTI ID:1033903

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is sponsoring research, development, and deployment on light water reactor sustainability (LWRS), in which the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is working closely with nuclear utilities to develop technologies and solutions to help ensure the safe operational life extension of current reactors. As technologies are introduced that change the operation of the plant, the LWRS pilot projects can help identify their best-advanced uses and help demonstrate the safety of these technologies. In early testing of operator performance given these emerging technologies will ensure the safety and usability of systems prior to large-scale deployment and costly verification and validation at the plant. The aim of these collaborations, demonstrations, and approaches are intended to lessen the inertia that sustains the current status quo of today's II&C systems technology, and to motivate transformational change and a shift in strategy to a long-term approach to II&C modernization that is more sustainable. Research being conducted under Pilot Project 1 regards understanding the conditions and behaviors that can be modified, either through process improvements and/or technology deployment, to improve the overall safety and efficiency of outage control at nuclear facilities. The key component of the research in this pilot project is accessing the delivery of information that will allow researchers to simulate the control room, outage control center (OCC) information, and plant status data. The simulation also allows researchers to identify areas of opportunity where plant operating status and outage activities can be analyzed to increase overall plant efficiency. For Pilot Project 3 the desire is to demonstrate the ability of technology deployment and the subsequent impact on maximizing the 'Collective Situational Awareness' of the various stakeholders in a commercial nuclear power plant. Specifically, the desire is to show positive results in plant status control, information management, knowledge management, and 'Real-Time-Truth' as it relates to the current plant conditions. The following report includes two attachments; each attachment represents Pilot Project 1 and 3. The two attachments also provide a report on two distinct milestones that were completed and are described below: M3L11IN06030307 - Complete initiation of two pilot projects Complete initiation of pilot projects on real-time configuration management and control to overcome limitations with existing permanent instrumentation and real-time awareness of plant configurations; two candidate projects that consider low-cost wireless technology for in situ configuration monitoring and candidate technologies and an information architecture for outage management and control will be initiated with utilities. M3L11IN06030309 - Complete data collection, R&D plans, and agreements needed to conduct the two pilot projects Complete data collection conducted at pilot project utilities to support real-time configuration management and outage control center pilot studies conducted; R&D plan for pilot projects produced and needed agreements established to support R&D activities.

Research Organization:
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE - NE
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC07-05ID14517
OSTI ID:
1033903
Report Number(s):
INL/EXT-11-23410; TRN: US1200678
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English