Transcript U.S. DOE Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program: Advanced Instrumentation & Controls and Human System Interfaces Research Pathway Bruce Hallbert, Idaho National Laboratory May 20, 2009

U.S. DOE Light Water Reactor
Sustainability Program: Advanced
Instrumentation & Controls and Human
System Interfaces Research Pathway
Bruce Hallbert, Idaho National Laboratory
May 20, 2009
The need to rely on existing plants
• 60 year licenses means
current plants shut down
starting in 2030.
• Steep reduction in generation
if current fleet operations are
not sustained.
• Without today’s nuclear
plants, we lose:
– 100 GWe of low-carbon
generation over about 20
years
– Low cost generation
Extending operation of existing reactors will avoid ~12 billion metric tons CO2 and provide
enough electricity for 70 million homes during an additional 20 years of operations.
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Program Scope
• Nuclear Materials Aging and Degradation. Research to develop the
scientific basis for understanding laboratory and field data on environmental
degradation of materials, components, and structures essential to safe and
sustained nuclear plant operations.
• Advanced LWR Fuel Development. Research to maintain and improve
nuclear fuel designs to achieve improved economic performance while
demonstrating safety and performance margins. Develop high burn-up fuel
with improved cladding integrity as a primary fission product barrier.
• Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization. Research to fully
understand and incorporate single effects and integral testing results into both
deterministic and risk-informed safety margin characterizations.
• Advanced Instrumentation and Control Technologies. Research to
improve inspection and monitoring technologies, including detailed strategies
for managing Instrumentation & Control (I&C) system upgrades. Develop,
implement, and evaluate prognostic monitoring approaches for both nonsafety-related and safety-related systems.
To be implemented through broad-based Industry / National
Laboratories / Government / University collaboration
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Current Situation & Challenges
• Analog systems define much of current technology for I&C today
– Service lifetimes beyond commercial expectation
– Regulatory uncertainty & business risk
• Digital systems implemented as point solutions to aging &
obsolescence
– Reactive, short planning horizon
– Like for like replacement
• Fragmented and non-optimized approach; digital technologies not
considered as a part of the corporate business model and hence,
their potential is marginalized
– Digital systems don’t displace old costs – but add to them under
this approach
– Nuclear power industry reacts to developments in other power
sectors
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Game changing developments
• Cost and reliability of maintaining aging analog
instrumentation
• Workforce will not be drawn to an antiquated technology
base
• Mergers & acquisitions in nuclear supply create a demand
for economy of scale solutions across the business
enterprise
• Ever-diminishing returns from productivity & optimization
programs (e.g., human performance, six sigma, Quality
initiatives) prompt reconsideration of technology to
achieve performance gains
• Needed, not desired, in order to make investments and
commitment to long term operation
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Advanced Instrumentation and Controls
Technology
Technical Projects
1. Centralized On-line
Monitoring for Critical SSCs
2. New I&C and Human
System Interface
Capabilities and
Architecture
3. Life-cycle NDE Information
Assessment
4. Maintaining the Licensing
and Design Basis
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1. Centralized Online Monitoring and Information
Integration for Critical SSCs
Strategic Vision
• Information technology and degradation models and
cases to enable real time automatic statistical analysis,
pattern recognition, and criteria to diagnose degraded
conditions and predict remaining useful life of SCCs.
• These instances are evaluated at centralized groups by
component-type experts.
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1. Centralized Online Monitoring and Information
Integration for Critical SSCs
R&D Benefits for LWR Sustainability
• Prognostic monitoring of SSCs – such as transformers, generators,
RCPs, EDGs, generators, feed water pumps -- can avoid high
unavailability and improve asset management.
• Diagnostics monitoring of SSCs will enhance plant reliability and
avoid safety challenges commensurate with new plants.
• Automation and state-of-art analysis will reduce person-hours and
maximize productivity of scarce equipment experts.
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2. New I&C and HSI Capabilities and Architecture
Strategic Vision
• Approach to achieve life cycle renewal of information & control capabilities
needed to continue to operate safely and more efficiently
• Nuclear plant SCADA like architecture supporting plant activities - based on
simulation, control, & diagnostics tools
• Modern technologies and hooks to allow future technologies, e.g.:
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Integrated information networking and management
Advanced, integrated control algorithms
Automation
Intelligent agents
Improved, user friendly human system interfaces
Better collaborative work environments with distributed capabilities
Simulation
• Lifecycle maintenance and future upgrade strategies
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2. New I&C and HSI Capabilities and Architecture
R&D Benefits for LWR Sustainability
• Strategy for decision-making
– Types of upgrades and modernization programs
– Scope and recommended practices
– Benefits to asset owners, including workforce planning, cost (O&M), lifecycle maintenance & renewal
• Maintain high levels of plant reliability & availability.
• Better understand and predict effects of I&C aging and obsolescence
• Improved information access, situation awareness, and decision-making
allowing enhancement of safety and increase in productivity
• Integration of data and information, increased automation of routine tasks to
reduce work load and likelihood of human errors and to amplify human
capabilities for increased reliability and efficiency
• Resilience: self-monitoring,diagnosis & correction; fault resistance,tolerance &
recovery capabilities reducing likelihood of unplanned trips, equipment damage,
and tech spec violations resulting in reducing safety & operational challenges.
• New & better approaches to design.
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3. Life-cycle NDE Information Assessment
Strategic Vision
• Enhancement of measurement (NDE+), data capture and storage for
NPP primary systems to support forthcoming diagnostic and
prognostic models.
• Development, validation (PDI) & deployment of inspection and
characterization technologies as needed for passive elements in NPP
(e.g. concrete, cabling, underground storage and buried piping
condition assessments).
• Creation of methods and system for integrated information
management, simulation for degradation, assessment of condition,
life-utalization and prediction of remaining safe life (prognostics) for
critical nuclear plant materials.
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3. Life-cycle NDE Information Assessment
R&D Benefits for LWR Sustainability
• Monitoring and prognostics for passive components will
enhance safety, maintain reliability, and improve asset
management.
• Monitoring and advanced diagnostics of materials
provides defense-in depth for plant reliability and avoids
safety challenges of potential concern to regulators.
• Automation and state-of-art analysis will reduce personhours and maximize productivity of scarce equipment
experts.
• On-line monitoring – reduces potential for “surprises”
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Recommendations
• Propose an INL hosted meeting sponsored by IAEA on
issues affecting long term operation and sustainability of
operating reactors
– Emphasizing I&C aspects but also including crosscutting interactions with other critical areas (e.g.,
materials, risk, etc.)
– National perspectives and status of modernization and
sustainability programs
– Regulatory, technical, & corporate issues
– Some time in 2010 or spring 2011
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Questions ?
Nuclear
Industry
Network
University
Network
National
Laboratory
Network
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