SBIR Phase II Final Report - Strategy for Implementation of Fixed and Mobile Wireless Technologies in Crowded and Confined EMI Environments of Nuclear Power Plants
- AAnalysis and Measurement Services Corporation
- Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation
This is the final report of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project that Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation (AMS) conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over a four-year period from June 2014 through August 2018. The primary goal of this two-phase research and development (R&D) effort was to help facilitate the widespread adoption of wireless technologies in nuclear power plants (NPPs) by addressing gaps that currently exist in the guidance for wireless technology deployment in nuclear facilities. These gaps result in implementation challenges because of the unknown interaction between wireless devices and plant equipment, and the coexistence of various wireless devices in an industrial environment. Using the guidance currently available can result in overly conservative restrictions that prevent operating wireless devices in close proximity of plant equipment and limit the benefits of using wireless devices. The knowledge gained from this R&D project, along with the hardware and software that was developed, assists in updating the industry guidance for deploying wireless technology and can help promote the widespread use of wireless devices for various applications into today’s nuclear plant environment. The primary goals of the Phase I project were to: 1) identify vulnerabilities in selected nuclear plant equipment when exposed to various wireless signals and determine mitigation strategies if necessary, 2) evaluate signal characteristics and the interaction of wireless devices through laboratory measurements, especially for devices that caused susceptibility in representative plant equipment, and 3) develop innovative methods to test for wireless EMC and coexistence prior to the use of wireless technology in nuclear power plants. The knowledge acquired from these tasks provided input into the preliminary design of a test system capable of generating and receiving signals from multiple wireless devices using various wireless protocols to evaluate the coexistence of equipment with wireless devices in an operating nuclear plant. These goals were achieved during the Phase I project, spanning a period of nine months. In Phase II, the primary goals of the project were to: 1) evaluate nuclear power plant equipment for immunity to wireless signals and research mitigation techniques, 2) evaluate wireless coexistence of multiple wireless devices which share the same transmitting frequency and are located near each other, and 3) construct a cognitive radio system (CRS) to perform radiated immunity and wireless coexistence testing in nuclear power plants. These goals were completed over a three year period and resulted in the successful construction and commercialization of the CRS. The CRS was demonstrated in two nuclear power plants during the project. The results of the in-plant testing led to the reduction of the exclusion distance associated with wireless devices and provided objective evidence that wireless devices would not pose a significant risk to plant operation.
- Research Organization:
- Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation, Knoxville, TN 37923
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0011856
- OSTI ID:
- 1466515
- Type / Phase:
- SBIR (Phase II)
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-AMS-11856
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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